Get a sense of the soil at GKVK Krishi Mela

Exhibitions happen all round the city, be it handlooms or home decorations, electronic gadgets, foodies, antiques, paintings, etc. But ever heard of one place where you get agricultural implements, hand tools, seeds, seedlings, pots, fertilizers, manure, nutritive solutions, organic food from self help groups-including jackfruit bajjies, chips, pickles, terracotta dolls, domesticated animals, fish varieties and every product and by-product of an agriculture field? All these and much more are on display every year at the ‘Krishi Mela’ organized in the GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. This year too, the farmer’s expo is happening during between 19-22 of November.

Those who decide to take a break and check out what happens around here, avoid bringing your cars, since there will be a massive crowd up to the GKVK gate. Once there, you will find directions, barricades, and policemen who make you go round and round the roads of GKVK until you reach the Krishi Mela grounds. While doing so, you will also find students of UAS, Bengaluru walking as freely in a route they desire, since they know the shortcuts. Navigating through the massive crowd is worth it for those who wish to have a kitchen garden in that little balcony of your house or a terrace garden!

Once you reach there, you will find huge stalls catering to different aspects of agriculture – agricultural technology, nursery, tissue culture, organic farming, agricultural inputs, and agricultural research. Along with this, you would also find a stage where best farmers in various crops being awarded by the minister, talks and presentations by government officials, etc.

GKVK Krishi Mela becomes the heaven for farmers, since they get the best opportunity to witness the latest advancements in the field of agriculture and bring them to their lands. They will find agro-business companies giving them demonstrations of various agricultural implements such as chaff cutter, sugarcane harvesters, areca nut peelers, paddy puddlers, weeders, intercrop weeders, coconut nut shellers, threshers, etc., so much so that farmers can decide on which tool suits them the best and go with it.

You will also find university researchers telling growers about the best methods of farming for a particular crop, starting from how to prepare the seed bed, irrigate the land, harvest the produce and most importantly, – how to store them or sell them at the right time! There will also be stalls on biological control of insects, organic farming in polyhouses, setting up biogas plants and extracting biodiesel for those progressive farmers who want to make money and save the environment. In last year’s Krishi Mela, the successful research on “Drip irrigation for paddy” was showcased for interested students and farmers. Keep your fingers crossed to find an equally important farm innovation this year too.

There are interesting things for the city folks who has no clue of agriculture but who want to cultivate a gardening hobby. You can find all kinds of hybrid seeds and desi seeds, and help yourself with a hand weeder that would help you remove weeds in your potted plants. You will find orchids at reasonable rates and ornamental flower bulbs and kiekies (that little vegetative stem of orchid which is much cheaper), along with the procedure to propagate them and the amount of manures, earth worms and bags of fertile soil you will need.

Children can rejoice looking at the diverse variety of domesticated animals, right from the massive Haryanvi Murra buffalo, Yorkshire pig, Amruthmahal bulls to rare species of ducks and chicken. You will also find the little self help groups from nearby taluks selling their handicraft products to the city folks including food items, old age wooden dolls called Marapachis, Channapatna toys, Handmade decorative items, funky accessories and all that you find in Commercial Street only a bit cheaper and directly from the producer.

You can also buy a colourful jute or bamboo hat to save you from the hot sun! So gear up again to witness the technology, diversity and agriculture business coming together at this year’s GKVK Krishi Mela!