The 6th edition of VAIGA (Value Addition for Income Generation in Agriculture) expo is set to open on February 25 at Puthrikandam grounds, with seminars, workshops, B2B meet, agri hackathon and an exhibition with around 250 stalls, Minister for Agriculture P. Prasad said here on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Vaiga 2023 organized by the Agriculture Department at 4 pm on Saturday. The theme of the current edition is ‘Development of Value Chain in Agriculture’.
To promote online sale of agricultural products, the Agriculture Department has decided to have ‘Kerala Agro’ as the brand name of the products. The name will be formally announced at the expo, Mr. Prasad said. The department aims to increase the number of products to 100 by March 31. He said that currently 65 products are available online.
The B2B meet will be held from February 28 at the Mascot Hotel. The Agriculture Department aims to market the products of 145 producers through meat. Around 60 marketing agencies are expected to participate. The objective of the B2B meet is to find markets for the products of Kerala. The department is targeting business deals worth Rs 100 crore in the meeting.
The hackathon aims to identify technical and technological solutions to problems and challenges facing the state’s agriculture sector, including climate change, global warming, pest attacks, high production costs, price volatility and farm labor shortage. Students from the higher education sector, start-ups, professionals and farmers who have done advance registration will participate in the event.
MOU on Packaging
At the expo, the Department of Agriculture will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Packaging, Mumbai, to promote good packaging and labeling practices in the agriculture sector.
A DPR clinic, designed to help farmers prepare detailed project reports efficiently to obtain bank loans, will be organized as part of VAIGA. The preliminary round in this regard was organized from February 15 to 17 at the State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI).