Kathmandu, December 2:

Narayangarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) is going to organise a five-day long Agro Expo-2007 at Naray-angarh along the banks of Narayani river from December 14 to 18.

“The agro expo is a part of chamber’s annual activities,” Uday Kumar Shrestha, president of NCCI, at a pre-event press conference today said, adding that NCCI has been organising such fairs to promote overall socio-economic development of Chitwan and its surrounding districts for last 12 years.

According to him, the final preparation for the event is underway. Different government agencies including the Department of Livestock, Department of Agriculture and Regional

Directorate are co-organisers of the event, while the Federation of Nepalese Chambers

of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), GTZ-PSPP, DDC Chitwan and Bharatpur municipality are the promoters.

Commercial agro farming of Chitwan, which is pioneer in the country will be the major highlight of the event. “Poultry, dairy, bee keeping and honey production, fishery, livestock and seasonal and off seasonal vegetable farming are also rapidly booming in the district,” Shrestha added.

According to NCCI, Chitwan district alone supplies more than 50 per cent of total

consumed chicken and eggs in the country, while it produces 1,52,000 litres milk every day. However, only 45 per cent of total milk produced is being sold. The district also supplies green vegetables to major cities like Kathmandu, Hetauda, Pokhara and other cities in eastern Nepal.

Chitwan has recently earned popularity for beekeeping and honey production also. The number of bee-hives in the district is estimated at around 10,000 and annual production of honey is 250,000 kg.

A total of 115-hectare land is used for fishery and annual production of fish is estimated at around 550,000 kg.

“The five-day long agro festival will have 150 stalls, displaying all kinds of agro-produces available in the country,” he said, adding that other attractions of the event will be different types of competitions, food festival, cultural shows and live music.

The organisers expect 50,000 visitors during the event.