National Banana Festival is coming to Kerala- Latest update
Banana is the one of the oldest fruits known to mankind and is one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world. Availability, affordability, varietal range, taste, nutritive and medicinal value make it the favourite fruit among all classes of people. Our country stands first in banana production in the world. In fact, bananas we have today are the products of thousands of years of careful selection for specific traits by our farmers. This precious diversity has to be protected in the contest of dominating market driven mono cultures.
And in order to do so, the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social action (CISSA) in partnership with Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat and a host of National and State organisations are organising the National Banana Festival 2018 at Kalliyoor, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 17 to 21.
The National Banana Festival 2018 will also look to illustrate how research can help in using banana diversity to increase options for both small-scale farmers and consumers.
According to Dr C S Ravindran, Secretary General, NBF 2018, “the focal theme of the National Banana Festival 2018 would be Conserving Diversity, Preserving Identity, and Promoting Value Addition. The five-day festival, being planned as an educational and enjoyable event, will include a National Seminar, Exhibition, Training Programmes, Farmers’ Meet and a host of other activities. Participants will be able to engage in the building of networking and productive collaborations, apart from updating themselves with the latest knowledge and trends in the banana sector
.”Dr C Suresh Kumar, General Secretary, CISSA, added that, “the festival will also play host to a Buyer-Seller Meet, Training Programmes, Documentary Shows, Photography Contest, Cultural Programmes, and various competitions. Banana is the one of the oldest fruits known to mankind and is one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world. Availability, affordability, a varietal range, taste, nutritive and medicinal value make it the favourite fruit among all classes of people. India stands first in banana production in the world.”
The main objectives of the National Banana festival is to Create awareness on the local biodiversity conservation; Promote entrepreneurship for doubling farmers income; Create awareness on the nutritional and health benefits of bananas; Promote utilization of under-utilized parts of banana -peels, leaves, pseudostem, stalk and inflorescence for food and non-food products; Augment the supply chain and value addition linkages; and Promote organic farming, precision farming, efficient input management and per drop more crop.
A National Seminar that will be part of the festival would host paper presentations from experts from across the country. Further, there will also be special pavilions on Banana diversity of Kerala; Banana fibre, and the like. A Food Court that will celebrate Banana Cuisine; and also Student pavilions will be part of the five day festival.
