PANAJI
At a time when the job market is tight and businesses sinking, it’s heartwarming to see Goan youth taking up farming.
Mahesh Gaonkar, an ITI graduate from Dharbandora, has been experimenting with various vegetables at his ancestral farmland in Tatodi-Dabal for the past three years. This year he has harvested a rich 10 tonnes of organic ginger, stealing the credit to be the first innovative farmer in Goa to grow ginger commercially.
The 34-year-old received the Best Farmer Award 2021-22 by NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development) Goa at the hands of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recently at the State Credit Seminar 2022-23.
Mahesh found that Mother Nature favoured him by maintaining the climate suitable for ginger. Ginger needs a low temperature, and Goa, which is otherwise hot and humid, remained just perfect for the crop due to the prolonged rains. The young experimental farmer then reaped a bountiful crop of Satara variety of ginger.
“So far I have sold around 300 kg of ginger to Goa State Horticultural Corporation Ltd, and have a daily order of 70-80 kg. As the demand for ginger soars in winter, I am expecting a rise in the price too,” says Mahesh who is happy with his decision of growing ginger in Goa.
Farmers in the State have been growing turmeric, ginger, onions, chillies, tomatoes on a smaller scale, sometimes restricted only for home consumption, but no one has yet taken up a commercial crop of ginger, which Mahesh did and succeeded. He has been growing local as well as hybrid vegetables including bhendi, cluster beans, capsicum, cucumber, watermelon, chilli. All his produce goes to Goa State Horticulture Corporation.
“To my surprise, my ginger crop came not only bountiful but with an aroma too. Goa’s rich soil gives a particular taste and aroma to our crops, and my ginger smells stronger than what is available in the market,” boasts Mahesh, who sowed 800 kg of Satara variety of ginger seeds in June 2021 in a 4,000 sq ft area of his field and got a 10,000 kg crop.
“I found that Goa’s soil is just perfect for ginger, as it is for other underground root crops. And the prolonged rain, in a way, proved to be a boon for ginger, as it saved me from watering regularly. As my land is on a hilly area, the water didn’t get clogged in the field and flowed down which was helpful. For crops like ginger and turmeric, too much water in the soil rots the crop. With favourable conditions, ginger was ready for harvesting in 8-9 months. After the first harvesting, the second was done in a month. Now it’s plucked as per order. If not plucked or sold now, I can store it in the soil itself with regular watering. It will remain fresh for another three-four months,” shares Mahesh who toiled in the soil with his wife and mother.
Since it was the first time that he was experimenting with ginger, he sowed the seeds in a single line row, instead of the usual double. This reduced the crop by half.
“I would have got double the quantity had it been in double row,” shares the new farmer who was operating on a mine and owned a few trucks.
As the mining operations ceased to function, Mahesh too, like many other Goans became unemployed. He then thought of using his ancestral land to take up agriculture and today is reaping a rich dividend.
“Mother Earth blessed me soon enough,” admits Mahesh who began farming under the guidance of agriculture officer Nagesh Komarpant and is thankful for receiving continuous support from Krishnanath Gawas, Shiwangi Paidarkar and Mayura Bhave in his farming venture.
