THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A five-day National Banana Festival (NBF -2018), to be organised by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Centre for Innovation in Science & Social Action (CISSA) at the Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat, from February 17 to 21, 2018, has called for papers to be presented at the national seminar that will be held as part of the festival. Abstract of the papers to be presented are to be submitted before January 15.
According to Dr C K Peethambaran, Chairman, Seminar Committee, “The NBF aims to provide a platform to disseminate latest knowledge and developments in the Banana sector through the national seminar that will held as part of the National Banana Festival. The focal theme of the festival would be Conserving Diversity, Preserving Identity and Promoting Value Addition”.
The sub themes would be: Understanding, conserving and using banana genetic diversity; Impact of climate change on banana productivity, pests and diseases; Medicinal and nutritional importance of banana; Biofortification; Value addition of banana and by products; Organic bananas challenges and opportunities; GM bananas – exciting opportunities or disaster; Crop and pest management; Soil Health Management; Tissue culture banana and quality planting materials; Post-harvest issues, alternative uses, marketing and commercialization; Banana for ornamental purposes; Wild banana species in India; Emerging technologies and mechanization in Banana sector; and Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) in Banana.
Papers can be submitted on any of the focal themes or the sub themes of the festival. Though the presenters can opt for oral or poster presentations, the review committee will decide the mode after review of the abstracts. For details on the festival, fee details and abstract submission log on to www.bananafest.in. The review committee will make the final decision on the mode of presentation. Academicians, scientists, students and others from the related sector can send in their abstracts.
The 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 organise the mega festival at the Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat. The Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat, which has been adopted by Sri Suresh Gopi, MP, under the Prime Minister’s Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), has already made a name for its intensive farming of diversified varieties of banana.
Apart from the experts from Kerala, scientists and experts from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, National Research Centre for Banana-Trichy, Indian Institute for Horticulture Research- Bangalore, JNU Delhi, Assam Agricultural University, Gandhigram Rural Institute- Madurai, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialization, Maharashtra, YSR Hoticultural University, Andhra Pradesh; ICAR Research Complex for NEH region, Meghalaya, CSIR and APEDA will be delivering lectures.
The National Banana Festival 2018 would showcase the wide diversity of bananas in India and the varied uses of this unique fruit. The five day festival will include National exhibition, national seminar, farmers meet, training programmes, buyer seller meet, documentary shows, cultural programmes, photography contest and various other competitions.
