MARGAO
The Goyche Fudle Pilge Khatir (GFPK), an NGO that defends the rights of future generations and the duties of today's generations to ensure their prosperity, has launched a project to create awareness and motivate youth from schools, colleges and institutions on the importance of food safety and security.
The project, titled "Greening Young Minds for Food Safety and Security", was inaugurated at St Anthony High School, Majorda, Goa, in collaboration with the school management, Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and locals.
The project aims to tackle the potential conflict of interests between present and future generations, as today's generations can benefit by burdening future generations with environmental and social problems. The project involves providing the participants with inputs such as seeds, organic manure, and lure-traps for insects and worms, as well as technical support from the Zonal Agriculture Department (ZAO), Margao.
The project also comprises of an awareness session, followed by a practical field demonstration of growing vegetables at the nearby school premises, with irrigation and protection facilities.
The project intends to educate the youth on the benefits of organic farming, sustainable agriculture, and food security, as well as to inspire them to take up farming as a career option.
The inaugural event was attended by over 300 students of higher classes, who joined and participated in the programme and interacted with the faculties.
The head mistress of St. Anthony High School, Laura Braganza, welcomed all the guests and expressed her gratitude to GFPK for choosing their school as the first venue for the project.
The guests included the president of GFPK, Jack Mascarenas, the vice president, Orlando Mesquita, the executive members, Priya Naik, Amancio Fernandes, a former deputy director of agriculture, and Vincent Vaz, a farmer. The ZAO representative, Roma Shirodkar, an assistant agriculture officer, also graced the occasion and appreciated the initiative of GFPK.
The school PTA representatives, Devdita and Sarita, also expressed their support for the project and thanked GFPK for involving the parents and the locals in the program.
The school manager, Fr Candido Fernandes, also joined in the practical demonstration and took part in the planting of vegetables in the field.
Amancio spoke to SSC students about career paths and study options in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Veterinary Science for undergraduate studies. Fr Candido said that students are given a dedicated plot of land to cultivate, so that they can bond with nature, learn to respect farming as a noble profession, and develop a sense of pride in their work.
The Technical team of Zonal Agriculture departments of Margao showed how to do organic farming using local fertilizers and pheromones Traps to prevent insect damage on Mangoes, Vegetables and other crops.
The GFPK group is also conducting agriculture awareness meetings with village farmers, panchayats and farmers clubs, and has submitted around 105 suggestions to the government to formulate the Goa Agriculture Policy.
