Shillong, July 03: The two-day Indigenous Fruit & Vegetable Festival concluded here at Ampati Mini Stadium on Thursday afternoon with the distribution of prizes to the winners of various competitions organized during the festival.
The festival was organized by the District Administration and District Basin Development Unit, Ampati, in collaboration with the District Horticulture department with a view to promote, preserve and improve the quality of indigenous and locally available fruits and vegetables in the district.
During the two-day festival more than 10 stalls were put up by self-help group federations from the district, PSUs and government agencies for display and sale of indigenous fruits, vegetables and herbs, fruit saplings, seedlings and locally manufactured spices, among others.
The festival was inaugurated on Wednesday morning by the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Zenith Sangma, in the presence of Parliamentary Secretary in-charge PHE, Noverfield R. Marak, GHADC Chairman, P.K. Sangma, Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh, Superintendent of Police, R. Muthu,hosts of other district officials, local leaders, SHGs and a large number of people from the area.
In his address, Zenith Sangma stressed on the need to teach today’s youths about the importance and value of locally available fruits and vegetables that are a free blessings from the Almighty and that which have been used for generations by their forefathers, saying that the conventional, value-added fruits and vegetables that we get in markets today must be supplemented by these naturally grown fruits and vegetables. He said that it was due to the lazy attitude of the people that there is scarcity of vegetables in the villages and they spend lots of money on vegetables brought from nearby Assam areas which are grown using artificial fertilizers and are unhealthy.
Calling upon the people to shed their selfish attitudes, he said “if we cannot be considerate for our future generations, we also do not have the right to destroy what was left by our forefathers”, and urged every household to have their own kitchen gardens and preserve all species of fruit trees which would not only benefit themselves but also their future generations. He also highlighted on the various mission-mode interventions under IBDLP and sought positive response from the people to such initiatives by the government.
The Minister and other dignitaries also made a token distribution of saplings of fruit trees, seedlings and power-tillers to the selected partners under IBDLP and also planted trees in the higher ridges of the district headquarters as part of the occasion.
Competitions based on fruits and vegetables, including Jackfruit eating contest was held on the first day which was participated by hundreds of enthusiasts, while indigenous games and sports, and workshop on preservation and promotion of indigenous fruits and vegetables were organized on the second day which concluded with the prize distribution.(SP News)
