Suggi Huggi Habba cebebrates state's rich harvest

Lalbagh botanical garden wore a festival look on Sunday. Visitors were treated with an array of crops particularly millets, craftwork, cultural programmes.

Suggi Huggi Habba hosted jointly by the Agricultural Department, Cultural Department, Horticulture Department, BBMP, Akshayapatra Foundation and Department of Handicrafts at the garden provided a glimpse of state's rich culture by showcasing the harvest celebration.

The fair was a precursor to the Organics and Millet 2018 International Trade Fair to be held on January 19 to promote the use of organic food and millet among people.

Stalls lined up the garden displaying various varieties of millet, craftwork, with farmers and artisans explaining the visitors the importance of organic food and the way the craftworks are created.

"I made his myself. The material used to make them are all used ones," said Jagadish C, a proud artisan who is involved in making lamps with cassettes and dried leaves for more than a decade.

Children are not used to cassettes anymore. This is one way of making them know about these materials, Jagadish added.

The day-long fair showcased products from around eight different regions of the state.

Farmers and members of regional cooperative federation from Mysuru and Mandya stood in traditional attire with heaps of millets piled on the floor explaining people about them.

"We love Sankranthi festival. It is a chance to show our harvest," said R Ramesh, president of the regional cooperative federation, Mysuru, pointing at the pile of millet in his stall.

Other programmes that attracted visitors during the event were kite flying festival, Raashi Pooje, folk performances, bullock cart ride and fire crossing by bulls among others.

"This is our first time at a fest like this. My children rarely know about the names of the millet from our own home state. The event is an experience for them to know more about the crops," said Shanthakumari, mother of two from Bengaluru.

"We are trying to give a glimpse of the culture and traditions of the farmers. We are trying to make this an annual event," said Krishna Byre Gowda, Minister for Agriculture.

He added that exhibitions can promote farmers. He said that there was a decline in millet crops for around 15 years. But it is now revived, he said.