Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardessai, who launched harvesting in his constituency on Wednesday, wondered whether agriculture would survive in Goa and opined that the present government does not appear to be serious about agriculture.
He said that when he the agriculture minister, after studying the problems faced by farmers in Goa, he had formulated three-pronged plan to revive agriculture. In the first place, he said, mechanisation was being promoted in a big way and the farmers were encouraged to purchase machinery like harvesting machines.
“It is an admitted fact that unless there is family labour; agriculture is not viable in a State like Goa where there is a total shortage of labourers and hence mechanisation is the only answer,” Vijai said.
Secondly, he said, community farming was promoted by him and it had in fact taken off at various places. “We had even got 500 organic clusters sanctioned for Goa and I am now told that 50 have been allotted in Bardez, but unless we meet the target, next year our allotment may decrease,” he said.
He further stated that contract farming was thought of, so that, the large tracts of land lying fallow could be cultivated through contract. “This proposal is languishing with the Revenue Department,” he regretted.He expressed surprise that at present the government was claiming that the file pertaining to community farming is missing. “How a file can go missing in the world of electronics and digitisation is something I cannot understand,” he said. He opined that the government should set up a separate cell to promote agriculture in its varied form including floriculture.
