The National Bank For Agriculture & Rural Development’s Agri-Export Facilitation Centre AEFC exhibited a stall during three days massive training at ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices on the occasion of "Conference on Seed Spices and Allied Crops 2024's Institute-Industry Meet 2024" held on 15th March 2024 at Dr RS Paroda Symposium Hall at ICAR - NRCSS, Ajmer.

To promote agri and food export from the state of Rajasthan, NABARD - Agri Export Facilitation Center (AEFC), Jodhpur showcased various products, interacted with participating stakeholders including entrepreneurs and small agri business, able led by Dr Naresh Dudi & K.S Bharadwaj of AEFC and South Asia Biotechnology Centre focusing mainly on farmers Skill Development, Exchange Programs, Advisory, Linking Farmer to Market and Exporters, Agri experts facilitate and On Field demonstration.

AEFC exhibition mainly contributed to participating key stakeholders by providing POP's, IPM strategic practices and IPM management of seed spices like Cumin, Fennel, Isabgol etc. Apart from this NABARD - AEFC also guides farmers in production of pomegranate, millets and other valuable crops of Rajasthan.

Open-field exhibition and on-site testing of soil health and water were two of the most exciting features of the “Thar Anar Kisan Mela” held at the Krishi farm of Sh. Chandra Prakash ji Mali, a progressive pomegranate grower in village Dechu of Phalodi on 28 Nov 2023, organized by National Bank For Agriculture & Rural Development Agri-Export Facilitation Centre (AEFC) along with Rajasthan Govt Phalodi, Yara India and South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC).

Bayer Crop Science India and Yara India Fertilizers showcased products for integrating pests, disease and nutrient management and demonstrated their impact on pomegranate production and fruit quality. Both Yara India and Bayer Crop Science India exhibited and showcased products specific to pomegranate cultivation, nutrient management for crops, offering a wide range of products tailored to specific nutrient management needs including macro and micro nutrients, plant growth promoters, insecticides and fungicides, and explained the features of products to visiting farmers and the chief guest Dr. J.S. Sandhu, Ex-DDG (Crop Science) ICAR & Ex-Vice chancellor of SKNAU, Jobner along with Dr. Jagdish Rane, Director, ICAR-CIAH, Sh. Manish Manda, NABARD-DDM (Jodhpur), Dr. A.K. Patel, In-charge of Agri-incubation Centre of CAZRI, Sh. Jhoomar Ram Meghwal, Department of Horticulture, Sh. Pratap Meghwal, Department of Agriculture, Sh. Bhawani Singh Rathore, elected representative of Dechu Panchayat and progressive farmers from Jodhpur, Barmer, Phalodi and Jaisalmer districts of Western Rajasthan.

Bayer’s team led by Sh Ganpatrao Patil, Sh Amit Yadav, Sh. Anil Pareekh and Sh. Sanjeev Kumawat whereas Yara India was represented by Dr. Prakash Sawant and Ms. Anjali Manral along with representatives of INI Farms- AgroStar, PI Industries Ltd and BigBasket .

On this occasion, NABARD AEFC’s exhibit featured presentations by Sapna Bohra and Shreya Mishra of SABC illustrated the scheduling of “Mrig Bahar treatment” in pomegranate and sharing of the success story of farmer Sh Chandra Prakash Mali, who utilized scheduled processes and various nutrient specific techniques to enhance pomegranate cultivation, resulting in increased production and returns. Additionally, Kanteti Suryananda Bharadwaj and Dr. Naresh Dudi demonstrated live field soil and irrigation water testing, using mobile testing kits to provide instant on-spot results, offering test-based recommendations to overcome nutrient deficiency. In the ongoing pomegranate season, South Asia Biotechnology Centre along with Yara India has played a crucial role in establishing and standardizing protocols for pomegranate cultivation in the Thar desert of Western Rajasthan.

NABARD AEFC attended the Millet Mahotsav, a 2-day Millets Fair-cum-Exhibition organized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Government of India at the ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan from 20-21 April 2023. Rajasthan is the largest producer of millet in India contributing more than 16 percent share in India’s production.

With more than 1000 participants, the event encompassed a wide range of activities like exhibition and sale of various millet-based products, millet recipe demonstration, sharing of success stories, informative sessions on millet processing, interactive sessions between industry experts and micro food processing enterprises, self help groups, farmer producer organizations, producer cooperatives, etc.

Rajasthan, the “National Leader in Pearl Millets” hosted Rajasthan Millet Conclave 2023 from 13-14 March 2023 organized jointly by State Institute of Agriculture Management and Indian Institute of Millets Research at Jaipur, Rajasthan. NABARD Agri Export Facilitation Centre (AEFC) of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development exhibited stall during Rajasthan Millet Conclave 2023 showcasing potential of production, processing and export of pearl millet from Rajasthan. A team of experts led by Dr. D. Kumar and Dr. Deepak Jakhar interacted with visitors, shared handouts and prepared short clippings and dataset of potential start-ups, entrepreneurs and agri businesses, and provided necessary guidance and leads to value added millet products.