Ludhiana, Dec 3, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
Presenting multitude colours of flowers through the display of 2,000 pots, the two-day “Chrysanthemum Show” kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. Dedicated to the celebrated Punjabi poet Bhai Vir Singh, who was a great admirer of flowers; the show has been jointly organised by the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping (DF&L) as well as the Estate Organization of PAU.
Inaugurating the show, the chief guest Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said, “With its demand gaining momentum and no replacement to its natural beauty, chrysanthemums remain the highly sought after flowers for enriching the surroundings.”
Beneath the trees, in this open area of Dr Manmohan Singh Auditorium, the beauty of numberless chrysanthemums was a pleasant sight to the eyes of the beholders, who had a rare opportunity to enjoy their company, rather than sitting in isolation and remaining glued to their smart phones, he observed.
With chrysanthemum placed at the second spot in the international flower market, the University has been bestowed with the honour of being one of the top centres of the ICAR for floriculture research and production, PAU VC divulged.
Dr APS Gill, Former Professor of Floriculture, PAU, and Ex-National Consultant of Floriculture, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA); Dr JS Arora, and Dr Ramesh Kumar Former Head, DF&L, PAU, were the special guests on the occasion.
Both the dignitaries extolled the undeviating attention of the DF&L in keeping this age-old tradition of holding Chrysanthemum Show alive during its peak blooming period.
Dr Parminder Singh, Head of DF&L, while sharing the intricacies of the show, informed that the department had a collection of more than 250 varieties of chrysanthemum and developed 17 varieties of chrysanthemum including seven hybrids till date.
Garnering an enthusiastic response on the opening day, the show exhibited more than 90 varieties of chrysanthemums belonging to diverse categories, he said. There were 10 classes (incurved, reflexed, spider, decorative, pompon/button, single/double Korean, spoon, anemone, any other and specially trained plants) for the competition comprising Japanese and Korean varieties of chrysanthemum, he added.
