One of the much anticipated and colourful annual festivals in Goa
is the three day Konkan Fruit Festival which will be celebrating their 17th
edition this year. The festival will be held from April 21 to 23, from 10 am to
8 pm at the Dr Francisco Luis Gomes Garden, Panjim. It is facilitated by the
Botanical Society of Goa in collaboration with Agricos Alumni Association and
Corporation of the City of Panjim as festival partner. Directorate of
Agriculture, Goa College of Agriculture, Kamaxi College of Culinary Arts, NGOs
and many other government agencies will be associated in the event.
The members of the organising committee
include Daniel D’Souza, president of the Botanical Society of Goa, Estella
Pires, Chairperson of the Konkan Fruit Fest, Priyanka Parab, treasurer, Elston
Dias, Akshatra Fernandes, joint secretary, Jovita Sequeira, vice president and
members, Ashish Prabhugaonkar, Alvito D’Silva and Miguel Braganza. However, the
youngsters are the ones taking charge this year of organising and coordinating
the event.
Estella Pires from Navelim is a graduate of the third batch from
the Don Bosco college of Agriculture, Sulcorna. She passed out in 2021 and with
her sheer determination to make a change in the ecology of Goa, she was
selected as the secretary of the Botanical Society of Goa. She is now the
chairperson of the Konkan Fruit Fest and this is the second edition that she has
been coordinating. “It has been a great experience. Last year, we organised the
Konkan Fruit Fest followed by the Plant Festival. We feel lucky as those elder
than us didn’t get to learn all this at a younger age,” says Estella, who was a
volunteer at the festival as a student of the college.
Every year, the festival offers a varied array of locally grown
fruits from different parts of Goa which leaves the audience amazed. Berries
like Charam, Bheddsam, Churna, Kanttam, Kaneram, Mulberry etc besides the more
popular fruits of Goa like Mango, kokum and jackfruit can be seen at the
festival.
Konkan Fruit Fest is organised with a motive to celebrate and
promote local fruits of Goa and Konkan region. Since this year is observed as
‘International Year of Millets’ by UN, a new competition is introduced for the
event which is homemade millet and fruit dishes. Two new competitions will be
introduced this year, with millets and fruits as main ingredients, which is
already receiving a good response. The second competition is the honey
competition. “Best Honey Competition will be held on Saturday, April 22. It is
open to all honey producers of Goa. Entries will be accepted from 10 am till 2
pm. Judging will be based on the criteria of honey colour, taste, flavour and
consistency by professional beekeepers. It will be a competition of two
different species of honey bees, apis cerena indica and trigona spp. honey
categories. These bees are found in coastal as well as hilly regions of Goa. We
received a good response for the first competition ever at the Plant Festival
in 2022 and decided to have it again with these two categories,” says Estella.
The competitions are open to all and entry can be registered on
the spot. There will be exotic fruits on display which are from other countries
but grown in homes here. There will also be fruits on display which are getting
rarer by the day. We aim to showcase the diversity of Goa’s flora. “We often
hear our parents talk about the fruits that they used to eat in their childhood
but we don’t see them in the market. This will be a good place to spot those
fruits. There will be experts and volunteers to guide those visiting the
festival and a lot of questions will be answered. There will be a stall for
Maharashtra who will be selling Shankar Bael ice cream and jackfruit ice cream.
There will be 25 different vendors selling fresh fruit juices and mojitos.
Nurseries from Goa and neighbouring states will have an option of beautiful
plants, agricultural implements and equipment,” adds Estella.
Liza Pinheiro from Vasco da Gama is a graduate from the Don
Bosco College of the second batch. Soon after her graduation, the Covid-19
pandemic hit. But Liza took it in her stride and started her own brand, Fruits
of Hard Work that deal with kitchen garden and plant health Consultancy. She is
currently the organising secretary for the festival and will be representing
Agricos Alumni Association as its secretary. “The Konkan Fruit Fest is
receiving a good response as people are aware of the festival and look forward
to it annually. Besides different varieties of mangoes, people can also find
berries like chunna, kanta and charra which are sold in cones made out of
leaves. There are no entry fees and competition is open to all. The winners
will be selected from each category and cash prize along with certificates will
be presented on April 23,” says Liza.
The
inaugural ceremony of Konkan Fruit Festival will be held today at 11 am and
entries will be received for processed fruit products (juices, squashes, wines,
jams, pickles, cakes, chutney, souffles, jellies etc) and fruit-millet dishes
from 10 am till 2.30 pm.
