PANAJI
While the agriculture department sees it as an achievable goal, only time will tell if it can follow in Sikkim’s footsteps. The agriculture department revealed that in the last year, Goa used 65 kilograms of chemical fertilizers per hectare, a figure that is much lesser than the national average of 157.5 kilograms per hectare.
Speaking about Goa’s potential to turn organic, Agriculture Director Ulhas Kakode said, “Annually the state consumes 8,000 tonnes of fertilizers but this can be reduced considerably. In the last year, the department supplied around 2,500 tonnes as fertilizers for farmers; the rest is supplied by private shops. But bio fertilizers including vermicomposting are also becoming popular.”
He added that the use of chemical pesticides in the state too was negligible. “For large fields of flower cultivation, if there is the need to get rid of pests, farmers have to go to neighboring Belgaum to get the chemicals. This is because it is not being used in the state at all,” said Kakode.
Goa has vast potential to go organic, he says, maybe even becoming the second or third state to be crowned organic. “I say third because the state of Uttarakhand is fast catching up with the organic way,” he added.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar in the recently presented budget speech proposed to turn the government farm in Kalay, Sanguem into an organic one. Confirming the move, Kakode said the farm would be a centre to showcase and train farmers into the use of organic inputs to generate organic outputs. In addition assistance will also be provided as 50 percent subsidy for the use of organic inputs by the farmers.
Also part of the organic plans is the undertaking of organic farming under cluster development in the talukas of Sanguem, Canacona and Quepem on a pilot basis. Under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme, each cluster will train and provide assistance to 50 farmers targeting to bring 50 acres from each taluka under organic farming. Farmers undertaking the training for three years will then be certified. “It is a long term project and the farmers will have to follow the practice for over three years. The initial training has already begun,” said Kakode.
