Hyderabad: 'Fruits on Fridays, Saturdays' campaign

Hyderabad: State Agriculture Department (SAD) has launched a campaign asking people to observe Friday and Saturday of the week as Fruit Days.

Agriculture department Special Chief Secretary Dr B Janardhan Reddy said the campaign is planned following the directions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, after taking inputs from the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and senior biotechnology scientists.

The SAD and Horticulture and Marketing departments have launched a "Fruits on Friday and Saturday" campaign on Friday.

Janardhan Reddy said that 85 per cent of the fruits cultivated in Telangana like sweet lime- Mosambi are exported to other locations in the country and abroad. Mango is rich in vitamin C and provides the much needed immune boosting which is considered one of the criteria in reducing the impact of the corona.

The "Fruits on Friday and Saturday" campaign includes sending fruits in considerable quantities along with the Mobile Rythu Bazaars, media campaign to promote fruit diet, sending exclusive "mobile fruit vehicles "to RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) and gated communities, he said.

The measure to supply fruits to the "containment clusters"-20 in Hyderabad and 110 in Telangana is under consideration. This will ensure that the farmers have a ready market and the people of Telangana will have affordable and immune promoting mosambi, tomato and mango right at their doorstep.

Inputs from farmers showed that the "Himayat" variety of mango is available in large quantities in Mahbubabad. A decision was also taken to network with supermarket chains to provide the farmers with an avenue for their produce.

This would benefit both the farmers and improve the health quotient of the citizens, he said.