First ever Pumpkin Farmers Festival kicks off today

• Green Path (Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha) to be transformed into a street of pumpkins 
• 25 pumpkin farmers along with hoteliers, chefs, Ayurveda physicians will participate
• Dambana Vedda Community Chief Vannile Attho among attendees
• Social media challenges to spice up the Festival 
• Festival starts at 9 a.m. and will continue till 9 p.m.

The humble pumpkin is in the news once again due to the bumper crop which has resulted in farmers struggling to get reasonable price for their produce. In pumpkin growing districts in the country such as Ampara, Anuradhapura, Moneragala as well as the northern districts where pumpkin grows in abundance during this time of the year, farmers have been hard hit by falling prices that some are opting to give away their produce free of charge than let them rot and go waste.

It is the stories of such farmers that has inspired a group of forward-thinking persons led by the Chairman, Coexist Foundation Channa de Silva to come up with a novel concept that would put pumpkin farmers at centre stage and awaken people to the true benefits of the humble pumpkin.

This will be by way of the Pumpkin Farmers Festival which will be held on 22 February (Friday) along Green Path (Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha) from 9 a.m. to 9p.m.

“During the past few weeks, while I was travelling in Anuradhapura and other areas, the sad plight of the pumpkin farmers was evident. They were piles of pumpkin dumped along the road with the farmers willing to give them away free just so that they would not go waste,” said De Silva, who is also the Chairman of Sarvodya Development Finance.

He had then mooted the idea of the Pumpkin Farmers Festival with several others including the Sarvodya Development Finance CEO Nilantha Jayanetti.

“As someone who grew up in Ampara, an area where farmers depend on the sale of pumpkin at this time of the year to make a living, I can personally relate to their plight as my father too was a farmer. This festival is a way, to not only draw attention to the farmers but also enlighten the people on the many benefits of eating pumpkin,” he said.

25 farmers from all several districts will take part in the festival bringing with them between 50,000 kilos to 100,000 kilos of pumpkin. The morning session will specially focus on school children to educate them on the value of pumpkins as well encourage them to buy a pumpkin and contribute towards the welfare of the farmers.

“This is a home-grown vegetable which can be prepared in a number of ways. Pumpkins are grown without the use of any chemical fertiliser and is wholesome and nutritious. At the Festival, people will get to talk to the farmers as well as various experts on the benefits of consuming pumpkin,” he said.

The Festival organisers have got on board leading hoteliers as well as well-known Chef Publllis, Ayurveda physicians who will enlighten people on the many benefits of s consuming pumpkin while there will also be fun activities such as pumpkin carvings, etc. Among the special guests will be Vannile Attho, the Chief of the Dambana Vedda community.

Members of the Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM) too will be part of the Festival and they will conduct a session with the farmers on how to become entrepreneurs and add value to their produce so that they can make bigger profits in the future.

The Festival will also link up through social media such as Facebook and Instagram so that people can take up a pumpkin challenge and post their achievements on their social media accounts.

There will also be a pumpkin auction with the organisers having taken on the challenge to sell 50,000 kilos or more of pumpkin within the day. “We are determined not to send a single pumpkin back with the farmers,” Jayanetti said.

Pumpkin in Sri Lanka’s is grown during the Maha season in several districts as either their main crop of substitute crop but each year farmers are also faced with the uncertainty of getting a fair price for their produce. The area covered by pumpkin cultivation in the country is over 9,000 hectares with the yield per hectare at around 15,000-20,000 kilograms of pumpkin.

Pumpkin is of high nutritional value. It’s high in energy, low in sugar and provides an abundance of vital vitamins such as Vitamin A, C and E as well as potassium. 

Coexist Foundation consists of scientists, professionals, social and business leaders and focuses on promoting sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainable agriculture in the country. Additional proceeds from the Festival will go towards several orphanages.