the goan I network
MARGAO
A group of citizens from Fatorda have told Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai to refrain from using divisive strategies to cover his failures and instead do his job of protecting Goa’s agriculture sector via scientific methodologies and policies prepared by experts.
They have slammed the Agriculture Minister for the loss to farmer due to flooding, saying Friday’s floods in Fatorda and the rest of the state, is a sad reflection on the performance of the Agriculture Minister, demanding to know why no warning was issued by the Agriculture department about the rains. The citizens consisting of Dr Francisco Colaco, Sanjeev Raiturcar, Ethel Lobo, Nelson Fernandes and Piedade Norohna said that Goa needs a Agriculture Minister who would the weather conditions and advise the farmers when the time is right to cultivate their fields.
They demanded to know on what basis is the Agriculture Minister asking farmers to chant mantras for 20 minutes. “The Minister claims that he is a Bachelor in Agriculture. He must know that such pseudo-science is dangerous and could be disastrous to our farmers”, they said.
While asking the Minister to prove that chanting mantras increase production and requires less fertilizers as claimed by him, the Citizens demanded to know whether he is willing to provide crop insurance to farmers who use this method instead of using fertilizers.
They pointed out that the Minister’s assurance to bring 20,000 hectares of fallow land under cultivation is a distant dream saying lack of planning, absence of a sound agricultural policy and haphazard development will cause flooding every year, which will wash away the back breaking work of farmers, besides causing a financial loss to them.
“In Fatorda, farmers have lost land to big projects such as the Collectorate building, Truck terminus 17 years ago. Why hasn’t the Minister been able to compensate these farmers after a year of becoming a Minister? The Minister tried to grab more land near the stadium by proposing a manmade lake for recreational purpose. While building the four-lane road, he cut off access to these farms in order to discourage them from cultivating”, they said.
