At a time when students are deeply rooted in electronic gadgetry, getting them planted in roots of a different kind and that too, as part of extracurricular activities in the school, is a challenging exercise.
Not only have students and their teachers at Miracles High School (MHS) at Sanguem accepted this challenge with unusual enthusiasm, but they have even turned their activity into a profitable exercise.
Their month-long efforts in the school garden have yielded a rich produce and elated students along with their headmaster, teacher and a PTA member sold different vegetables at an outlet of the Goa Horticulture Development Corporation (GHDC).
Much of the success of this project has been credited to MHS Headmaster Fr Pio Furtado, the brain behind the project.
“Although MHS is not an agricultural school, we wanted our students to venture into agricultural activities as it will help them to survive in the long run,” said Fr Furtado.
“It is an irony that even those students hailing from remote areas did not know the basics of agriculture. This is the reason why the school decided to undertake agricultural activity in the school itself, said Fr Furtado, while explaining the idea behind the project.
“After hectic preparation of making the ground ready for sowing, plots in the school compound were distributed to different classes, with each class planting seeds of their choice and they included lady’s finger, cluster beans, chillies, brinjals, etc,” said Fr Furtado.
In March, the students planted the vegetable seeds and began toiling in their respective gardens under the watchful eyes of Fr Furtado and the school staff.
Fr Furtado also had a word of praise for the teachers. “It is not only the students who soiled their hands in the vegetable garden. The teachers also took keen interest in guiding the students. In fact, no one was left out from these activities in the school,” Fr Furtado added.
The combined efforts of the students and staff finally bore fruit on April 15, when the students got their first harvest of various kinds of vegetables.
Pleased with the dedication and effort of its students, the school invited the Sanguem Zonal Agricultural Officer M Morajkar and his assistant Gauri Prabhudessai for the harvesting function.
Prabhudessai guided the students on various aspects of vegetable gardening and soil fertility, while also advising them to avoid excessive watering of plants.
Emphasising the importance of locally grown produce, Morajkar said horticulture outlets run by GHDC were earlier dependent on vegetables and fruits from Belgaum and neighbouring states.
“The situation has now changed as a majority of agricultural produce sold through these outlets come from the farming community in Goa,” said Morajkar, while referring to the special ‘Nisha’ variety of green chilly which is largely produced in Sanguem region and supplied all over the State.
On the occasion, prizes were distributed to students for their efforts, while a special prize was awarded to teacher Emma Fernandes for her sustained efforts in encouraging the students.
On April 19, a group of students along with Rafiq Sayyed (PTA member), Joe D’Souza (teacher) and Fr Furtado sold the vegetables, which were grown in the school garden, to the local GHDC outlet in Sanguem.
“Our teacher, Joe D’Souza from Anjuna, supported the programme and has been a source of encouragement, both financially and technically, to our school activities,” acknowledged Fr Furtado.
