MARGAO
Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday made a fervent plea to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to give a serious thought as Minister for Education to make agriculture a part of the school
curriculum.
Saying that Goa faces a huge challenge to get the 20,000 hectares of fallow agricultural land under cultivation, the Agriculture Minister said making agriculture a subject in the school curriculum can help bring children closer to agriculture and change their mindset towards farming.
Addressing school children at the concluding programme of the eight-day agriculture summer camp organized by We for Fatorda at the Davondem bandh, Sardesai
said the government can provide incentives to the students in the form of work
experience.
“In horticulture, the students have to undergo work experience, wherein they have to take the pickaxe and go in the fields. In a similar way, we can get the children in the
field by making agriculture part of the school curriculum,” he added.
Saying that the 20,000 hectares of fallow agricultural land across the state is indeed a matter for concern, the Agriculture Minister said the government has decided to introduce contract farming, but added that the issue falls in the domain of the Revenue Ministry.
He said the agriculture department has already come out with community farming, wherein the government has chipped in support to the farmers under the scheme.
“We had founded the goemkarponn party not just to come to power, but to resolve many an issue step by step. After I took up the issue of the Opinion Poll, the government has now cleared all decks to introduce Opinion Poll history in the school curriculum. This has come after 50 long years. We have to take one step at a time. We will not betray the mandate given by the people,” he said, adding that the Goa Forward Party has delivered what was promised in the manifesto.
Chairman of Ravindra Bhavan Margao Prashant Naik, horticulture officer Sandeep Phaldesai, We for Fatorda head Usha Sardesai and others also spoke.
