MARGAO: After its consultation meetings with farmers, experts and local organisations across the State, Goyche Fudle Pilge Khatir (GFPK), submitted suggestions for the draft agricultural policy.
Providing details of the suggestions submitted to the Agriculture Department, GFPK President Jack Mascarenhas said, “We have demanded more farmers and also inclusion of Director of Mines on the committee for the draft policy.”
He further said that Goa needs a land use policy that considers land, water, soil, environment, etc in view of climate change and commercialization.
GFPK has stated that khazans should be mapped, monitored, and maintained using technology stressed upon the need to be protected from risks and the farmers should get support and incentives. The NGO has demanded the Goan salt be branded and marketed by the government.
The farmers have suggested carrying out GIS mapping in all seasons to capture temporal and wide variety data and land use to help in decision making, involving local people who can help with identifying the areas and details.
The GFPK highlighted the need of crop to land index in a time series to see the improvement of agriculture production and soil revival and that the agriculture department should publish a time series analysis of agriculture production in mining areas from 1970 till 2023 with factors for each year.
The farmers have suggested that crops in Goa should get higher subsidy, minimum support price, market linkage, and incentives. Local varieties of rice, coconut, cashew, vegetables, and millets should be promoted and protected as they are important for food security, nutrition, and income.
In their submission to the Agriculture Department the farmers have highlighted that pollution, stormwater runoffs, pests, diseases, cellular radiation, and mining should be controlled and monitored to prevent damage to agriculture and soil quality.
Mascarenhas said, “We have demanded that agriculture should be given priority over mining and that compensation for crop destruction should be paid by the government.”
