KOCHI: The week-long Kalamassery Karshikolsavam at the Chakolas Ground in Kalamassery has proved a crowd-puller, with the ‘nattu chantha’ selling locally grown vegetables and other produce being the most visited venue.
According to sources associated with the agriculture festival, which is in its third edition, the daily sale at the ‘nattu chantha’ — the highlight of the festival — till Monday was more than Rs 10 lakh.
“Nearly all stalls at the festival are unique in many ways. The stalls set up by the four primary agricultural service cooperative societies presented visitors with various products that were once made at nearly every household in the state. The banana chips from the Kunnukara Vacuum Frame stand out in their taste and quality, while the Veliyathunad Poorna products and the Manjali Service Cooperative Bank’s mushroom products too are regarded highly,” a source said.
“The festival gave great importance to highlighting the heritage of the jaggery that had once placed Alangad on the global trade map. The diversity of the Karumalloor handloom stood out amongst other stalls. Ramassery Idli, Karupatti Murukku, Ambalapuzha Palpayasam and other dishes served at the food courts were other attractions,” the organisers said.
Besides the expo, the festival also saw 19 seminars being conducted.
“These seminars saw the participation of sub-committees formed by the farmers engaged in cultivating food crops on a large scale. Many of these sub-committees were converted into Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) at the festival,” a source said.