In what can be termed as a mega event, more than 10 lac farmers  from the State of Karnataka attended and participated in a Krishi mela (farmers fair) organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad, in partnership with Cornell Sathguru Foundation for Development and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda, who inaugurated the mela, on Saturday, 23 September, stressed at looking into the disparities under the government’s crop insurance schemes. Mr. Gowda also laid emphasis on growing millets as the government had declared this year to be Millet Year. Owing to increased health awareness and growing demand from the cities, millets and traditional variety of seeds could be grown as markets for the same is growing too. The State government has set up a support price for jowar, which will be distributed through PDS.

The event was a peer to peer learning event, wherein farmer community from across the State came to learn and exhibit technologies and innovations in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. The mela witnessed the presence of international farming community from countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, who expressed their delight for some of the new, innovative models and practices that can be replicated and applied in their countries too.

The main attractions of the Mela were equipments and technologies for improving agriculture and crop productivity, farmer innovations and farmer-experts meetings. The organic food related stalls comprising of seeds, material displays, technology also witnessed a large footfall.