On the day that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed concern over agricultural land being left fallow in the State and the increasing dependency on neighbouring States for daily needs including rice, vegetables, milk and fruits, Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavalekar ammounced that the country’s second Organic Agriculture University will be set up in Goa. This will be the first such university in Western India, giving the State a headstart over the other neighbouring States, but this can happen only if Goa is able to take advantage of this unveristy and grow – not just agricultural produce in the fields but also interest in the sector among the people.
The reasons why agriculture has taken a back seat in Goa were elucidated by the chief minister as well as his deputy as they were speaking on the subject. Sawant pointed out that Goa is leading towards the path of infrastructure development, stating “We were leading in this (agriculture) traditional activity, but today we almost ignore these activities. If we can’t produce this (vegetables, fruits, milk) in our own land, we can’t say we have achieved development…” Kavalekar, on the other hand, said that Goa is seen as a tourist State and pointed out that the rural economy that is suffering due to closure of mining operations could benefit from the university. In effect the reasons for the decline of agriculture in Goa are development, tourism and mining.
Both, Sawant and Kavalekar want the youth to get back into the fields. The former dangled the prospect of increased per capita income, if along side their regular jobs the youth would take up agriculture, horticulture, dairy farming or even floriculture, being of the opinion that the agricultural lands of Goa are vast enough to meet the needs of the people. Kavalekar too, was of a similar opinion, stating that the new organic agricultural university to be set up would encourage youth to pursue a career in agriculture, and would also allow for research in the field that would boost the sector in Goa.
This is not the first time that the government has broached the subject of promoting agriculture in the State. Since 2017, there have been numerous instances when the Agriculture Minister – Kavalekar’s predecessor Vijai Sardesai included – had made announcements of various programmes that would be implemented in the sector. Quite a few have seen the light of day, but there are no statistics that can indicate whether these have shown results or not. It is important to understand why this is so.
It is true that Goa is dependent on the other States for almost all of its daily consumption needs. This is not a new phenomenon, but has been so for decades. Vegetables have always come from outside, except for the locally grown greens that are sparsely cultivated. What Goa needs to do is look at beyond producing, it has to look at the marketing aspect. Any promotion in the agriculture sector has to be linked to the economic perspective, otherwise there will be no earning from the efforts made, which will deter the youth from getting into the field.
As pointed out by industry stalwarts in our latest In Business section, ‘Goa Horticulture Department has not only become traders but also a position of earning salary or getting government facilities’. Since the Horticulture Coporation merely acts as a middleman, one who purchases the vegetables from wholesalers outside the State and distributes it to the retailers in Goa, this has a ring of truth. The suggestion by the same businessman was that Goa Tourism should integrate efforts with the Agricultural Department to create farm production so that a value chain and clusters can be created. A lot could be achieved, perhaps, if the Horticulture Corporation would reduce its dependence on outside vegetables and promote only locally grown agricultural produce.
