Dr. Himanshu Pathak inaugurates the 3-day Kisan Mela at ICAR-DMAPR

22nd – 24th January, Anand

ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand, Gujarat organised a 3-day Kisan Mela, Herbal Expo, Farmers Training-cum-Exposure visit from 22nd – 24th January 2024.

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) and Director General (ICAR) inaugurated the Kisan Mela on 22nd January 2024 at Anand, Gujarat.

In his inaugural speech, Dr. Himanshu Pathak said that the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) would be one of the best options for doubling farmers’ income because MAPs play a vital role in ensuring the primary health care of humans despite the progress in the modern medical and pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Pathak emphasised that the herbs-based industry is growing fast in the country, as a result, there is an increased demand for medicinal and aromatic plants. Farmers can adopt the technologies, and varieties developed by ICAR-DMAPR to increase the productivity and quality of medicinal plants. He appreciated the huge presence of more than 2000 farmers in the Kisan Mela.

Dr. K. B. Kathiria, Vice Chancellor, Anand Agricultural University, Anand and Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, Assistant Director General (FVSM), were Guests of Honor on this occasion. They briefed about the importance of MAPs and elaborated on how it would help the farmers in the long term to double their income.

The Special Guests, Prof. N.C Gautam, QRT, Chairman, ICAR-DMAPR, Anand and Dr. Jitendra Kumar, Assistant Director General (NASF), emphasised the role of MAPs and their conservation for cultivation by the farmers.

Dr. Manish Das, Director, ICAR-DMAPR, briefed about the Kisan Mela and research activities and the importance of technologies developed by the directorate which have been promoted through demonstrations and training programs for the benefit of farmers.

Dignitaries urged farmers to remain connected with ICAR-DMAPR to reap the benefits of cultivation, processing, trading and marketing of the medicinal plants. Further, they added that the Medicinal and aromatic plants should be co-cultivated with traditional crops to enhance farmers’ income. 

During the Kisan Mela, two MoUs were signed with M/s Vasu Research Centre and Healthcare, Vadodara and a tripartite MoU with St. Xaviers College (SXCA)-Loyola Centre of Research and Development–Xavier Research Foundation (LCRD-XRF), Ahmedabad.

Training programmes on different aspects of production, protection, improvement, conservation and post-harvest management in MAPs were also conducted during the mela. An exposure visit was also arranged for the farmers on 24th January where live cultivation and conservation of MAPs were shown. Farmers from states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat participated in the Mela. A special event of Drone demonstration was also organized for the benefit of the farmers. In the event, three farmers one each from Maharashtra, Bihar and Gujarat were felicitated. There were about 5000 visitors during the 3-Day mela. 

A total of 30 exhibition stalls from ICAR institutes, SAUs, KVK and herbal industries were exhibited in this kisan mela for three days. During this 3-day Mela more than 2000 farmers of which half were women farmers participated. More than 500 school childrens also visited the Kisan Mela.

(Source: Press Information Bureau, Release ID: 1999188)