The farmers wait for the rain God to shower upon the thirsty land so that they can till it for producing food to feed their family members and sell the extra quantity to meet their other requirements for survival.
Well, although it may sound simple but the real truth lies in doing it practically without any hiccups which are always around the corner to play spoil sport in any activities of nature.
As usual the farmers approach the Agriculture Department Mechanical wings to meet their demand of booking a tractor for a particular number of hours so that their piece of land gets thoroughly ploughed for sowing as well as transplanting the seedlings raised in a separate corner with the onset of monsoon. Normally, it takes around 21 days, i.e. three weeks for seeds to germinate and small stacks are plucked and kept at various points for transplanting.
I used to see similar type of activities during my posting at Bicholim taluka during 2012-13 with the flurry of activities by the farmers for getting their share of booking done in various villages of Mulgao, Pilgao, Mayem, Latambarcem, Shirgao, Navelim, Kudem, Amona etc.
Our office had four tractors and six drivers for carrying out such operations every year and we used to send the tractors to the different villages on first come first serve basis so that everyone gets their job done properly and for the number of hours paid.
That year the demands for cultivation rose by almost two times due to extension functionaries’ vital role and availability of seeds on time. The farmers picked up the seeds immediately on their arrival in the local market, for cultivation.
It was a game changing plan. On accessing the total requirement in various villages, we realised that it would not be possible to cater to all as per our normal way of dealing with such operation. So I had a one-to-one meeting with our drivers, assistants and technical person about the way forward to resolve this problem without any hassle and meet our demand in a systematic way. They too informed me that unless we pull in tractors from other places this job will not be completed as per our estimate and to the farmers’ satisfaction. The sad part in this suggestion was that at other zones, they too might have faced a similar issue and getting additional tractors was not possible in the prevailing situation.
An out-of-the-box idea struck me at this juncture and I explained to our staff that let’s do it on a war footing basis by engaging all the four tractors directly in one village and then shift to another and so on till we complete our hours of demand for service in the fields.
My staff took up this challenge wholeheartedly and we also made the farmers a party to our decision of providing all that was required to make their stay comfortable in the respective village as they would be stationed there every day of the week for the next month so as to be able to achieve the goal set forth by our dedicated team members.
We gave this operation the name ‘Caravan of Machineries in Field’ which was indeed appreciated by all the farmers in the respective villages because they had never been able to see so many tractors ploughing simultaneously at one place without any break whatsoever and that too in a synchronised manner to boast off.
The drivers and their assistants were honoured after this operation was satisfactorily completed at a later stage by giving ‘appreciation certificate’ for their untiring and steadfast service to the farming community at large.
The drivers expressed that never ever had they received such a token of appreciation and that this gesture shall always linger in their mind, reminding them that someone does appreciate at the end of the day in such challenging scenarios.
This thanksgiving to me by our mechanical staff was one of the most cherished moments while working at Bicholim. It was a reminder that we must always support our foot soldiers for the good work done by them for the sake of humanity and without any expectations. So that, in similar circumstances in near future a message will go around that we do respect and appreciate them for their timely support and that we are there for them irrespective of the positions held in public service.
(The writer is retired deputy director at department of Agriculture (Goa) who now handles translation division of ‘Kamat Securities’ and is consultant at Agri-Horti Consultancy Services)
