SANGUEM: After a gap of four years, the Strawberry flavour has once again reached the remote hamlets of Verlem and Tudov wards of Netravali Panchayat in Sanguem taluka.
Planted in the month of November, the first seedlings of strawberry cultivated by three self help groups in the two hilly hamlets have begun yielding fruits and this has led to a mad rush of visitors to the village to see the farm and taste fresh strawberries.
It is not only foreigners but a large number of Goans from all corners of the State visit the villages to see the strawberry farms.
It may be recalled that the twin villages of Verlem and Tudov were in news in the year 2014 when the villagers with assistance and cooperation from Mineral Foundation of India had first cultivated strawberries.
However, the yield was far below the expectation of both the farmers and the experts and this led to the immediate death of an otherwise ambitious plan for large-scale strawberry plantation in the village.
This year around, the villagers commenced the plantation after active help, support and guidance from Atal Gram Development Agency. Besides visits to strawberry farms at Mahableshwar, the Agency also got experts from Mahableshwar to verify the ground realities for undertaking strawberry plantation in the village.
As of now, three Self Help Groups have undertaken the cultivation of strawberries in the village. While two farms are located at Verlem, one is located at Tudov which is a much cooler place to visit all day long.
The members of all three self help groups are pleasant to meet and take much pride to answer any question put to them. Being experts in the plantation area, the members even take the visitors around the farms explaining the intricacies involved in cultivating and bringing up the plantation. The visitors are however charged Rs 10 as entry fee to visit the plantation. The visitors are also offered fresh strawberries at Rs 80 per packet.
As of now, the plantation is giving good yield, informed a member of Udengi Self Help Group. With the first crop presently under harvest, the season will go up to March end, informed Suresh Gaonkar.
Gaonkar also informed that a couple of new varieties which he had planted on trial have failed. However, all other varieties have grown well and the farmers expect a very good yield in the coming days, informed Gaonkar.
