CM launches kharif season with 4,000-hectare mechanisation target

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has a hands-on-experience in flying an agriculture drone and driving a transplanter with Paddy Man of Goa, Fr George Quadros, at the launching of Kharif season at Raia on Thursday.

Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar

MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched the kharif season on the occasion of World Environment Day from Raia, setting an ambitious target of bringing 4,000 hectares of agricultural land under mechanisation from the existing 400 hectares over the next 10 years.

Unveiling the government’s plan to give a boost to the agriculture sector, the Chief Minister said that the government will extend subsidies to farmer-producer organisations to procure drones and transplanters cultivating up to one lakh square metres of land. The Chief Minister said that 10 drones ordered by the agriculture department will arrive in the State in the next one month.

The Chief Minister had hands-on experience operating a transplanter and flying a drone at Raia at a function organised by the Don Bosco Society and the Directorate of Agriculture to launch the State’s kharif season.

The Chief Minister took the platform to compliment the Paddy Man of Goa, Fr George Quadros, for revolutionising agriculture through sustained mechanisation. After Fr Quadros pointed out that he had started mechanisation on a modest area of 10,000 square metres of land a decade ago, which has now touched 400 hectares, the Chief Minister set an ambitious target of 4,000 hectares over the next 10 years. “Fr Quadros has doubled the agricultural area with mechanisation in the last 10 years. Hence, it is possible to double the area under cultivation every year,” he said.

Promising the government’s all-out support to boost agriculture, the Chief Minister called for cost-effective farming to boost production and income, saying that Fr Quadros has shown the way towards cost-effective farming through mechanisation. “Fr Quadros has explained that brown and black rice produced in Goa is in high demand abroad. Black rice commands a price of Rs 250 per kg in the market. This only goes to show the huge demand for locally produced rice,” he said.

The Chief Minister took the platform to appeal to the people to grow more trees in the state. “Right now, Goa enjoys around 66 per cent forest cover. We have to plant more trees to take the figure to 76 per cent,” he added.

Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik stressed the need for self-sufficiency in rice production while promising to provide the required infrastructure to boost paddy cultivation in the state.

Fr George Quadros said the Don Bosco Society has set an ambitious target to bring a total of 400 hectares of farmland under paddy cultivation this season.

He said barren Comunidade fields, khazan lands et al will be brought under cultivation by Fr George Quadros and his dedicated team of service providers across the South Goa district.

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Three-month Agri Clinic course from next month

MARGAO: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday announced that a three-month Agri Clinic course for BSc Agriculture students will commence in Sanquelim next month.

He said the centrally approved Agri Clinic course will help students gain knowledge and skills in soil testing and other activities.

Underscoring the need to spread awareness of agriculture amongst the student community, the Chief Minister said that agriculture as a subject has been introduced by the government in Std VIII, IX and X, which will go a long way in bringing the youth back to agriculture.