A three day Regional Agriculture Fair was inaugurated on 03 February 2024 at ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. Shri Surya Pratap Shahi, Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh graced the inaugural session as the Chief Guest. The Inaugural session of the agriculture fair began with the ICAR song. Dr. Tushar Kanti Behera, Director of the Institute, while welcoming the guests at the outset, elaborately highlighted the relevance of the fair and reiterated the commitment of the Institute to continuously work in the interest of farmers. Addressing the inaugural session of the fair, the Hon'ble Minister said that the Government of Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is committed to work in the interest of farmers. He said that today the country has not only become self-reliant in food production, but we are also exporting agricultural products abroad and through that the farmers are getting economic strength. Dr Mangala Rai, Ex-Secretary DARE and DG, ICAR, the special guest of the function, called for the benefit of farmers through value addition of secondary agriculture which manages residues from agro- and other industries. He emphasized on soil health promotion through widespread propagation of microorganisms. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. U. S. Gautam, Deputy Director General, ICAR, said that the future of agriculture can be improved through artificial intelligence and drone technology.

Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, Assistant Director General, ICAR said that in this fair, direct communication is being done with the farmers at various levels so that the farmers are aware of the current challenges and are also learning how to deal with them. On this occasion, farmers from different states of the country were felicitated. Principal Scientist Dr Neeraj Singh gave the vote of thanks. The inaugural session was attended by Vice Chancellors of various Agricultural Universities, Directors of Institutions and Agricultural Scientists as well as students, farmers, entrepreneurs, women from Self Help Groups.

On the second day (04 Feb., 2024) of the ongoing Regional Agriculture Fair at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, a total of 12 different topics were discussed in two technical sessions. More than 2800 farmers from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh etc. participated in which the number of women has been more than a thousand. Dr. Tushar Kanti Behera, Director of the Institute, while welcoming the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the sessions reiterated his commitment to continuously work in the interest of farmers. Presiding over the first session on "Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Microbial Technology," Dr. U. S. Gautam, Deputy Director General, Krishi Prasar. ICAR said that there is a continuous effort by the institutions to increase the agricultural production in the country, but there is a need to reach out to the farmers and imbibe appropriate and effective techniques, in which the role of Regional Krishi Mela is meaningfully revealed. He informed about the Government of India's scheme Aarya (Attracting Rural Youth in Agriculture) to attract rural youth to the agriculture sector while staying in rural areas and said that the Prime Minister has set a target of making 15000 Drone Didis on which extensive training has started and through this women empowerment will happen.

The three-day long Regional Agriculture Fair was concluded on February 5. Dr. Punjab Singh, former Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and former Director General, ICAR was the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. Dr. Tushar Kanti Behera, Director of the Institute, while welcoming the guests, informed that in three days, more than 9000 farmers from 7 states including UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh participated in which the number of women has been more than three thousand. Also, through a total of 6 sessions and 80 stalls, discussions were held on the latest methods of agriculture, crops, agricultural techniques, organic farming and latest technologies by scientists and progressive farmers. In the mela, 10 progressive farmers were also felicitated which included Shri Bhuvan Chandra, a progressive farmer from Nainital, Uttarakhand, Shri Pramod Verma from Deoghar, Jharkhand, Shri Sushanta Das from Kendrapara, Orissa, Shri Shivshankar Mehta from Madhepura, Bihar, Shri Kundan Singh Lodhi from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Shri Brijesh Kumar and Kamlesh Singh from Varanasi, Smt Manisha Maurya, a woman farmer from Bhadohi, Shri Ram Kirat Mishra from Sultanpur and Shri Nagesh Kumar Singh from Mirzapur. On the occasion, awards were also given to various stalls in the agriculture exhibition in which first prize in the category of ICR institutions was given to National Orchid Research Centre, Sikkim, second prize to Indian Institute of Spices Research, India, Kozhikode, third prize jointly to Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur and consolation prize to Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly and Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar. In the category of other institutions, the first prize was given to IRRI South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi, the second prize to Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Ayodhya and the third prize jointly to Kashi Raj FPO, Varanasi and Agrimitra FPO, Mirzapur.