KARSTEN MIRANDA
karsten@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: At a time when every second person is talking about their New Year’s resolutions, there’s a group of people from the village of Chinchinim, who have shown that they have what it takes to implement their resolution to transform vast acres of fallow land into fertile fields. The best thing is that this is just the beginning for them.
This was no mean feat as these lands were barren for more than 30 years and it took them months of painstaking efforts to finally achieve their goal of reviving agriculture in their village, despite the obstacles they faced.
For perspective, the area in question, namely ‘Digaum Band’, was once a cesspool of garbage, where even carcasses of animals were thrown. Today, there is clear water, lush green fields and fresh air, and the locals believe that the place even has the potential of becoming a tourist spot.
“Our ideology is to promote agriculture. An idle field is the builder’s workshop and we do not want any field to remain barren, as it becomes a dumping ground,” said Agnelo Furtado, the President of both the Chinchinim Comunidade and the Chinchinim Agricultural Club.
There is also a feeling of respecting their ancestors, who were into agriculture in the past and who left behind these lands for posterity.
“Our policy and ideology are very transparent and simple. The Chinchinim Comunidade acts as the facilitator. Much of what we have achieved is also due to the hard work of Fr George Quadros of the Don Bosco Institute, the paddy man of Goa, who acts as the service provider,” Furtado added.
While the total area of fallow land as per conservative estimates was around 500 acres, the Chinchinim Agricultural Club, targeted 170 acres for cultivation activity and have plans to expand the area of cultivation once they have the adequate resources to do it.
Over 50 farmers have been involved in this collaborative project that began in April 2022.
“In the first year, we made a very marginal profit, despite the erratic rainfall. To every tenant or owner, as the case may be, we gave a symbolic token quantity of milled brown rice door delivered, for which they were very happy and this arrangement will continue. The quantity may increase if the production is good year to year,” Furtado added.
Presently, work for the ‘Vaigan’ (kharif) season of rice cultivation has started in full swing, interspersed with ‘Alsande’ (beans), corn, watermelon and various other vegetables.
The CAC and Chinchinim Comunidade also expressed their gratitude to Water Resources Minister Subash Shirodkar for promptly providing them with three sturdy gates to keep the stray cattle away, as well as a ramp to lower the agricultural machinery (tractors, transplanters, harvesters) into the field and for releasing water from the irrigation canal on time, which was also cleaned along with the access road.
