Ooty veggie fest: Farmers decry wastage

UDHAGAMANDALAM: Using over 2,000 kg of vegetables of different varieties for carvings of different shapes, the 8th annual vegetable show was inaugurated at the Nehru Park in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris, as part of Annual Summer Festivities-2015, on Saturday. The show, known for its exhibits made of vegetables, have upset farmers who see the show a colossal waste.
The vegetable show first started in 2008 in line with the traditional flower show in Ooty as part of the summer festival in the Nilgiris.
"Creating various models using flowers as part of a flower show cheer up visitors and is liked by all. But doing the same with vegetables entails wastage of food," said N Viswanathan, a farmer and president of Nilgiris Floriculturists' Association. He added, "It is painful for farmers to see more than 2 tonnes of vegetables being wasted for a two-day show. We strongly condemn the action".
In the show, about nine districts including Tirupur, Erode, Kanyakumari, Tanjore and Trichy, apart from the Nilgiris, took part showcasing different shapes made of different kind of vegetables. The show exhibited a 'vegetable helicopter', made of 500 kg of capsicum and several other carvings of animals and birds made from vegetables like carrot, radish, pumpkin and eggplant, weighing over 2,000kg on the whole.
The 12-foot-high, eight-foot-wide and 30-foot-long �capsicum helicopter', by the Nilgiris Horticulture Department, was the major attraction in the show. "The concept of developing the 'capsicum helicopter' is to promote cultivation of capsicum in the Nilgiris", said N Mani, joint director, Horticulture Department. He added, "About 87 varieties of vegetables including those grown on the hills as well as the plains were used for making the structures and vegetable- carvings in the show".
Dharmalingam Venugopal, director, Nilgiri Documentation Centre, Kotagiri, said, "TWhile conducting the annual vegetable show in Kotagiri is alright, the event should evolve into a fair, where all aspects of vegetable growing namely soil, seeds and seedlings, plant protection, growing technologies, farming tools, marketing and value addition can be on display and sale. It should benefit the cultivator, the consumer and the trader besides the visitors," he said.
He added, "The practice of wasting vegetables for preparing exhibits to entertain visitors should be discouraged. Such wastage mocks the crisis farmers are going through in the country today".
K Mohan, a farmer in Coonoor said, "Carvings made of vegetables to attract tourists is in a way insulting the farmers. Consumables cannot be wasted in the name of a show. Only we know how much effort and sweat go in growing vegetables."
When asked about the fate of the vegetables after the show, Mani said, "Over 2,000 kg of vegetables of different kinds were used for carvings of different shapes. However, we have no option but to throw them as they will have gone bad by the end of the show".
In an average, over 70-80 tonnes of vegetables grown in the hills are transported to various parts of Tamil Nadu and other states daily. Ooty potato, carrot and cabbage are most sought after in the market anywhere.
Additional chief secretary to the TN government, tourism, culture and religious Endowment, and commissioner tourism R Kannan inaugurated the two-day vegetable show while the Nilgiris collector P Sankar presided over the function. in the presence of Har Sahay Meena, managing director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, besides horticulture department officials and the Nilgiris MP.