AIZAWL, Sept 19: Hectic preparations are underway for the gala celebration of Anthurium Festival 2012 in Aizawl, as of every year.
With the flower Anthurium has become so popular all over the world and Mizoram has been blessed with the flower, the state government is encouraging to promote the flower.
Come September 20, the three-day gala Anthurium Festival will kick off here with colourful cultural programmes. Well known artists are also all set to enthrall the people during the festival. On the conclusion day of the festival i.e September 22, the organisers are preparing for the Anthurium Queen contest.
Mizoram Governor Vakhom B. Purushothaman will grace this year’s Anthurium Festival.
Large number of tourists from outside Mizoram are expected to participate in the three-day festival.The Anthurium Festival serves the purpose of bringing togetherness among the different tribes in Mizoram and promotes their cultures and at the same time attract domestic and foreign tourists to the beauty of Mizoram. Many farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir and Darjeeling had contributed a lot to their state economy through Anthurium cultivation, taking a note of this, Mizoram government had also taking all-out efforts to promote Anthurium cultivation among the farmers.
About 700 families in Mizoram are engaged in anthurium cultivation with financial assistance from the horticulture department. With hundreds of house-holds growing the flower, Aizawl district tops all other districts in anthurium cultivation. Horticulture officials said owing to the state’s suitable geographical conditions, Mizoram’s anthurium flowers are of high quality and are in great demand in other states of India and even abroad, besides the local market. Decorated and medicated anthurium flowers have been exported in huge numbers to countries like Japan, UAE, European countries through an agency called Zo Anthurium Growers Society (ZAGS) working for marketing and others improvement of anthurium farmers in Mizoram. Besides this festival, ZAGS had organised Anthurium Exhibition-cum-Sale programmes in various places of the state to promote farmers and selling the flowers at reasonable prices to the public.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/anthurium-festival-at-mizoram/
