Vegetable and fruit carvings and a model of Mars Orbiter Mission – made from thousands of roses – were a huge draw at the flower and horticultural exhibition that began on Saturday at Kadri Park.
But the stall of the Department of Horticulture had something more to offer. Two varieties of tapioca root (maragenasu) weighing 20 to 40 kg, red and yellow bell peppers, and tissue-cultured banana plantain, besides a neera extraction unit. You could also taste the neera nectar, neera bella (jaggery) and neera sakkare (sugar).
Many stalls sold gardening equipment, seeds, fountains, sprayers that could reach a tall coconut or areca palms. But the stalls put up by nurseries selling various plants seemed to be hogging attention. People also crowded around the stall exclusively selling varieties of jackfruit. Minister B. Ramanath Rai inaugurated the show.
