Sunday, 06 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Uttarakhand’s two-day annual spring festival Vasantotsav will start from March 8 in Raj Bhawan premises. People associated with the businesses based on flowers like bouquet makers, garland makers among others have also been invited this year. Besides this, research institutes will also demonstrate the latest technologies for vertical gardening, hydroponics and aeroponics to encourage flowers plantation in urban areas. The governor Lieutenant General (retd) Gurmit Singh said this in the curtain-raiser of the festival organised at Raj Bhawan on Saturday. He said that the festival, which is being organised since the year 2003, has introduced people to the world of flowers and inspired many to take interest in floriculture. He said that the festival has now become an identity of the state. He said, “We will be organising 12 main competitions including cut flowers, potted plants management, loose flower management and succulents among others. These categories will have 51 subcategories and a total of 153 prizes will be given to the winners for attaining any of the first three positions. The competition of pots will also commence from this year. Children aged five to 18 years will be eligible to participate in the competitions.
A special cover featuring Yamuna Tulsi/Kunj (Artemisia vulgaris), which is found in various parts of the state, will also be unveiled on March 8 in association with the postal department.”
Talking about how this spring festival will be different from the past ones, Singh said that several new things will be initiated in this festival. “A total of 30 departments and various central and state level institutes will be participating in the event. The Forest Research Institute (FRI) and Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar will also display the latest technologies for vertical gardening, hydroponics and aeroponics to encourage locals to adopt gardening in the limited space available in urban areas. A ‘Do You Know’ stall will also be installed to spread the knowledge and usefulness of flowers,” stated the governor. He also said that five selected farmers and producers will be awarded and announced as brand ambassadors for their excellent work in the field of floriculture.
On being asked about the future of floriculture in the state, he said that many have developed an interest in the field across the state in the past few years as the geographical conditions are quite suitable here for floriculture. He stated, “In the last 20 years, flower production has increased from 150 hectares to 1609.93 hectares. The state produces about 3022.90 metric tonnes of loose flowers annually. We have favourable conditions to support floriculture but a lot is needed to achieve the aim of making the state self-sufficient and economically profitable in the production and business of flowers. I hope maximum number of youth take part in this festival and develop interest towards floriculture.”
