Politicians, Officers and villagers take part in fieldwork to encourage use of fallow land across taluka
Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar and others transplant paddy seedlings in a field at Cotivan, Dabel-Poinguinim.
CANACONA
Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar has called on politicians and agriculture officers to step into the fields and join in the hard work to encourage families to restart cultivation on fallow land.
Tawadkar, joined by his wife and Poinguinim Sarpanch Savita Tawadkar and Agriculture Deputy Directors Shivram Naik Gaonkar and Nagesh Komarpant, transplanted paddy seedlings in a field that had been prepared using a power-tiller.
Several women from the village, including Shristhal Sarpanch Sejal Gaonkar and women panch members from Poinguinim, Shristhal and Khotigao, worked alongside the Speaker and his wife. Students from Balram Residential High School, Amone, also joined in, helping to complete what would normally take three days within half a day on Sunday.
Tawadkar said the aim was to encourage people to restart paddy cultivation in fields left uncultivated for many years. He is cultivating paddy on his own land at Cotivan, using Joida paddy seedlings known for their taste and quality, similar to Basmati, for his family’s use.
“We are not using any chemical fertilisers, only cow dung as manure, so the produce will be fully organic,” he said.
He added, “If we continue working from our comfort zones, people may not listen to our appeals. We, as leaders and officers in the agriculture department, need to enter the fields and lead by example. Today, farming is mechanised, and the department is ready to support farmers. In Canacona, less than 40% of paddy fields are cultivated for Rabi or Kharif crops, but the bigger challenge is to bring back the over 60% of farmers who have stopped cultivation for various reasons.”
Shristhal Sarpanch Sejal Gaonkar shared her views, while Poinguinim Sarpanch Savita Tawadkar said that if farmers come forward with their difficulties, the Canacona MLA will extend all possible help, including community farming, with support from the agriculture department.
“It is only a matter of farmers approaching us and sharing their difficulties. The MLA and all of us at Balram Charitable Trust are ready to help,” she said.
