SATURDAY, MAY 04, 2024
Frazer Andrade
PANJIM: At just 19 years old, Cleto Avito Fernandes stands as a beacon of inspiration for the youth of Portais, Panjim, and
beyond. Introduced to agriculture by his uncle, Fr Romualdo Bartolomeu Gonsalves SFX, during school breaks at the age of 10, Cleto began a journey that would shape his life and passion.
His initial foray into farming, with ladies finger seeds gifted by Fr Thomas Caetano Rodrigues SFX, was met with challenges, but it ignited a fire within him. “I cultivated these seeds but most of my plants were ruined either by dogs or rats,” recalls Cleto. From the two plants that survived, he would harvest a few ladies fingers and hand them over to his mother to cook, to which she would smile and say, ‘we need at least a kilo of ladies fingers to feed the family’. “My mother’s encouragement and her words motivated me to cultivate more,” he says fondly.
“However, my grandmother never wanted me to pursue this passion, due to the hard work involved and also the social stigma attached to farmers from her time,” he adds.
Starting at the age of 10, Cleto cultivated various crops on small plots of land, often relying on the generosity of others for space. He expresses pain as he points out that there are landlords with ample land who don’t want to cultivate; while on the other side, there are people who want to grow crops, but lack the resources.
Despite the hurdles of finding suitable land and reliable labour, Cleto persisted, cultivating crops like turmeric, sweet potatoes, button chillies, brinjals, cluster beans, various gourds, red spinach, radish, long yard beans and more. “I cultivate only the rabi crop as of now, since I haven’t been able to get a field during the monsoon season,” he says.
Passionate about sharing his knowledge, Cleto conducts teaching programmes for students interested in farming techniques like composting, at his residence. He asserts that he only uses organic manure with absolutely no synthetic fertilisers. For irrigation, Cleto depends on field pond water. It takes him about 2-3 hours to water his crop, and so he wakes up at the crack of dawn to water his crop, so he can get to college in time.
He sells his produce through social media platforms and delivers across Goa, alongside selling vermicompost. Looking ahead, Cleto envisions expanding his agricultural endeavours, focusing on producing organic manure, post-processing crops, and increasing Panjim’s green cover. With plans to cultivate and sell adenium plants, he aims to create a thriving ecosystem of sustainable agriculture in his community.
