The Goa agriculture department, about two decades ago took up sugarcane cultivation in the hinterlands of Goa and a sugarcane crushing unit was commissioned at Sanguem. The state owned Sanjivani sugar factory is running and they are the largest producers of sugarcane.
There is a bright prospect of sugarcane cultivation in Canacona and the neighboring Quepem taluka due to the availability of water in abundance, local labour and a subsidized rate from the government due to constructions of Bhandaras at different places, informed most of the traditional farmers from Canacona taluka.
They went on to say that they get timely help from the local Agricultural Offices but necessary subsidies are not released in time and asked the Director of Agricultural and local Agricultural Minister to look into the matter immediately.
Last year, the production of sugarcane increased by more than 25 percent in Canacona taluka but this year, the cultivation has further increased due to the motivation given to farmers by the Zonal agriculture department.
Speaking to Herald, some farmers from Karmalghat and Paddi said that it was due to adequate rainfall this year and due to the use of innovative sugarcane cultivation methods and bringing in more land under cultivation with the help of the local Zonal Agricultural officer Shivram Desai and his team.
Shivram Gaonkar said more land is being used for sugarcane cultivation at Cotigao and Gaondogirium village Panchayat where they used drip irrigation system.
The sugarcane growers were facing a menace as their standing crops were destroyed by wild boars, rodents and other pests and they consequently suffered losses. They were cultivating crops in a haphazard manner and were not able to drive away the predators from the thick vegetation.
Then ZAO of Canacona, Amancio Fernandes made the farmers cultivate the sugarcane using a method called ‘bunching’ in the year 2003. In this technique, there was good spacing and the yield was good and the farmers could walk in between the crops and were able to detect predators and shoo them away.
Farmers have taken to the traditional method of preparing jaggery from sugarcane by fermentation and boiling and they get rich dividends from doing so. This practice is still very much on in Goa, especially in the region of Chapolim, Barcem and Gulem in Canacona, as per Mahesh Velip, a traditional farmer.
A group of 60 farmers slog around the clock to prepare jiggery. The molasses is also used to brew alcohol. One of the eldest framers of the group, Jorgo Velip said that the group of farmers are really enthusiastic and willing to do the work.
Velip also said that after the sugarcane harvesting is complete, it is all bundled and brought to the juice-extracting machine that they hire on a daily basis. After the juice is extracted, it is poured into the big jaggery boiling iron pans, which are sadly available only in select areas and mostly on hire.
Once the juice is extracted, about 400 liters of it is spilled into the pans and is churned for four hours, till the finished product is almost ready. It is then cooled. The steaming mixture is poured into earthen pots. When the jaggery is finally ready, it is filled in plastic containers. They produce nearly 60-70 kg of jiggery from the 400 liters of juice.
Velip further informs us that this jaggery is 100 percent pure and free of chemicals as compared to the jaggery sold in the market. “This serves as a tonic to the body,” he remarks.
He gives us a little history into this profession saying that have been doing this for centuries and that it has been imparted to them by their ancestors.
When asked if the younger generation is willing to carry on this tedious work, his answer was almost negative stating that this work needs patience, hard-work, dedication and is a continuous process, going on for twelve whole days without stopping, qualities not present in much of the younger generation who prefer white color jobs.
All the same, Velip and Gaonkar opine that community farming is also slowly losing its charm. Senior citizen, Sonu Vithoba Velip of Barcem said that he is fully dependent on farming and sugarcane cultivation and till date he has not availed of any subsidy from the government nor any financial help and he is living in a joint family consisting of 56 members.
Such work was carried out in many places of Canacona in yesteryear but today, it is centered in four Panchayats in the taluka – Gaondogirium, Cotigao, Shristall and Khola.
