Team Herald
CANACONA: The unprecedented rains in the past three days came in as a misery to farmers as it destroyed nearly 15 to 20 per cent paddy cultivation in the different parts of the Canacona taluka. The paddy, the farmers said, is at the flowering stage.
Speaking to Herald, Canacona Zonal Agriculture Officer Shivram Gaonkar said that the crop is mostly affected in Gulem and its surrounding areas, besides some parts of Khola Village Panchayat.
Some farmers are also battling an outbreak of caterpillar and case worm in few patches of paddy fields in Canacona. “Since most of the paddy fields in Canacona lie in a low lying area water gets accumulated and damages the crops,” said an old farmer Jorgo Velip from Gulem.
The department has been offering subsidies to farmers at each level of the crop production till its final products are for sale. “We get support prices when these products are put up for sale, but proper guidance is not given on how to protect crops at different stages, specially at the flowering stage,” said some farmers.
Officer Gaonkar has also confirmed about the attack by pests but said that these incidents are in few paddy fields and advised the farmers to use Chloropyriphos supplied by the zonal office to control the pests.
He said the cause of pests in the paddy fields may be due to the sudden dry spell in the past few days, he added.
He also said that the paddy crop in Poinguinim has been affected by pests for which the zonal office has advised the affected farmers to spray tricyclazole fungicide to keep a check on the pests.
According to some small-scale farmer Santosh Velip from Agonda village Panchayat that Paddy is the only subsistence crop for their family, and any deviation from normal weather patterns can cause serious problems.
Vithoba Velip, traditional farmer, said that farmers’ expenses have risen in recent decades because of the need to buy fertilizers and pesticides. Hiring tractors and threshing machines also requires more money.
“Few decades ago we didn’t need fertilizer or pesticide because we used cattle to plough the fields and thresh paddy, and their excrement was used as a natural fertilizer,” says Kushali Telekar a 60-year-old farmer from main Bazzar, Chaudi, Canacona.
“Even though the Agricultural Department has extended subsidies and different schemes to make fertilizers available at cheaper rates many farmers prefer organic manure over chemical fertilizers in the different parts of Canacona, as organic fertiliser is good to make field more fertile,” added Sukto Velip, a traditional farmer from Gulem.
