The Goa Government has several schemes to help mitigate the suffering of people who are in the business of animal husbandry, agriculture, dairy farming, rearing of chickens and pigs, to name a few.
The concerned departments advertise in newspapers and also go to the villages to spread the word. The government provides 90% subsidy for some of the schemes, usage of farm equipment is either free or very low priced and officers, veterinary doctors and scientists offer free consultations.
Yet, for some reasons there are few takers for the available schemes. Now because of the ongoing pandemic several persons, individually or in groups, have turned to farming for livelihoods.
There are examples of remarkable progress with significant turnover and less dependency on other States for vegetables. But this is a drop in the ocean and the people could boost the farm and dairy produce by adopting newer techniques and fully utilize the government’s friendly schemes. We should not complain if the government diverts funds elsewhere for lack of takers for the schemes.
