SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Christanand Pednekar
QUEPEM: It was at an agricultural guidance programme last year that Yojana Phal Desai found her true calling. She had decided to attend the event at Balli, Quepem, on a whim, having had no experience in farming. So, when the staff of the state agriculture department handed her some cabbage seeds, all she did was simply sow them in land that she owned in the jurisdiction of the Balli village panchayat. The results surprised her.
Phal Desai’s cabbage crop not only survived but thrived, and when she reaped a bountiful harvest, she knew that this was exactly what she was meant to do. Today, she is among the self-reliant women farmers of Adne village in Balli who not only create awareness about the myriad
benefits of local agriculture, but also lead by
example.
“I started out with cabbage, which I never knew could grow in Goa. Now, I grow 10-12 local vegetables in my field with able support from the zonal agriculture office at Quepem. These include cluster beans, read amaranth, raddish, maize and cucumber,” Phal Desai proudly says.
The enterprising woman also explains her unforeseen tryst with cabbage. “When I began cultivating cabbage, I sowed the seeds in November and December and just played it by ear thereon. I decided to use the same pesticide that is used in chilli plantations once in a fortnight, and watered the budding cabbage plants once a week. I am glad my experiments worked,”
she says.
Elated that cabbage cultivation is picking up pace in Goa, Phal Desai says the government should assist farmers who are interested in growing the vegetable elsewhere in the state and should also provide them with the seeds, just like how it had done for her.
“I have immense confidence that Goa can successfully produce substantial amounts of cabbage and just a little help from the government will certainly help,” an optimistic Phal Desai says.
