[Goanet-News] St Estevam's villagers harvest good news... (Derek Almeida in Civil Society, link at end)

2019-01-01 Thread Frederick Noronha 
PHOTO: Fr George explaining farming methods to students |
Photo: William Rodrigues

Goa village digs in, grows paddy to stop builders

Derek Almeida, Panaji
derekalme...@rediffmail.com

When residents of the island village of St Estevam found that
they were going to lose their land to a jetty for loading
coal, and almost certainly also to builders, they decided to
stop protesting and take decisive action.

Led by the young on the island, they decided that the best
strategy would be to put the land to use by cultivating paddy
which would provide financial returns and also make
acquisition difficult.

PHOTO: Young people lend a helping hand in the nursery |
Photo: William Rodrigues

In just one season after putting their strategy into
operation, they succeeded in bringing 450,000 sqm under
cultivation and harvested 65,000 kg of paddy, thereby
stopping acquisition of their land.

  Landowners on St Estevam had long given up farming.
  The gram sabha, panchayat and communidade (an
  institution for community ownership of land, unique
  to Goa) had been discussing a revival of paddy
  cultivation, but there were many hurdles to contend
  with. Labour was hard to find and returns not high
  enough to justify investment.

Three factors came together to speed up community action --
the coal jetty, builders who had their eye on this green
island just 15 km from Panaji and filling up of khazan lands
(low-lying areas reclaimed centuries ago through construction
of sluice gates and bunds).

The Ilhas Verde Farmers' Club was set up with an 18-member
executive committee. Ilhas Verde, which means green island,
is the name given to this island by the Portuguese.

The committee was aware of the practical problems associated
with cultivation. "We knew that members of the village
couldn't till the land," says Ashwin Varela, 21, a young
member of the core committee which did most of the legwork.
"But we had heard of the work undertaken by Fr George Quadros
of Don Bosco at Loutolim in South Goa in mechanised farming
and we decided to use him as a service provider."

It proved to be a brilliant decision because Fr George had
the necessary experience and machines to undertake seed
germination, transplantation and harvesting.

"In a way, we were outsourcing the back-breaking work,"
admits Ansyl Gonsalves, 22, another young member of the core
committee.

While the effort was guided by Nestor Rangel, an electronics
engineer-turned-horticulturist, and Shailendra Alfonso, a
retired merchant navy employee, the role of the parish
priest, Fr Eusico Pereira, in galvanising the people was
crucial to its success.

As the residents got their act together, awareness programmes
were also held by the Agriculture Technical Management Agency
(ATMA), affiliated to the agriculture department of the state
government.

Rangel took up the task of coordinating with ATMA, the zonal
agriculture officer, Old Goa, and other government agencies.

  But before getting the tractors to plough the land,
  they first had to identify the landowners and get
  their permission. Along with another young member,
  Swizel Gonsalves, the three-member team set about
  the task. To their good luck, a former parish
  priest had obtained a survey of the village which
  contained plot numbers.

Since most land records are available online, they downloaded
Forms I and 14 of all plots, put them on an Excel sheet and
gave it to ward members of the parish council to identify the
landholders.

Accordingly, landowners or heirs were divided into four
categories -- those willing to cultivate on their own; those
willing to cultivate their land through the club by paying a
predetermined sum; those willing to give the club the right
to cultivate without paying or expecting returns, and those
unwilling to cultivate.

With the help of Fr George, the core group worked out the
cost of cultivation at Rs 3.5 per sq m which would include
seeds, ploughing, transplantation and harvesting. According
to Rangel, this is less than half the cost of using manual
labour.

The response from villagers was encouraging and accordingly
it was decided to undertake cultivation on 500,000 sq m  in
three of the six khazan lands.

  It was an ambitious target considering that this
  was the first time in more than two decades that
  land lying fallow was being revived for
  cultivation. "After consultation with old-timers
  from the village and the Indian Council of
  Agricultural Research (ICAR) we decided on two
  varieties of seeds -- Jyoti for the non-saline
  areas and GRS-1 for the saline areas," said Rangel.

On May 9, the first tractor of the North Goa Mechanised
Farming Association led by Dinesh Harmalkar started ploughing
the land. "It wasn’t easy," recalled Ansyl, "and there were
incidents of tractors and transplanters

[Goanet] St Estevam's villagers harvest good news... (Derek Almeida in Civil Society, link at end)

2019-01-01 Thread Frederick Noronha 
PHOTO: Fr George explaining farming methods to students |
Photo: William Rodrigues

Goa village digs in, grows paddy to stop builders

Derek Almeida, Panaji
derekalme...@rediffmail.com

When residents of the island village of St Estevam found that
they were going to lose their land to a jetty for loading
coal, and almost certainly also to builders, they decided to
stop protesting and take decisive action.

Led by the young on the island, they decided that the best
strategy would be to put the land to use by cultivating paddy
which would provide financial returns and also make
acquisition difficult.

PHOTO: Young people lend a helping hand in the nursery |
Photo: William Rodrigues

In just one season after putting their strategy into
operation, they succeeded in bringing 450,000 sqm under
cultivation and harvested 65,000 kg of paddy, thereby
stopping acquisition of their land.

  Landowners on St Estevam had long given up farming.
  The gram sabha, panchayat and communidade (an
  institution for community ownership of land, unique
  to Goa) had been discussing a revival of paddy
  cultivation, but there were many hurdles to contend
  with. Labour was hard to find and returns not high
  enough to justify investment.

Three factors came together to speed up community action --
the coal jetty, builders who had their eye on this green
island just 15 km from Panaji and filling up of khazan lands
(low-lying areas reclaimed centuries ago through construction
of sluice gates and bunds).

The Ilhas Verde Farmers' Club was set up with an 18-member
executive committee. Ilhas Verde, which means green island,
is the name given to this island by the Portuguese.

The committee was aware of the practical problems associated
with cultivation. "We knew that members of the village
couldn't till the land," says Ashwin Varela, 21, a young
member of the core committee which did most of the legwork.
"But we had heard of the work undertaken by Fr George Quadros
of Don Bosco at Loutolim in South Goa in mechanised farming
and we decided to use him as a service provider."

It proved to be a brilliant decision because Fr George had
the necessary experience and machines to undertake seed
germination, transplantation and harvesting.

"In a way, we were outsourcing the back-breaking work,"
admits Ansyl Gonsalves, 22, another young member of the core
committee.

While the effort was guided by Nestor Rangel, an electronics
engineer-turned-horticulturist, and Shailendra Alfonso, a
retired merchant navy employee, the role of the parish
priest, Fr Eusico Pereira, in galvanising the people was
crucial to its success.

As the residents got their act together, awareness programmes
were also held by the Agriculture Technical Management Agency
(ATMA), affiliated to the agriculture department of the state
government.

Rangel took up the task of coordinating with ATMA, the zonal
agriculture officer, Old Goa, and other government agencies.

  But before getting the tractors to plough the land,
  they first had to identify the landowners and get
  their permission. Along with another young member,
  Swizel Gonsalves, the three-member team set about
  the task. To their good luck, a former parish
  priest had obtained a survey of the village which
  contained plot numbers.

Since most land records are available online, they downloaded
Forms I and 14 of all plots, put them on an Excel sheet and
gave it to ward members of the parish council to identify the
landholders.

Accordingly, landowners or heirs were divided into four
categories -- those willing to cultivate on their own; those
willing to cultivate their land through the club by paying a
predetermined sum; those willing to give the club the right
to cultivate without paying or expecting returns, and those
unwilling to cultivate.

With the help of Fr George, the core group worked out the
cost of cultivation at Rs 3.5 per sq m which would include
seeds, ploughing, transplantation and harvesting. According
to Rangel, this is less than half the cost of using manual
labour.

The response from villagers was encouraging and accordingly
it was decided to undertake cultivation on 500,000 sq m  in
three of the six khazan lands.

  It was an ambitious target considering that this
  was the first time in more than two decades that
  land lying fallow was being revived for
  cultivation. "After consultation with old-timers
  from the village and the Indian Council of
  Agricultural Research (ICAR) we decided on two
  varieties of seeds -- Jyoti for the non-saline
  areas and GRS-1 for the saline areas," said Rangel.

On May 9, the first tractor of the North Goa Mechanised
Farming Association led by Dinesh Harmalkar started ploughing
the land. "It wasn’t easy," recalled Ansyl, "and there were
incidents of tractors and transplanters

[Goanet-News] Some books from Goa.... (offtopic)

2019-01-01 Thread Frederick Noronha 
Permit me to share with you an update of some recently-released books
published by Goa,1556, the alternative book publishing venture I've been
associated with for the past decade and a little more.

Please see details of the offer for the five books below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/44744408980/in/dateposted/

The books are:
* Goa: A Post-Colonial Society Between Cultures (Rochelle Almeida, Ed).
  Seminar papers and more from a Yale conference.
* The Luso-Indian Stethoscope: Early graduates of the Grant Medical
  College in Bombay. (Shirley Louise Gonsalves)
* Beyond Bandra; A Mac view of Mumbai, Goa and Life. (Edwin Fernandes()
* Sita Valles: A revolutionary until death. An amazing story of a Goan
   radical campaigner executed in Angola in 1977. (Leonora Figueiredo.)
* Under the Mango Tree: Short Stories From Goa. Fundacao Oriente's
   just released collection. Four languages, translated into English.

To get your set of the above books, or gift it to someone, email address to
goa1...@gmail.com. It costs Euro 42 globally and Rs1700 in India (inclusive
of postage and packaging in both cases).

Regards,

Frederick Noronha
+91-9822122436
-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436
AUDIO: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
TEXT: http://bit.ly/2SBx41G PIX: http://bit.ly/2Rs1xhl
Can't get through on mobile? Please SMS/WhatsApp

[Goanet] Some books from Goa.... (offtopic)

2019-01-01 Thread Frederick Noronha 
Permit me to share with you an update of some recently-released books
published by Goa,1556, the alternative book publishing venture I've been
associated with for the past decade and a little more.

Please see details of the offer for the five books below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/44744408980/in/dateposted/

The books are:
* Goa: A Post-Colonial Society Between Cultures (Rochelle Almeida, Ed).
  Seminar papers and more from a Yale conference.
* The Luso-Indian Stethoscope: Early graduates of the Grant Medical
  College in Bombay. (Shirley Louise Gonsalves)
* Beyond Bandra; A Mac view of Mumbai, Goa and Life. (Edwin Fernandes()
* Sita Valles: A revolutionary until death. An amazing story of a Goan
   radical campaigner executed in Angola in 1977. (Leonora Figueiredo.)
* Under the Mango Tree: Short Stories From Goa. Fundacao Oriente's
   just released collection. Four languages, translated into English.

To get your set of the above books, or gift it to someone, email address to
goa1...@gmail.com. It costs Euro 42 globally and Rs1700 in India (inclusive
of postage and packaging in both cases).

Regards,

Frederick Noronha
+91-9822122436
-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436
AUDIO: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
TEXT: http://bit.ly/2SBx41G PIX: http://bit.ly/2Rs1xhl
Can't get through on mobile? Please SMS/WhatsApp

[Goanet] Armstrong's post...

2019-01-01 Thread Frederick Noronha 
Congrats Armstrong! Your post was the first one to be archived on Goanet in
2019:
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2019-January/182452.html

Btw, I'm sure you were named after Neil Armstrong, so we can guess your
age, right? :-) FN

-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436
AUDIO: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
TEXT: http://bit.ly/2SBx41G PIX: http://bit.ly/2Rs1xhl
Can't get through on mobile? Please SMS/WhatsApp

Re: [Goanet] PARRIKAR MUST INSPECT SITES PERSONALLY

2019-01-01 Thread Venantius J Pinto 
Avoid comparing apples with oranges, or for that matter zamlam!

He signing files has nothing to do with what he does wish to see (or is
simply not interested in/ergo, ignoring). Even if someone else is holding
his hand, or even say signing with his permission and direction, it simply
means just that! He is signing whatever works for him.

Also just as likely his focus is "sogleak/sogleanchi butch martolom:; hanve
kitem unnom.

The BJP people are simply playing their "damrus" in everyone's ears. They
have moved away from the "Gonsha bhoil." Those days of asking for
divination through bull as a medium. Logic is no joke, and is hardly
appreciated; and not their cup of tea. But I have heard the same people
preen and say that one of their daughter's subjects is Logic. Then it is
fine. These people and for that matter -- many others simply move goalposts
and we, in turn, make poor analogies.

You guy have it in you. Do better. Stick it. Think gymnastics if you have
to. Or proverbially, a well-executed samurai cut to the back.

Venantius J Pinto

On Mon, Dec 31, 2018 at 6:01 AM Stephen Dias  wrote:

> Every BJP person tells us that Parrikar is fit and signing the files. If it
> is correct why he does not see only two things which are at the moment very
> important to public and as a Chief Minister must go to these sites and
> inspect with PWD officials or other experts but not Sidharth to give
> solution for the public who will be travelling  from North to South Goa.
> One is approach road of Mandovi clearing congestion near GMC and other one
> is stopping the service road at Cortalim where farmers fields will be
> ruined and becoming infertile for production of rice in their paddy fields.
> Commuters in GOA have to travel additional distance of 20 kms. Who will
> solve this? This is the  responsibility of CM. Sudin Dhavlikar is useless
> as he cannot even keep our Goan roads in proper shape and how he can solve
> this problem even though others who he said they ( Mauvin Alina and Vijai)
> were with him but did nothing .
> Therefore if Parrikar cannot solve this two things then this BJP goverment
> must go for a change and he ( Parrikar) must resign.
>
> STEPHEN DIAS
> Dona Paula
>

[Goanet] Walking Bookfairs

2019-01-01 Thread Leonard Fernandes 
A Happy New Year to you.

The Bhubaneswar-based travelling bookshop, @walkingbookfairs, is
crisscrossing the country in an attempt to promote poetry. They will be at
The Dogears Bookshop, Margao, on 6th January 2019 at 4pm. Join us for an
opportunity to browse through their collection of poetry books, and for an
open mic session (of poetry in any language, in any form). All are invited.

Please see the attachment too. Hoping you will attend and encourage these
folks.

Warm Regards,

Leonard
---

[image: photo]
Leonard Fernandes
Co-Founder and Partner at  CinnamonTeal Design and Publishing
M  +91 98503 98530  <+91+98503+98530>
W  http://www.cinnamonteal.in  

Create your own email signature

[Goanet] HAPPY NEW YEAR GOA

2019-01-01 Thread Aires Rodrigues 
While 2019 is here the currently comatose and headless Goa Government is on
the wrong track at the very start.

Despite so many burning issues grappling the State, it is so very appalling
that a mere three day sham session of the Goa Legislative Assembly is being
held at the end of January.

This is a mere cosmetic exercise to only fulfill that constitutional
requirement that the Legislative Assembly has to meet once in six months.
Even the last two sessions were a sheer mockery.

While in the Opposition, Vijai Sardesai and Rohan Khaunte were vociferously
propounding for longer sessions of the Legislative Assembly, but now while
so intoxicated with Power they are playing to a very different tune.

We elect Legislators to debate issues concerning the people and to enact
good laws. But our Ministers and MLAs are content inaugurating culverts and
toilets while breaking a coconut at the hot-mixing of roads has become
their hobby.

It is an irony that many of our Ministers and MLAs struggle even in these
short sessions to keep themselves awake during the proceedings of the
Legislative Assembly. What a shame!

In a way we deserve the crap that we knowingly elect.


Aires Rodrigues

Advocate High Court

C/G-2, Shopping Complex

Ribandar Retreat,

Ribandar – Goa – 403006

Mobile No: 9822684372

Office Tel  No: (0832) 2444012

Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com

 Or

   airesrodrig...@yahoo.com

You can also reach me on

Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues

Twitter@rodrigues_aires


www.airesrodrigues.com

[Goanet] Goa videos

2019-01-01 Thread armstrong augusto vaz 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZJag-Hjv8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAwu17Tlsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WO1zZZlU_c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrDcKlj-RBA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7bfELvvKs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBcBydwpmg

[Goanet] Dempo will rejoin I-League if roadmap becomes clear: Shrinivas

2019-01-01 Thread armstrong augusto vaz 
http://khelupdates.com/news.aspx?article=Dempo-will-rejoin-I-League-if-roadmap-becomes-clear-Shrinivas-