The State may boast of adopting more technology to boost farming; however, the fact remains that the traditional form of farming is still prevalent in the State.
For instance in Sancoale, the Rabi cultivation is still left at the mercy of mud wall (Ado) to be built every year to stop the saline water from entering the paddy fields.
In fact, last year, the paddy cultivation was affected as the wall was not built. “Nowadays, it is difficult to get labourers, and mud, apart from being difficult to find is very expensive. We have to spend a minimum amount of Rs 20,000 for the wall and a sluice gate would have been a permanent solution to our problem,” a farmer told Herald.
“This year, we managed to build the wall in February, but ideally it is to be built in December,” the farmer further informed.
Apart from damaging crops, coconut plantation has also been affected with many trees dotting the bunds along the padding fields perishing due to saline water.
A visit to the site (near Sancoale sub health centre) reveals that there already exists a concrete wall meant for fixing sluice gate. “What is only required is a sluice gate,” Caitano Ferrao, a farmer told Herald.
“I lost four coconut trees last year due to entry of saline water in the paddy fields,” Jacinta Carvalho told Herald.
Perished coconut trees standing on the bunds, is a common site in Sancoale due to the breaching of bunds resulting in seepage of saline water in the fields.
Admitting the need of a sluice gate, Sancoale Sarpanch Ramakant Borkar said he had already written to the Water Resources department. “I will take up the issue with the department again and get the sluice gate installed for the next crop.”
