MARGAO: Fr George Quadros, who is on a mission to bring more and more agricultural land under cultivation said The Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill 2023, which prevents non-Goans from purchasing agricultural land, will definitely protect the farmers and the agricultural land in Goa.
Reacting to the bill which is considered a landmark, Fr Quadros said that the bill will be sad news for those farmers, who have already sold their agricultural land. He said at present he did not find any faults in the bill and will go through it in detail, once the government makes it public.
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The new bill to be passed in the Assembly session looks good for Goa in the long run, however, it’s not going to increase the paddy cultivation for the simple reason that paddy cultivation is not backed by an effective and efficient Agriculture Department, he said.
For Fr Quadros, the farm is his altar, the soil is his connection with God, and his zeal has led to the resurrection of more lands under cultivation.
In four years, he has brought more than hundreds of hectares, and counting, under cultivation, mainly in South Goa starting from just 4 acres in year one. Based at Don Bosco Murida, Fatorda, he has done so by making mechanised plantation a fine art.
According to him, this bill will not only help protect the agricultural land but will help in feeding the people of Goa, as presently Goans are basically depending on States such as Karnataka and Maharashtra.
“The bill introduced by the government is very good and it will surely safeguard the paddy fields and the farmers in general. However, at the same time it should be backed by the Agriculture Department,” he said.
He opined that many farmers have sold their agricultural fields after incurring more losses than profit and this bill will be of no use to them.
“The bill will benefit in the long run, but just protecting the fields is not enough, as the schemes of the Agriculture Department are not reaching the farmers properly and hence it makes no sense if farmers end up on the losing side,” said Fr Quadros.
He informed that there is a rise in the price of tractors and other things, but the support price continues to be less resulting in disappointment among the farmers.
Fr Quadros said that in the present situation, the government has killed the farmers and agriculture, as farmers continue to face hardships in availing of the scheme benefits.
“Hardships faced by the farmers need to be minimised. To protect farmers and agricultural land the government needs to reach out to the farmers. Put in place the system,” he requested.
