'Live' demo of 307 varieties of 54 crops at National Agro Expo

A 'live' demonstration to cultivate as many as 307 varieties of 54 crops including cereal, fibre, fodder, oilseeds, vegetables, pulses, medicinal and aromatic plants, will be a major attraction at the five-day National Agriculture Expo, beginning here from February 9.
With an aim to make a critical intervention to spur farm economy in country, the Centre and Maharashtra Government are jointly holding the biggest fair-cum-exhibition 'Krishi Vasant' to commemorate the birth centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik.
"The event would simply be A to Z of agriculture, horticulture and intends to empower farmers throughout the country", an expert said.

Considered as the biggest expo of its kind in India, it is expected to attract about three lakh farmers, official sources said here today.
The sprawling 20 sq-km open area of CICR campus is getting ready to host the farmers centric programme, which focuses on bridging the gap between technology-experts and the last person in the chain, the farmer, sources added.
Farmers would get to see 'live' demo of 307 varieties of 54 crops including cereal fibre, fodder, oilseeds, vegetables, pulses, medicinal and aromatic plants, showcasing how to cultivate them using crop technology and reap its benefits. There would be at least 350 demos, they said.

Apart from that the associated display of machineries and propagation of new technologies aim to give a boost to the rain fed farming in country.

The major thrust of new methods of centuries old techniques like preparation of Neem pesticides, cotton stalk-vermi compost technology etc would be on display at the mega event.
Similarly information on culturing honey bees, processing of medicinal plants, plus value addition to maize and soybean is also part of the programme.
A major focus is also going to be on animal husbandry and farmers would be acquainted with preparation of animal feed enrichment.
Similarly there is an exhibition of 42 breeds of buffaloes, cattle, sheep, goat, duck, poultry along with varieties of wool, the animal feed, medicine and vaccine treatment and planning etc, official sources added.