Farmers exhorted to take up hybrid chilies

Farmers exhorted to take up hybrid chilies
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 12
Chilies may bring back smiles on the faces of farmers, with chili production gaining ground in the state’s country side amongst the farming community.
If Horticulture Corporation officials are to be believed, the need to import chilies from neighbouring Belgaum may be a thing of the past if local farmers take to hybrid chili production in a big way.
Assuring all help and infrastructural assistance to farmer willing to take up hybrid chili production, Managing Director of Goa State Horticulture Corporation Orlando Rodrigues said the chili production can indeed be remunerative if taken up seriously by the farming community.
Says Orlando: “Chilies can be produced all round the year, both in monsoons and during the rabi season. There’s a big demand for chili production. We cannot get quality chilies in Belgaum. The farmers can rake in big profits by bringing more area under cultivation”. He promised infrastructural facilities such as construction of wells, pumps, fencing etc to make chili cultivation attractive to the farmers.
Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco said there will be no need to go to Belgaum for chilies if farmers takes to production at home. “Any farmer can earn good income ranging from Rs four lakh to Rs five lakh by cultivating chili on 4000 square meters of land”, he said.
A local farmers Raymond Rocha said there is lot of scope for chili plantations with the hybrid variety provided by Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd. “The crop of hybrid chili variety is very good compared to the local variety. The crop has almost doubled”, he said.
Rocha said that 50 per cent of the cost of chili production is borne by Zuari Agro Chemicals by means of fertilizers to boost up the plant.
Replying to a question, Rocha said the farmers will approach the Goa Horticulture Corporation to have a tie-up with the farmers for marketing of the chili produce “They have the system of selling the produce. The Director of Agriculture Tendulkar has also assured help to market the produce”, he added.
Meanwhile, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, while addressing farmers at a function at Raia said that transplanters will be provided to the farmers of Curtorim constituency free of cost this year. He urged farmers in Raia to start the ploughing operations this year by April 15 to avoid disappointment of not getting the tractors on time.
The Curtorim MLA also promised to identify and provide land to a farmer from Fatorda who expressed her willingness to venture into paddy cultivation this season.