Goa’s Mango Potential
This is something mango growers from outside Goa may not agree with. Our mangoes are perhaps the best in India. Take the case of the `non-Goan’ totapuri, which when grown in Goa, especially along the seaside, transforms the quality of the fruit into a top range, juicy fantasy. And yet, ironically, our king of fruits, like the mancurado, continues to struggle to make a dent in the international market. Strangely, this variety gets largely consumed in the domestic market, irrespective of the price the fruit may command. Early this year, mancurado was being sold at Rs 400 apiece in the Panjim market. Yet, despite the unique characteristics of soil and environment that Goa is endowed with, which can prove magical to some crops, the natural potential has never been adequately exploited. Mango cultivation has never been taken up on a professional scale notwithstanding its burgeoning demand.
There is a lesson Goa has to learn from neighbouring Ratnagiri and Sindudurgh districts where mango growers have succeeded in making their land work for them and reap monetary benefits by enriching the produce with the now famous hapus (derived from the Alphonso mango). While our comunidade lands have predominantly remained uncultivated, mango trees adorn the neighbouring district of Maharashtra even by the roadside.
Despite the debatable taste when compared to mancurado, the Ratnagiri hapus has gone beyond Indian shores, a much-sought after export-quality fruit in India. And paradoxically, our mangoes continue to struggle to make it to the international market. Lately, efforts are on to export mancurado in some quarters, but in pursuit of the hype and publicity surrounding the mancurado, the Hilario (popular as Manghilar ) which can be regarded as one of the world’s best mango varieties, is forgotten. What has dented the Hilario’s quest for the top slot is perhaps its late arrival in the market and its smaller size, notwithstanding the fact that it has a thicker skin, which means a better shelf life and therefore a bright candidate for export. Both the Goan varieties have won the top slot at the national mango fest.
The State can actually boast of over a hundred varieties of mangoes, but over the decades only a few have survived. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is working towards listing out the array and its germplasm. Paradoxically, it is this wide array, its varying size and taste which has been the bottle-neck for exports.
A problem with the consignment of mancurado sent to Europe not long ago was that they were not of a uniform size, quality or taste, which left the end consumer unsure about the veracity of the mancurado’s claim to fame. The problem arose because mangoes had been sourced from different orchards, and with different orchard owners growing different varieties (within mancurado) it rendered the end consumer confused and confounded, prompting a halt in its export.
In this scenario, the government ought to focus on identifying only certain mangoes with export potential. A start can be made by targeting the mancurado grown by the Cardozo family in Mapusa. Fortunately, ICAR scientists have identified its top quality and registered it under the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, making it the first of the State’s plant genetic resources. The next step is to popularize this breed by promoting mango grafts. This is a must if Goan mango growers are expected to bring about much desired uniformity with exports as the objective. Farmers must be assisted in scientific methodologies, where the challenges of pest control, soil deficiencies, and climatic changes can be effectively tackled. Scientific methods of flowering and fruiting are still nascent amongst local growers. A scientific panel must be constituted, preferably with some experts from mango growing regions in India. Here, the consultants ought to visit mango orchards to identify problems and offer solutions.
Most farmers adopt obsolete techniques of pest control, nematode attack and other challenges hampering plant/tree growth. Organic cultivation, techniques for better produce and sustainable yield hardly reach the farmer, with local experts often being accused of specializing in theoretical knowledge. This has to be reversed.
People’s edit
Barren fields of Goa
Rodney de Souza
Agriculture is the oldest profession, a way of living in Goa for Goan families for generations. Many reasons are given for its decline ~ migration of tillers to others jobs, non mechanisation, high labour/fertiliser costs etc. Government has tried giving huge subsidies without success. The tillers have not been motivated. It is necessary to realize, for our future planning, the primary cause of the downslide in agricultural production. According to the old arrangement, the farmer kept two-thirds of the paddy yield ~ one for his labour and the other as his gain. He gave the remaining one third to the owner. The MGP government, then in power, increased the share of the tiller to five-sixths and reduced the share of the owner to one-sixth. As if this was not good enough for the tiller, the same government, obsessed as it was with vote bank politics, brought the Tenancy Act and put tillers in complete possession of the lands under the ‘land to the tiller’ policy. It did this on the pretext that the tiller would produce more if the land was made his own. Even the vast lands belonging to the age-old institution of comunidades, an exemplary agrarian society, were placed in the hands of individuals, thus crippling the goose that laid golden eggs. The tillers in Goa had never had it so good.
Consequent to this development, the tiller was under no obligation to pay anything to the owner. He took things easy and this set in motion, unconsciously perhaps, the downslide in paddy cultivation. Since the fields are kept barren for years now despite all help and incentives to the tillers, they have lost the right to possess them any further. Strictly speaking, the fields should go back to the original owners, be they (individuals or institutions), from whom they were taken away and given to the tillers to till. Recently, following the initiative of the Leader of the Opposition, Pratapsingh Rane, himself a successful agriculturist, the current state government has announced it will take over the fields which are kept barren for three consecutive years. This is the right step and was long overdue. The government must show the political will and implement its decision. It should not succumb to the pressure that it may face from any lobby. However, if this new thinking or this right policy-in-the-making of the government has to succeed and the agricultural economy, which is so vital to the progress of the State, has to see a revival, the government must have a proper plan of action and a proper programme of cultivation. Goa has the necessary expertise.
Fortunately, our State is blessed with fertile soil. The climatic conditions in Goa are also ideal for paddy cultivation. Nature is ever helpful, only man should do his part. The State government must take up this cause with sincerity of purpose and commitment. If it does, it won’t be long before we see our fields green and yielding as before. No service to the people of Goa will be greater than making them self-sufficient in their staple food ~ rice.
