'Krishi Vasant' to begin in Nagpur from February 9

The event is expected to be watched by about 5 mn farmers from the country through web-casting

About one lakh farmers from across the country are expected to visit the five-day national agriculture exhibition -- Krishi Vasant -- which will begin here from February 9.

Besides, the event is expected to be watched by about five million farmers from the country through web-casting.

There will be live demonstrations of 307 varieties of 54 crops, particularly cereals, fibres, fodder, oilseeds, vegetables, pulses, medicinal and aromatic plants during the exhibition, the state's Additional Chief Agriculture Secretary, Sudhir Goel, and Joint Secretary in Union Agriculture Ministry, Sanjay Gupta, told reporters here yesterday.

With an aim to boost farm economy in the country, the Centre and the state government are jointly holding the biggest fair-cum-exhibition to commemorate the birth centenary celebrations of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik, they said.

The Railways will run around 31 special trains for the farmers congregating at the event.

The visitors will be accompanied by a government official as tour guide who would be responsible for their well being.

The sprawling 20 sq km open area of CICR campus is witnessing hectic preparations to host the farmers' event. The event is also aimed at bridging the gap between technology-experts and the last person in the chain. There will be two seminars every day and farmers can interact with the officials and experts in their regional language, Gupta said.

To make the interaction of farmers with scientists and experts more real, there would be interactive sessions through video conferencing from selected district centres. There would be demonstration of techniques for crop protection. Besides, webcast technology is going to take the fair-cum-expo to all villages in the country.