This is quite an old story. But, nevertheless worth writing about, especially if you are looking for a quick outing in Bangalore within a short driving distance…

GKVK is the short form for Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra a.k.a. University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS). It is a research institute funded and managed by the Karnataka state government. With several sub-campuses located across the state, their main campus is located near Jakkur in Bangalore. If one travelling to Bengaluru airport is alert, he may find it on his way.

My cousin who was studying her undergraduate course in Agricultural science at that time, informed us about the “Agri-Mela” happening in her campus. It is an annual event organized sometime in November. Hailing from a farmer background, our family has the natural instincts to learn more about various crops, research and related advancement in technology. With that curiosity, my dad and I went for a bike ride to the venue. The bike ride was intended with two basic ideas. One, of getting some fresh air from their vast campus and the other was of course to look out for any suitable technology that we could implement in our farm back in my hometown. This is an excellent place for bird watching too.

Although this 1000 odd acres university campus serves as a good lung space in the overburdened concrete city at any given time of the year, this is a season when it beams with extra life. The various plants across the campus will be bearing fruits and flowers in full bloom. Since the research in agriculture covers a range of topics, you could walk or ride around different patches of land with different types of crop, all mostly grown and managed by the students as part of their curriculum.

There are stalls covering range of topics like horticulture, sericulture, apiculture, cattle farming, poultry, food processing, storage, logistics, marketing, irrigation etc. covering almost all areas of agriculture and provides a platform for farmers from the state to share and learn newer developments in this field.

It was well over afternoon by the time we finished roaming around just a portion of the campus and exhausted. We bought a few homemade & processed foods from the stalls with an excitement to try newer flavors and decided to head back home. All in all, it was an afternoon well spent.

Things to do (on any day of the year):
• Take a drive if you want some fresh air without going too far from the city on a lazy evening.
• Spend a day bird watching here, there are often bird watching workshops conducted by hobbyists.
• You can buy fresh fruits and vegetables at their outlet on campus, many a times organic and sold at relatively cheaper prices as compared to the city.
• Sign up for one of the several training workshops conducted on campus, throughout the year.
• Visit the annual ‘Krishi-Mela’ and interact with farmers from across the state and the country.