The Goan village of St. Estevam revives collective farming for a reason

farming

It’s no secret that Goa is going through major development with construction happening at almost every corner. There are building complexes coming up, bridges being built and even the highway is being expanded. It’s a lot for India’s smallest state to take. Unfortunately, all this is also taking a toll on more traditional occupations like […]

The granary of Salcete – Curtorim celebrates the famed Handi Khuris feast

Handi Khuris feast

It would seem like there is a feast or a festival to be celebrated almost every month in Goa. Vasco recently celebrated its Damodar Saptah feast in the Damodar temple. While the temple festivities are done, stalls put up, selling wares are still there and probably will be for the next couple of weeks. Goa […]

Maria and Piedade – Two Goan women who proved that age is no bar

Maira and Piedade, two Goan women who proved that age is no bar.  75-year-old Piedade Fernandes from Corjuem and 81-year-old Maria D’souza from Aldona. Both retired career Goan women who took to converting run-off-the-mill house gardens into lush, green beds of varieties of vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants and fruits. All done organically. Living along rocky […]

A Goan Khazan is a treasure trove for aquaculture, agriculture and salt panning

Khazaan lands

The Hindi word ‘khazana‘, means treasure. All over Goa, there is an intricate system of water dukes, sluice gates, bunds, furrows and canals that date back to the B.C (before Christ) era. These ecosystems are called the Khazan Ecosystem of Goa. They are truly an ecological treasure (an ecological Khazana). What exactly is a Khazan? […]

Mechanization puts a smile back on the farmers face

The switch over from manual transplanting operations to mechanization may have taken place on a small scale this season, but the smile is back on the farmers face and promoters of machinery-driven agriculture. The department of agriculture has created a scheme to offer an attractive 75% subsidy to farmers on purchase of transplanters or other […]

Goa’s Perishable Goods Export hits a low

Export of fruits and vegetables from Goa are down by a whopping 86 per cent since five years. In comparison to 7,096 tons in 2010-11, Goa exported only 996 tonnes of perishable cargo in 2015-16 Fruits and Vegetables drop In Goa, perishable exports mostly comprise of fruits and vegetables. Kaushal Khakhar from Kay Bee Exports said, […]

Rubber seeds brought to Goa

Although Goa is a non-traditional area for the production of rubber, 60-70 years ago this type of cultivation was taken up on a commercial scale (mostly in the East). The structure of the soil, the humidity, heavy rains and temperature are suitable for this type of plantation. History of rubber According to this site in 1876 a British explorer […]

Khazan lands in Goa an engineering marvel?

www.indiawaterportal.org

It is considered that the Khazan lands were created many centuries ago and pre-date the Christian and Islamic occupation of Goa. In fact one of the earliest inscription mentioning the Khazan lands; belongs to a sixth century AD copper plate. The inscriptions on the copper plate mentions a local king donating Khazan land. What are […]