THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: The concept of community farming is catching on and for good reason.
Ten neighbours in Camarkhazan-Mapusa have joined hands to bring land that was lying fallow for the last 35 years under cultivation.
An area of around 6000 sq mtrs of private land has been ploughed this monsoon and if the idea clicks, the residents plan to increase the area next year.
“We liked the concept of group farming and therefore like-minded people have come together to put our land to good use. Even the fruits of our labour will be shared equally amongst us,” said Steven Coutinho, who is one of the stakeholders and incidentally the president of the tenants association in the area.
The residents have decided to cultivate rice on a smaller scale, but go big on vegetables and focus on organic farming.
“We can no longer trust the food stuff we get in the market nowadays. At least here we know what we sow and reap will be guaranteed stuff,” said Benny Araujo, a local who is associated with the farming activity.
Interestingly, the area brought under cultivation is prime land and was marked as settlement zone under the now scrapped ODP-2021 plan for Mapusa.
The residents who have come together to cultivate the land are socially-conscious citizens and have been fighting the real estate lobby that has been eyeing land in the area.
“This land has been lying barren for the last 35 years. If we want we can easily sell this land to the builders and earn a huge windfall. But that is not what we want to do. We want that our Goa should remain green,” said John Lobo, who is spearheading the movement of community farming in Camarkhazan.
He said, for the moment they were just ten but expected more people to join them as word spreads around.
“We are committed to farming and we will convince other like-minded people to participate in the endeavour,” he said.
The residents gave credit to Bardez Mechanical Cultivation Officer Satish Kerkar, who went out of his way to provide the logistics to plough the land.
Vivian Pinto, Steven Coutinho, San Antonio D’Mello, Maura Monteiro, Evette Pinto, John Lobo, Benny Araujo, Martinho Almeida, Vincent D’Souza and Lazarus Pinto are the 10 residents of Bhatlem, Camarkhazan who are involved in the community farming.
Incidentally, Camarkhazan is part of ward 8 in Mapusa Municipal Council but comes under the Aldona constituency.
