Agriculture is the Goan success story, as our vegetable basket fills with local, safe, produce
It is a Goan story of success. A 250% increase in vegetables production from 40 tonnes to 100 tonnes in just one year from 2012-13 to 2013-14. It has doubled to 200 tonnes [another 100% increase] in just the first three months of 2014-15. That is good news.
On the flip side, there is still a long way to go! Even if one removes the potatoes (that we are unlikely to grow commercially in Goa, given its climatic requirements) from the basket of vegetables, we need to produce each day what we are currently growing in 3 months.
Pumpkin, Cucumber, Gourds, Brinjal, Chillies, Capsicum, Cherry tomatoes, Tomatoes, Ladyfingers are some crops that can be grown round the year in Goa. Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli can be grown only in winter and become available in February-April period. Salad greens [lettuce, Pakchoi, Basil, Mustard Green, etc] and Leafy vegetables like Palak, Basela, Amaranthus as well as partly leafy root/stem vegetables like radish and knol-kohl are NOT traded by the Goa State Horticulture Corporation Ltd outlets because of their short shelf-life.
The huge demand holds potential for local farmers. Requirement of horticulture section itself is 6 to 8 crore per month. And there is a scope for selling, easily, 20 crore worth vegetable in Goa. The Agriculture department will promote vegetable cultivation in 25 villages adopted by it to revive agriculture. Subsidies will be offered and the department will also link farmers to banks for finance. Also storage houses, cold storages will also be set up if required at village level.
Mr. Orlando Rodrigues, while he was on deputation as the Managing Director of the GSHCL, has given it a firm foundation and a direction in which to build up the market for locally produced vegetables. Now back in his parent Department as the Director of Agriculture, he has lost no time in creating a system by which to boost the vegetable production to feed the GSHCL's system which he has built.
With the support of the Chief Minister who is also Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, he has accelerated the process of long-pending recruitment of additional agriculture officers to deal with the increased number of schemes and increased budget outlays [both Central Govt under RKVY and CSS as well as State outlay to be eligible for RKVY] that were remaining unutilised for want of young blood among the officer cadres and low morale of the existing officers due to long delayed promotions [partly addressed by Mr. Prajapati Tufani during his 11 month stint as Director of Agriculture].
His successor as MD of GSHCL, Mr. Nelson Figueiredo, has kept the momentum going and has also initiated the process of getting feedback from the hundreds of vendors operating the sale outlets of GSHCL with a view to improve on what has already been done. It may get him bad publicity but he is happy to be able to improve the service to the vendors and, through happy vendors, to the ultimate consumers.
It is not everyday that we get efficient and efficacious heads of departments who are also persons of honesty and personal integrity. We may well see a miracle happening in vegetable production in Goa .... while we watch disbelievingly.
A few years ago Yogita Mehra and Karan Manral came up with the idea of having workshops for training people in Urban vegetable cultivation with a fee of Rs.100/- per head for the introductory talks and Rs.400/- per head for each hands-on training workshop. When the KVK-North of ICAR at Ela Farm and the Goa Directorate of Agriculture's Farmers' Training Centre [soon to be upgraded to the long-delayed SAMETI www.sameti.org of ATMA www.atmachaibasa.orgoffer FREE training, sometimes with a stipend to boot, I had my doubts whether people would pay to attend. THEY DO ... and in growing numbers ... because each training workshop is designed to meet the aspirations of the participant-trainees. The Botanical Society of Goa ... with Karan, Yogita, Peter, Rosie and me as the faculty ... has conducted such training workshops for interested groups of people across Goa, too.
When CANCER has become an everyday reality due to vegetables and fruits poisoned with insecticides and other chemicals ...and when an increasing number of persons are becoming health conscious ... it is important that we develop systems to meet these needs. The Directorate of Agriculture, the ICAR, the GSHCL, associations like the Botanical Society of Goa, GOACAN, et al and individuals can all join hands and deliver. The proposed Don Bosco College of Agriculture at Sulcorna ...with an emphasis on organic practices
could well become a catalyst in this process.
The print and electronic media can play a major role in changing the perceptions of the people from "It can't be done" to "CAN DO".. We need to T.E.A.M ...for Together Everyone Achieves More!
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