Four-day horticulture fair begins from August 23 to 26 at Vijayawada

Vijayawada: Department of Horticulture in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Andhra Pradesh chapter and International Competence for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) will organise ‘UDYANA-2018’, an international trade fair in horticulture sector at VR Siddhartha Engineering College, Kanuru, from August 23 to 26.

Speaking to the mediapersons here on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said that the four-day horticulture expo will be inaugurated by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday evening, which will showcase the different technologies and practices pertaining to horticulture development and organic farming. 

It also offers a forum for the farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs for the cross-cultural exchange of knowledge, views and technology towards a sustainable and profitable development of horticulture, he said.

‘’Presently, the horticulture crops are cultivated in over 41.87 lakh acres in the State with a production of 304.42 lakh metric tonnes. Necessary measures are being taken to expand cultivation area of the crops to one crore acres in the next five years’’, Somireddy said.  

Around 120 to 150 exhibitors from different sectors will participate in the event. The expo will provide a platform for the organic food suppliers to display wide range of healthy organic foods including ‘Organic Pizza’ drinks and smoothies at the food street pavilion, he added.

Horticulture Commissioner Chiranjiv Choudhary, Agriculture Commissioner C Muralidhar Reddy, CII AP chapter president M Lakshmi Prasad and others were present.