The two-day jackfruit festival concluded at Nanjaraja Bahadur choultry in Mysuru on Sunday (May 17), with Deputy Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry) Shankare Gowda urging people to conserve and popularise the indigenous varieties of the fruit.

“Our Mysuru region is home to diverse varieties of jackfruit and mango. Our forest regions are a treasure house of sour mango trees and other wild mango species. Rare varieties of jackfruit are also found here. If we fail to conserve them, future generations may not even get to see these varieties,” he said, while emphasising on the need to identify, conserve, and popularise such indigenous varieties.

He was speaking after distributing prizes to children who participated in the ‘Na Kandante Halasu’ (’Jackfruit Through My Eyes’) painting competition organised at the festival under the joint aegis of Sahaja Samrudha, Desi Seeds Producer Company, and the Department of Horticulture – Kisan Mall.

Manjunath Angadi, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mysuru, said a Kisan Mall was established on the Horticulture Nursery premises near Kukkarahalli Lake for the benefit of farmers and consumers. 

“Organic products, agricultural tools, and bio-inputs will be made available there on a regular basis. Farmers and consumers should make good use of this facility,” he said.

A press statement released by the organisers here said the ‘Na Kandante Halasu’ painting competition was organised under the aegis of ICAR–JSS Krishi Vigyan Kendra. 

In the 5–9 years category, Moulya S. won the first prize, Rishika Nandi S.K. secured second place, and Vihaan A. won third place. In the 10–12 years category, Adya E. Srivatsa won the first prize, Dheeraj secured second place, and Gokul Aryan won third place, the statement said.

In the jackfruit bulb-eating competition, Jayalakshmi won in the women’s category, while Mohan Kumar S.D. won in the men’s category. In the jackfruit lifting competition, Ramachandra won in the men’s section, and Sumitha won the jackfruit weight-guessing competition in the women’s category.

The organisers said the two-day jackfruit festival successfully attracted large crowds, with more than 6,000 visitors attending the fair. 

“Around 1,000 saplings of red jackfruit varieties such as Siddhu and Shankara were sold. Jackfruits brought by growers from different parts of Karnataka witnessed brisk sales. Customers especially rushed to buy the rare red-coloured ‘Chandra Halasu’ variety,” the statement added.

Visitors also enthusiastically purchased value-added jackfruit products. Dasheri and other organic mango varieties received an excellent response from consumers. Business transactions worth nearly ₹30 lakh were recorded during the two-day event, the organisers said in a statement.

Meanwhile, arrangements had been made to continue the sale of mangoes and jackfruits at the Kisan Mall for the next one week for the convenience of customers who could not attend the festival.