Goan lawmaker Wilfred D’sa wants to make Nuvem the vegetable granary of Goa

Nuvem, Goa: Goan MLA from Nuvem Wilfred D’sa has vowed to make his constituency the fruit and vegetable granary of Goa in the next one year.

“We have seen in the past how Goans were inconvenienced and had to pay through the roof for fresh vegetables and fruits, when the highways connecting Maharashtra and Karnataka got blocked due to flooding and landslides caused by very heavy rains. Besides any disturbance or strikes by transport operators can leave Goans at the mercy of the wholesalers who hike the prices of fruits and vegetables at will, leaving residents no option but to pay nearly 2-3 times the normal price,” says D’sa. who is leaving no stone upturned to promote kitchen farming in his constituency with a target to increase the local farm produce output by 25 to 30 per cent.

As part of the Kitchen Farming and Kitchen Gardening concept mooted by Project Goemcho Goenkar to boost farming and growing of fruits and vegetables in the State, with an aim to making Goa totally self-sufficient in farm produce including fruits and vegetables, nearly two dozen households have taken up growing vegetables in their backyard over the last 10 days, he explains.

A unique drive to promote cultivation and other farming activity in the Nuvem constituency by my team has seen a 50 percent increase in the activity in the locality over the last one year, D’sa claims, adding that we are trying to introduce new farming techniques to boost overall output.

“More and more locals are cultivating their land in Nuvem and even other cultivation of farm produce like fruits and vegetables, water melons, potatoes, sweet potatoes and cereals etc., has increased over the last one year in Nuvem,” Dsa said.

Dsa has provided tractors and other farming equipment to the farmers of Nuvem, which has motivated others to take up the trade once again.

According to Dsa, people of Nuvem have taken to agriculture and farming in a very big way this year and by the end or the coming year, Nuvem will be totally self-sufficient when it comes to agricultural produce, including most fruits and vegetables.

We will have a 100 percent self-sufficiency for our local consumption needs when it comes to fruits and vegetables, D’sa said.

The Covid-19 induced lockdown was another great incentive for the locals to take up farming this year.

The concept of kitchen gardening or kitchen farming has mushroomed in Nuvem with hundreds of new families taking up kitchen gardening, growing fruits and vegetables in their backyards over the last 8-10 months.

Project Goemcho Goenkar is promoting kitchen farming or kitchen gardening in the State of Goa, with Nuvem and Curchorem leading the pack.

Organic and fresh are two sacred words that not only appeal to fitness freaks, but also to every health-conscious person. Many people splurge on imported, advertised ‘natural’ products, when some of the best sources of a healthy diet can be grown and produced in one’s backyard, says Wilfred Dsa who wants to further double the farm output in his constituency by 100 percent in 2021.

In addition to kitchen farming, kitchen gardening and home horticulture, Goemcho Goenkar has introduced shrimp and mussel farming in areas where brackish water is available for aquaculture.