Coimbatore :
A two-day banana festival is scheduled to be held during December 14-15 at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex here.
Second edition
This is the second edition of the event. “It is being mooted at the State-level to promote development of certain agricultural commodities specific to the State. Banana has been identified as the nodal crop for the State owing to the quantum of production and the distinctive varieties of this so-called ‘poor man’s fruit,” farm varsity Vice-Chancellor Ramasamy said.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University incidentally is the knowledge partner to this event.
The mela is being organised by the Tamil Nadu Banana Growers Federation in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Around 3,000 farmers are expected to attend this event, a CII spokesperson said.
The Vice-Chancellor said that there were 128 varieties of banana, but less than 50 per cent of these were alive. All of these, including value-added products from banana fruit, by-products from banana fibre, psuedostem and leaves will be showcased during the two-day mela, he said.
“The University works with farmers and develops technology. One such technology was developed in 1998 for banana and given to the farmers.
“The President of Tamil Nadu Banana Growers Federation A.P. Karuppaiah improvised this and went for cold storage and ripening chamber to increase the shelf-life of the fruit. The State Government approved transfer of this technology to five different locations. “The Department is now keen to develop cold storage chain along the Theni-Chennai, Madurai-Tuticorin route,” he added.
Ripening chamber
“While cold storage chain is important, we also need ripening chamber. There are about 18 such chambers at present. The Department is planning to add a dozen chambers in and around Chennai, connecting all directions. The State is envisioning at least one cold storage chain and ripening chamber in every district during this Plan period. We want to take this to every village shandy in five years,” he added.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by The Hindu Bureau / Coimbatore – December 09th, 2013