RAIA: Many of Raia’s farmers were young children; some were not even born, when the second crop of the season was harvested on these fields. But a combined community effort has literally cleaned up the blockages of the past and opened up fresh channels of productivity in this granary of Salcete.
The major nullahs and channels of water bodies that were not de-silted for the last 35-40 years have been cleared by the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) of Raia Village Panchayat. Desilting of nullahs and water bodies’ channels has not been carried out for almost 35 to 40 years, resulting in a slow flow of rainwater which resulted in the flooding of agricultural fields. Bushes had grown in some of the nullahs, said BMC chairman Xavier Fernandes.
He said that hundreds of farmers stopped cultivating rabi crop due to the above issues.
Taking this into consideration, the BMC and Raia Panchayat took the initiative to encourage the farmers by resolving their problems pertaining to the silted nullahs and major lakes in the village.
The nearly one-and-half-kilometre-long nullah has been desilted which has rekindled the hopes of 200 farmers from Raia of cultivating the second crop, which they had stopped due to the silting of the nullahs.
Bacbhatt and Bebke Tollem, the two major lakes, received a fresh lease of life which will provide additional benefit to the Raia farmers.
These efforts have encouraged the farming community as they will now be able to cultivate the crop with the rebuilding of the irrigation system that was practised in the olden times. The elated farmers informed that they are ready to grow rabi crop after the monsoon.
“Now the building of sluice gates will surely help the farmers to take more interest in the farming activities”, said BMC Chairman.
Raymond Rocha, a local farmer, informed that farmers tried their best to raise the issue with the concerned officials in the past, but in vain.
“This desilting has given an advantage to the farmers to step in for the second crop, wherein more than lakh square metres of agricultural land will get a new lease of life, besides another three lakh square metres will also be brought under cultivation soon,” he added.
Joaquim Quadros and Benny Fernandes, other farmers informed that desilting nullahs and water bodies' channels will surely help them in many ways.