4-day Agrovision in Nagpur from Oct 15

Mumbai, Aug 9 (UNI) The four-day ''Agrovision 2007'' will be hosted in Nagpur beginning October 15.

The national conference and exhibition is being organised by the Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VEDC) and MM Activ Scitech Communication Company with support from the Maharashtra Government, National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation (MAIDC), National Research Centre for Citrus (NRCC), and Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), among others.

Addressing reporters and industry representatives, VEDC President Vilas Kale and MM Activ joint Managing Director Ravi Boratkar said the event will be inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Industry captains from the sectors of agri inputs, agri- processing and agri equipments, and agri marketing will participate in the four-day event.

''We want to educate and empower the farmers to meet the challenges arising out of contract farming,'' Mr Kale and Mr Boratkar stressed.

Agrovision 2007 is a major step towards creating a mega agri event that will bring together the industry, the scientific fraternity, and government agencies to interact with each other, Mr Boratkar said.

Leading companies, representing different agri-industries, will get a platform to interact with policy-makers and progressive farmers, he added.

One of the key agenda of 'Agrovision' is to ensure that the farmers are the main beneficiaries by educating them in agri-processing, value addition, post harvest activities, agri-marketing and other non farm activities and better trading practices, and contract farming, Mr Boratkar said.

Agrovision was first held in 2001 at New Delhi along with the 91st Indian Science Congress under the leadership of former ICAR secretary Dr R S Paroda and under the guidance of Prof M S Swaminathan. The event was held subsequently in 2004 and 2006 at Chandigarh and Hyderabad respectively.

From this year onwards, 'Agrovision' will be an annual activity with Nagpur as the permanent venue.

The event will consist of three major activities -- a national exposition, a two-day conference on agri marketing, and a one-day symposium on bio-fuels. The exposition will showcase new technologies in the fields of agri inputs, agri processing and agri equipments.

UNI