VASCO: A group of farmers in Chicalim reaped what they had sowed, but this was a special harvest.
The 14,000 sqm field area that was cultivated had been lying fallow for many years and the farmers who revived it were a group of youth who took to farming to inspire others.
The Chicalim Youth Farmer's Club (CYFC ) on Sunday happily and proudly harvested their paddy crop, gathering a yield of 64 sacks of 25 kg each. Of these, 50 bags were of the Jyoti rice variety and 14 bags of the Karjat variety.
The harvesting process was conducted by a farmer from Nagoa, Greg Fernandes, while eight teachers from St Joseph Vaz College, Cortalim, helped the youth. Interestingly, earlier too, the young farmers received help from Goenche Shetkar during the process of sowing and transplanting.
Part of the harvested paddy will be distributed among the members of the club and the rest of it will be sold in the market once it is processed into rice.
Parish Priest of Chicalim Church, Fr Bolmax Pereira, who founded the club and guided members said, “We have 35 youth registered with us. Few are studying and others are working. While many have contributed as and when they afforded time, 15 youth have been continuously engaged in the activity."
Stating that overall, nearly Rs 1 lakh has been spent on the programme, Pereira said that the local community sponsored the activity.
To honour the achievement of the young farmers, a team from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Old Goa (ICAR) and basmati rice growers from Haryana visited the harvesting site.
The Haryana team told the youth that Haryana exports 60% of its basmati crop to Arab countries and that growing Basmati is possible in Goa. The team also assured the young farmers of help during the next sowing season.
ICAR has also offered assistance to the club to grow Beyer and newly-researched varieties while also assuring that other inputs will be provided next year.
