ICAR-CCARI, Goa organized Special Session on “Revitalizing Goan Agriculture and Allied Sectors for Doubling Farmer's Income”

 

In the three days XXII Biennial National Symposium on “Climate Smart Agronomy for Resilient Production Systems and Livelihood Security”, a special session was organized on “Revitalizing Goan Agriculture and Allied Sectors for doubling Farmer's Income” on 23-11-2023.

The session was Chaired by Dr. V.S. Korikanthimath, Former Director, ICAR-CCARI, Goa, Dr Parveen Kumar, Director, ICAR-CCARI, Goa and Mr. Nevil Alphonso, Director, Directorate of Agriculture, Govt. of Goa, the Convener of the session was Dr. Paramesha, V. The chairman in his remarks stressed upon the importance of agriculture in Goa and said that without agriculture, other sectors like mining and tourism will not survive. He has emphasized on integrated farming system for both rice and coconut which are the two most important crops of Goa.

Dr. Parveen Kumar has set the context for the discussion through his elaborated presentation where he has flagged issues of Goan agriculture like land ownership, low productivity of crops, horticulture and livestock, soil salinization and water scarcity during rabi season. He also discussed about the solutions like development of low-cost water harvesting structures, adoption of improved varieties developed by ICAR-CCARI, adoption of kulagar based IFS for maximum and effective utilization of vertical space. He stressed on creating value chain-supply network by post-harvest management to increase farmers’ income and use of drone technology and AI to reduce drudgery, save time and increase income. He highlighted the importance of agro-eco-tourism to attract the youth in agriculture.  

Mr. Nevil Alphonso informed about various schemes available for the benefit of Goan farmers. Dr. Nitin Naik, Assistant Director, Dept of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services Goa highlighted the problems and opportunities in dairy sector.

Dr. Pradeep Sarmokadam, Member Secretary, Goa State Biodiversity Board informed about the various initiatives being undertaken for promoting agriculture. He informed that efforts are being made to avail carbon credits to farmers. Dr. Suresh Kunkalikar, Principal, Goa College of Agriculture and Dr. J. R. Faleiro, FAO Consultant also shared their views. During the panel session, a total of 30 progressive farmers from Goa including Dr. Sachin Tendulkar, Mr. Sanjiv Kunkalienkar and Ms. Darshana Padnekar participated and interacted.