MARGAO
The Agriculture department is gearing up for a crackdown on the illegal plant nurseries, with the department making it abundantly clear that sale of plants through handcarts is totally prohibited under the Goa Fruit and Ornamental Plant Nurseries (regulation) Act, 1995 and are liable for confiscation.
Three days after Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai, Agriculture Director Nelson Figueiredo other department officials had a meeting with Additional District Collector Agnelo Fernandes and DySPs of South Goa district, the Agriculture Director has issued a public notice urging all nurseries to display their licences within 15 days.
The licenced nurseries have been told to display on the board the name of the nursery, address, name of the owner, contact no, licence no, date issue and the validity of the licence.
The nursery owners have been further directed to submit a photocopy of the installed sign board containing all the information to the respective zonal agriculture officer of the taluka from where the nursery licence was issue, with a further direction to the owners to display in the sale premises the licence issued by the Directorate of Agriculture.
Sources in the Agriculture department informed that the latest exercise has been contemplated to identify the illegal nurseries running along the highways and State roadsides and to bar the illegal hawkers selling nursery plants in the villages.
Last month, GOACAN had written to the Agriculture departments, besides the district Collector on the mushrooming of illegal hawkers selling ornamental plants without any guarantee that the plants sold by these nurseries are genuine and free from any plant disease, promoting the Agriculture Minister to call a meeting with the government officials and the stakeholders.
