National Banana Festival 2018: Reception Committee Office Inaugurated

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Reception Committee office that was set up ahead of the National Banana Festival 2018 (NBF 2018) was inaugurated in front of the Vellayani Temple at Kalliyoor by Suresh Gopi, MP.
R Jayalekshmi, President, Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat; Dr C Sureshkumar, General Secretary, CISSA & Chief co-ordinator, NBF 2018; Dr C S Ravindran, Secretary General, NBF 2018; Dr C K Peethambaran, Chairman, Seminar Committee, NBF 2018; S Suresh, District President, BJP Thiruvananthapuram; Girija, Vinukumar, Satheesan, Block Members, Nemom; T Harindran Nair, Former Vice President, Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat; and G Subhodhan, State Vice President , INTUC; were among those present.
The official inauguration of the Reception Committee was inaugurated last Friday by M Vincent, MLA, Kovalam. The five- day National Banana Festival will be organized by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Centre for Innovation in Science & Social Action (CISSA) at the Vellayani temple ground in Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat, from February 17th to 21st.
Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat, Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) acknowledged by United Nations University; ICAR-National Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli; UNESCO New Delhi, Central and State Government institutions involved in Banana Research and Promotion, as well as NGOs working in this sector, will collaborate with CISSA to organize the mega festival at the sprawling ground in Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat.
Organizing a big national level event, at a rural village is a distinct specialty of the festival. Banana farmers, businessmen, academicians, machinery manufacturers, agro biotech companies and researchers from around the country will be brought together at the event. Conserving Diversity, Preserving Identity and Promoting Value Addition form the focal theme for the festival.