MAPUSA
Encouraging farmers to form community groups to cultivate fields, Bardez Zonal Agriculture Officer Raghunath Joshi said farmers would be in better position to avail government schemes if they cultivated fields collectively.
“The farmers need to come together and cultivate the fields in groups. This way, the farmers will also be able to tap into the government schemes,” Joshi said.
The ZAO was speaking to farmers from Siolim at an event to explain various schemes/benefits the government has to offer to farmers. The talk was organized in an initiative taken by Siolim panch member, Sharmila Vernekar and farmer, Joaquim Barros at Porta Vaddo, Siolim. Farmers from Siolim under the leadership of Fondu Shirodkar attended the talk.
Joshi encouraged the farmers to take advantage and avail various schemes offered by the government.
He said experts from the department were ready to help the farmers on issues like facilities to purchase machineries, irrigation system, seedlings, talks on intercrop plantations etc.
Later, the ZAO also interacted with farmers to know about their difficulties and suggest solutions to their problems.
He also inspected the fields and urged the farmers to provide the form 1 & 14 and survey plan so that he would be able to depute his technical team to make a firsthand survey of area.
Gregory D’Souza, a member of the village development committee, explained to farmers the need to participate in the village gram sabha to help prepare the GPDP which incorporates all activities of the farming community and that funds will be routed through the panchayat if the plan was prepared in time.
