BSS, Rangpur :
Speakers at the inaugural ceremony a three-day fruit tree fair Tuesday called for enhancing fruit production to meet nutritional demand side by side attaining self-reliance through alleviate poverty.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and Chilmari upazila administration have been jointly organising the Fruit Tree Fair- 2014 at Chilmari upazila parishad premises in Kurigram since Tuesday.
Chairman of Chilmari upazila parishad Shawkat Ali Sarker, Bir Bikram, attended and inaugurated the fair as the chief guest with Chilmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ahsan Habib in the chair.
Upazila female vice-chairman of Chilmari Marjina Begum Jelly attended the inaugural ceremony as the special guest.
Upazila level officials of the DAE, different agriculture related departments, institutions and research organisations, NGOs, nursery owners, students, youths, farmers, local elite and people from all walks in the society were present.
The DAE, Mohideb Samaj Kallyan Samity, SKS Foundation under the Souhardo-II Programme and nursery owners set up 20 stalls displaying 80 varieties of fruits including 40 indigenous species and 60 varieties of fruit- bearing saplings on the fair ground.
The speakers stressed for enhancing production of fruits, including local, indigenous and high yielding varieties, side by side with other crops through imparting necessary training and providing the latest technologies to the growers.
Referring to the prospects of fruit production in rural areas, they suggested for bringing all stakeholders into an integrated approach to enhance production of indigenous, high yielding and hybrid variety and high-priced fruits to earn more profits and benefits.
The chief guest asked every citizen for planting all varieties of fruit, timber and medicinal plants to also maintain the ecology, environment, bio-diversity for saving the country from natural catastrophes as a result of adverse impacts of climate change.
He suggested the experts to innovate modern and high yielding and hybrid varieties of fruits aiming at increasing productions round the year to meet total nutritional demand for the growing population side by side achieving economic self- reliance by the rural people.
