Travelling through Bardez taluka, one is greeted not by the golden glow of harvest but by fields of ripened paddy rotting in waterlogged soil. Conversations with distressed farmers reveal a grim reality — harvesters never arrived, Agriculture Department officials were missing, and unrelenting rains only deepened the crisis.
The worst-hit areas include Panarim in Aldona, Mapusa, Moira, Sangolda, Calangute, Pernem and Saligao. Most of the farmers here are elderly, relying solely on small-scale, subsistence farming. From June, they toiled in the fields, protecting their Jyoti and Jaya paddy varieties from birds and wild animals. Yet, just as the crop was ready for harvest, the rain — and administrative neglect — destroyed months of labour.
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Harvesters reportedly stayed away because their previous year’s subsidies remained unpaid, leading to huge losses. Some arrived only after pressure from MLAs, but by then the rains had returned, soaking the crop beyond recovery.
Officials have been accused of indifference, offering Rs 10,000 per acre as compensation — a sum farmers call insulting, given that actual costs cross Rs 24,000. Unless the administration acts swiftly, Goa’s green fields may soon turn barren, and its ryots may abandon farming altogether.
