A delegate addresses the 28th International Horticulture Congress in Lisbon, Portugal in 2010. Farmers from Bihar will attend the 29th congress in Brisbane, Australia in 2014

A son-of-the-soil’s endeavour to promote farmers from the state globally has borne fruit with International Horticultural Congress declaring to give the tillers a patient hearing on topics related to their style of functioning.

This would be for the first time that farmers from the state would attend the symposium on horticulture to be convened at the 29th International Horticultural Congress (IHC) in Brisbane, Australia.

The theme of the 2014 congress is “Horticulture — sustaining lives, livelihoods and landscapes”.

The organising committee of IHC-2014, which would be held between August 17 and August 14, took the decision on Monday.

Informing about the decision, senior lecturer of environmental engineering at Griffith School of Engineering, Brisbane, Rajiv Kumar Sinha told The Telegraph from Australia: “In a meeting held on Monday, professor Rod Drew, the co-president, Australia, of IHC-2014 organising committee, allocated AUS$ 10,000 for participation of Indian farmers and horticulture scientists.” Sinha is originally from Bihar.

“The event was supposed to be attended by two Indian farmers and as many horticulture scientists. On my request, the organisers have agreed to invite the Indian delegates from Bihar. Rod is very happy that farmers (grassroots workers and ‘barefoot scientists’) will be coming to present their works — not heard so far in international meets,” he said.

Sinha added: “There will be special workshops for farmers from developing countries followed by interactions with Australian farmers involved in horticulture. Presentations in native languages will be translated into English for the audience.”

IHC is a global forum covering all aspects of horticulture and its science. It is held every four years at various countries and participated by more than 2,000 delegates. Sinha would select the farmers and the horticulture scientists and recommend their names to the executive committee of the convention.

“I have to identify two poor, but intelligent, farmers, and two dedicated horticulture scientists from Bihar. I would prefer selecting scientists working on vermiculture horticulture,” he said.

“Sinha is a sincere and great scientist. I would like to congratulate and thank him for bringing this great achievement, which would contribute to the growth in the horticulture sector. We are in regular touch with him,” said Dipak Kumar Singh, the secretary of the state environment and forest department.