The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will organise its 5th state-level mango festival here on June 10 to showcase the produce of tribal farmers, an official said on Wednesday.

During the festival, beneficiary tribal farmers of the NABARD's WADI programme will sell their mangoes with the help of farmers producers organisations (FPOs) and NGOs.

The NABARD has implemented the WADI project to encourage tribal farmers to adopt horticulture, agriculture and farm forestry activities to boost their income at their native places and to prevent their migration, the official said.

“WADI is a flagship project for tribal farmers and families. Through this project, tribal farmers are able to enhance their family income by adopting various horticulture, agriculture and farm forestry activities at their native places, which helps in preventing their migration,” the official said. At least 75,176 tribal families have benefitted from the WADI project, he said.

Different varieties of mangoes are produced in Madhya Pradesh by tribal farmers and in order to provide a platform to these cultivators, the NABARD has been organising a mango festival every year at its regional office at Bhopal since 2018, the official said. Several varieties of mango produced in Madhya Pradesh, such as Kesar, Langra, Dashahari, Amrapali etc. will be sold at the festival, he added.

(With PTI inputs)