Mangaluru: A two-day fruits’ and jackfruit fests at the Urban Hath of Shivaram Karanth Pilikula Nisargadhama under the joint auspices of the Horticulture Department and Dakshina Kannada District agricultural associations was inaugurated on Saturday, June 8.   

Moodbidri MLA Umanath Kotian inaugurated the fest by cutting a jackfruit and said, “Today’s youth must be informed about the vitamins and minerals, which are available in the fruits, especially jackfruit. People should give importance to fruits which are being grown in our local area which would be helpful for the farmers.”

Many jackfruit delicacies such as ‘garige’, ‘mambala’, ‘sukkeri’, ‘uppad pachchir’, ‘halva’, ‘pappad’ among others were sold at different stalls. Many farmers produced different varieties of delicacies on the spot itself. Hence, there was a good demand for such products at the fest.  

The festival showcased various varieties of jackfruits, mangoes and all other kinds of fruits. Meanwhile, medicinal plants, khadi clothes,  hand-woven clothes, agricultural products, seeds of different verities of vegetables were put up for exhibition and sale. 

The people were seen thronging an ice-cream stall, where a product was prepared using only arecanut, chilly, tender coconut, mango among others. There were seven different varieties of ice creams and five types of candies. Adarsha Subraya of Kailars Natural Icecreams said that no colour or essence was mixed while preparing an ice-cream and that it is purely natural. “Though we charge Rs 40 for one bowl of ice-cream, it is purely natural and there is no side-effects”, he informed.