PANAJI
The State government will increase the subsidy for community farming to 90 per cent for projects covering up to two lakh square metres of land, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Currently, the government provides 70 per cent subsidy, while farmers contribute the remaining 30 per cent. “Under the revised proposal, the government will bear 90 per cent of the cost, leaving only 10 per cent to be contributed by farmers,” Sawant said.
The announcement came after Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai raised concerns over the need to revive community farming in the State and demanded higher subsidies and dedicated funds for such schemes.
Sardesai pointed out that Goa has highly fragmented landholdings, making individual farming less viable and strengthening the case for community-based agricultural practices. He also claimed that budgetary allocations for community farming have been curtailed and urged the government to revive the scheme and earmark dedicated funds that could be utilised by MLAs to support farmers.
Responding to the concerns, Sawant said the government is also expanding access to Krishi Cards to enable more farmers to avail benefits of government schemes.
He said Krishi Cards are now being issued to farmers whose names appear in the tenant column of Form XIV records, including those cultivating Alvara and evacuee lands.
Speaking during the calling attention motion, several MLAs across party lines urged the government to amend the law so that farmers can benefit from agricultural schemes even if they do not own the land they cultivate.
BJP MLA Deviya Rane said many farmers are unable to access government schemes because their lands are either encroached upon by forests or classified as Alvara lands, leaving them without proper documentation required to obtain a Krishi Card.
“In the absence of ownership documents, farmers cannot even carry out basic works such as fencing to protect their agricultural land,” she said.
Congress MLA Altone D’Costa also highlighted difficulties faced by farmers cultivating cashew plantations on forest land leased through auctions.
He said such farmers cannot avail subsidies under the cashew plantation scheme because they do not possess Krishi Cards, even though they are actively cultivating the land.
Responding to the issue, the Chief Minister said that the government would explore the possibility of including such farmers in agreements and providing subsidy provisions, particularly for those cultivating cashew plantations on leased lands.
