Panchekal Municipality Organizes Two-Day Agricultural Fair

Kavrepalanchok. Panchekal Municipality has organized a two-day agricultural fair with the objective of promoting agricultural produce to realize the slogan of 'Agro-City'. Approximately 20,000 people have observed the fair organized by the municipal office in collaboration with Lovegreen Nepal.

The fair organized by the municipality in coordination with Lovegreen aims to encourage innovation in the agricultural sector. In the fair, exhibition and sale of agricultural produce produced by IPM technology, crop camps, and competitive programs of agricultural produce were conducted. The fair was inaugurated by Mayor Mahesh Kharel on Friday.

On the occasion, Mayor Kharel argued that Panchekal town is an agricultural city, hence its vegetables have low pesticide content. He said, "Although there have been rumors that Panchekal's vegetables have excessive pesticides, for the past few years, Panchekal's vegetables have been semi-organic, and we are emphasizing organic to dispel the illusion of pesticides." He stated that in collaboration with Lovegreen Nepal, more than 1,200 farmers in Panchekal have been trained in vegetable farming using the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) method, and through that technology, vegetables have moved towards organic.

Farmers in Panchekal are urging the start of a weekly agricultural wholesale market on their own initiative. "The municipality is ready to address the demands of the farmers," said Mayor Kharel. Lovegreen Nepal has been providing training related to IPM to farmers for the past nine years. The organization's Executive Director Narayan Gyawali said that through training, it has played an important role in promoting healthy and safe agricultural production, protecting human health, increasing production, and enhancing farmers' income.

In the agricultural fair, crop camps, exhibition and sale of indigenous produce, competitive programs of agricultural produce, direct dialogue with farmers and farmer groups, exhibition and sale of agricultural produce produced by IPM method, and exhibition-sale of dishes of potatoes and other produce produced in Panchekal have been displayed.