Surajkund Mela: A Fusion of Culture, Tourism, and Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture and Cultural Integration are the new themes at Surajkund Mela and Haryana's Agricultural Innovations

Surajkund, 19 February 2025 – The 38th International Surajkund Craft Mela has been a reflection of cultural exchange and eco-sustainable development. The event this year featured extraordinary hospitality being rendered to 635 foreign guests from 44 nations, thus highlighting Haryana's increasing place as a tourist and cultural destination. The Department of Tourism made everything go very smoothly for all the foreign tourists, with everything arranged from the time they arrived at the airport to their accommodations in hotels, so that the celebration of the festival was unforgettable.

Tourism Department, headed by Managing Director Sunil Kumar, made arrangements of accommodation and traveling for foreign visitors and artists and reserved 400 rooms in Suroday, Lalit, Gold Finch, and Rose Wood hotels. There were a total of 44 Volvo buses mobilized for safe movement of visitors, with chain hotels such as HTC and OYO offering meals, accommodation, and other facilities.

The department also set up a Grievance Portal to redress any grievances the visitors may have experienced at the earliest. Surprisingly, there were no grievances received, and this in itself is a testimony to how flawlessly the event had gone. The festival also featured 99 booked stalls of international nations such as Belarus, Cameroon, Lebanon, Egypt, etc., where they were able to display their cultural heritage as well as skill sets.

Haryana's commitment to showcasing cultural diversity was evident at the cultural evening when focus moved to Odisha, the theme state of the year. Odisha's Deputy Chief Minister Prabhati Parida attended the event, expressing gratitude to Haryana for providing this chance to showcase Odisha's rich heritage. She was accompanied by Dr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Haryana's Heritage and Tourism Minister, who highlighted how Surajkund Mela embodies the cultural diversity and unity of the country. The festival already drew more than 1.3 million tourists even prior to the seventh day of the fest, which goes to highlight how popular the fest is becoming.

The festival also managed to capture the spirit of retaining cultural heritage. Odisha's showcasing of its handicrafts, traditional wear such as Sambalpuri sarees, and religion tourism around destinations such as the Jagannath Temple added a personal touch to the festival. Since almost 70% of tourists visiting Surajkund are from outside its region, the festival has become a major marketing platform for selling India's rich variety of arts and crafts to the world.

While the event progressed, sustainable agriculture also gained importance. Haryana has gone a considerable distance in this regard by developing the Haryana-UK Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Crop Post-Harvest Management and Cold Chain. The Haryana Government and the University of Birmingham had entered into an MoU to develop the center at Panchkula. This center seeks to minimize post-harvest horticultural crop losses in order to ensure improved quality and freshness of vegetables and fruits from farm to plate.

The centre will lay down guidelines to minimize post-harvest loss, support effective cold chain, and ensure sustainable practice. The centre will be an R&D research station, too, providing incubation services, testing services to the agri-sector, as well as training services so as to cater to industry as well as the farmers in coming on board in shaping up along with the evolving agri-space.

The center is part of Haryana's larger vision for increased agricultural practice and sustainable crop management technology. The new center will offer a comprehensive infrastructure for cold chain technology, ultimately leading to less wastage of food and enhanced profitability of horticultural production in the state. Collaboration with international academia centers, such as the University of Birmingham and other UK institutions, will introduce cutting-edge research and technological innovations to the center.

The Haryana-UK Centre of Excellence will also support the training and development of future leaders in agriculture due to its collaboration with institutions such as CCS Haryana Agricultural University and Maharana Pratap Horticultural University. The center will also act as an incubator for innovation regarding cold chain technology and post-harvest management, elevating the agri ecosystem of Haryana and setting a standard for the rest of India.

Through this, Haryana is establishing itself as a pacesetter in agricultural innovation with the aim of minimizing waste, enhancing food quality, and making agriculture more sustainable and profitable. The partnership with foreign institutions also introduces skills and knowledge that will be extremely beneficial to farmers in the region and the larger agricultural community. The deal was inked in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Nayeem Singh Saini and Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana. The Chief Minister pointed out that the Haryana-UK collaboration will be a significant contributor to increasing Haryana's horticulture sector, which will continue to grow and stay in line with national and global markets.

Source: Haryana Tourism and Agriculture Departments Press Releases