Goa's agriculture deserves more than a shot in the arm to survive; nothing less than a major transfusion is necessary and the photo-op of a couple of MLAs in the fields, at best, is Gollywood; it cannot be expected to be taken seriously by the Goan public unless our MLAs think the Goan electorate is not much more than an imbecilic mass of rotten meat with the right to vote. Please decide for yourself.
Giving subsidies to farmers, at this point in time, is a little like trying to apply a band-aid on a patient who is at death's end. And, that is about where we are today, with most of the food we eat - fish, fruit, vegetables, and water - all polluted! Some people are asking, what's next? With the high cost and shortage of labour, the unholy abundance of imported fish, vegetables and fruit from outside the state pouring into Goa is indeed an ill omen; local producers cannot hope to compete with the prices of the polluted food! And, even worse, the people of Goa are now scared to death of chemically-tainted food. The cat is out of the bag, and it stinks! Allowing fish from outside of the state at two checkpoints is window dressing unless every fish is checked which of course is the stuff of science fiction. Stop dreaming! Not one, but a lakh and more doubting Thomas's will every day visit fish markets and return without buying anything! The government, unfortunately, is playing a losing game. We need to upgrade agriculture to an agro-industry. Farmers markets in villages and cities is the need of the hour. We must have dedicated markets where farmers in Goa - and only from Goa - are eligible to sell their chemically-free produce of fruit and vegetables. Hotels and the local population will gobble up the food. Rice, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and so on, can be sold in these chemical-free markets. Farmers, in this way, will get a much greater profit margin when we add this marketing strategy to the subsidies that exist at present. Agricultural land will become more valuable, and agriculture a more viable industry. No need for TDR. This new policy makes the farmer the beneficiary of the land and our green Goa will not have to become a concrete Goa where politicians and builders can grow richer faster than a fenugreek plant can reach maturity. Best of all, the farmers won't have to dispose of their land to builders! Organic farming is the way to go as Goa is also a major global tourism destination. Make no mistake, we do not have a choice. Westerners will cancel their tickets and change their vacation plans if we do not introduce organic farming immediately. Unlike the problem of garbage disposal, we need to eat food. Bottled water in Goa today is no longer a status symbol but circumstantial evidence of how polluted our ground water is - a warning to us to think twice, at least, if we don't want to scare the tourists away. Tourism is now the economic backbone of our state. Unemployment, which is on its way up, is an ugly fact in the lives of Goans who have to go abroad to earn a livelihood. So, what is to be gained by compounding the situation? Mining is in limbo and tourism is now the biggest industry which employs more Goans than any other. But, for how long? Kitchen gardens can be included in this marketing strategy: individuals, too, should be allowed to sell their chemical-free fruit and vegetable produce in the farmers markets. It will help to raise the standard of health in the village and provide additional income to households all over Goa. A much better deal than the recently hyped IT start-ups where the majority of jobs will go to people from outside our state and the beneficiaries will be the owners of the companies. As the truism goes - we are what we eat - and so, let's eat right.
