Fruit and flower exhibition attracts good turnout

Mangalore, March 30: The “Fruit and Flower exhibition” at Kadri Park organized by the Horticulture department along with Mangalore City Corporation, Siri Horticulture and Zilla Panchayath got underway on Friday evening today with as many as 20 stalls showcasing their products and specialities.

President of the Zilla Panchayath , K T Shailaja Bhat inaugurated the three-day exhibition. She was joined by Chairman of Coastal Development Authority , B Nagaraj Shetty , Deputy Director of Horticulture department Dr S Nanda and Laxmi Rao Aroor of Siri Horticulture. The guests later visited the stalls and got a good view of the floral arrangements done specially for this year. Mrs Rama B Ramamurthy has created a floral arrangement depicting the various festivals of India using flowers. The festivals the flowers represented were Deepavali, Dasara, Ramzan, Gokulashtami, Ugadi and Christmas.

The staff at stalls from various rural and semi urban areas were quite enthusiastic in informing the public about their products. K T Shailaja Bhat in her inaugural address said,:” The flower, fruit and vegetable exhibition is very beautiful ,I have observed the sculptures of some great leaders carved on watermelon, which is a very good idea. All the people in their houses must develop the art of growing medicinal plants which is quite useful in curing diseases. The public must buy the seeds being sold in the stalls and cultivate the hobby of gardening. Organic farming is gaining popularity these days and thus this exhibition must educate the public about it. We can keep ourselves healthy with these habits”

B Nagaraj Shetty said:” This exhibition is a good example of how plants can be taken good care of and it must be communicated to the public. Horticulture department is creating a good example for all in the field of gardening.”

V K Bhatrakodi, of Siri Horticulture educated the audience about the different organic farming methods and observed that since our farmlands are slowly disappearing we are going to have a crisis when it comes to food. He also encouraged the audience to cultivate the habit of gardening and learn more from their organization which frequently conducts classes in different gardening methods.

Many stalls in the exhibition were promoting herbal products and rural ways of growing vegetables and fruits. There were stalls selling fresh juices made from natural elements like ginger and amla. A variety of medicinal plants are also on display and flowers of various kinds are showcased in this annual event which is a fitting outing for the weekend for all the families in Mangalore.