It is said that Goa lives in villages and for that matter, there are over 200 revenue villages in the State of Goa and Curtorim is one of the villages of Goa which is predominantly agricultural in nature.
The area of Curtorim is approximately 1,735 .5 hectares and the area under agriculture works out to be nearly 65% with irrigated land occupying 386 hectares, un-irrigated land being 699 hectares and the waste land being 25 hectares. The agricultural land under private holding is about 53%, with Comunidade being 45% and 2% being institutional land.
Curtorim is a very picturesque and serene village with hills and hillocks with greenish blue hues with waving green fields, an array of coconut palm trees swaying along with the breeze, the various valleys, springs and the water bodies give it a unique ambience.
Curtorim has 6 major lakes also called as ponds with equal number of kher lands (mid lying regions) and the same number of low lying Khazan lands, with River Zuari running along the border along the northern side which gives the village a tranquil sight. The hills, hillocks, valleys and the various water bodies are a home to a large variety of flora and fauna including wild animals like leopards and migratory birds. Our experts have documented about 250 species of birds in the village.
Physiographic
factors
The hills and hillocks which are on the southern side, form a source of water for the water bodies like the ponds and the lakes and it is this stored water that is used for irrigation at the Rabi crops (popularly known as Kher or Vaingon)
For agricultural purposes, the land has been classified under four categories:
Highlands
The highlands consists mainly the slopes of the hills where water drains easily and the said land is used to grow vegetables such as lady fingers, brinjals, bottle gourds , snake gourds, bitter gours, pumpkins, cluster beans, onions etc. The soil is mostly lateritic.
Hinterlands
This land is partly lateritic with a certain percentage of alluvium.. This land is converted into terraced garden (locally called as Mord land) whch is mainly used to grow paddy by utilising the rain water.(Khariff Crop) Nowadays the terraced garden land is much sought after, for conversion to settlement area.
Midland (Kher land)
It is mainly used to grow 2 crops a year, alternating with each other. The Rabi crop and the Khariff crop. Nearly 75% of paddy grown in the village belongs to this Category.
Low land or Khazan land
There are six big khazans in Curtorim which are mainly used for pisciculture. Earlier the said land was used alternatively for pisciculture as well as agriculture, but nowadays owing to the high costs involved in the cultivation of the paddy hence becoming non viable economically, the land is mainly used for pisciculture, including prawn farming which has become a very lucrative business nowadays. The land is saline with a high pH, this land was utilised to grow paddy which is resistant to high salinity. Varieties of paddy such as Babri, Asgo etc were used. Since the height of the corn becomes more then a metre, it becomes highly inconvenient to harvest it by using harvesters.
Recently an innovative method has been found by an agriculturist Shri Rui Menezes, from Curtorim wherein the Khazan land at Novar khazan, Corjem has been drained of all water from the said land and after levelling the said land, the whole area of about 2 lakh square metres has been manually transplanted with Jaya variety of Paddy, and lo and behold, even without weeding and applying fertilizers , he could get a bumper crop. The main idea is, he did not allow the salty water to enter on the land by controlling the water from the sluice gate without destroying the fishes in the trenches. He wishes to replicate this by using the transplanters for transplanting mechanically. If the same or similar methods could be used in other Khazan lands of Goa, the production of paddy could be much increased in our state. Of course, much effort need to be done by the Government not only by motivating the farmers but by supporting the farmers financially, by providing subsidies and other incentives at regular intervals.
Curtorim, not only had been said, a granary of Salcete, but a leading producer of paddy in the yester years and I hope and pray that Curtorim continues to show the way to other villages so that one day Goa becomes sustainable in the production of food grains.
(The author is Ex Headmaster & Member – Biodiversity Management Committee, Curtorim)
