PONDA: After closure of the sugarcane crushing season for past three years, the State run Sanjivani Sugar Factory at Dharbandora has now taken up to fruit and vegetable cultivation . Sanjivani now earns Rs 1.5 lakh per month. The proposed ethanol project however has not fructified after closing of the sugar factory.
New administrator of the factory, Satej Kamat has been cultivating and selling fruits and vegetables. Sanjivani has around 25 hectare land. He said this small effort has earned around Rs 1.5 lakh per month for the factory.
The vegetables such as cucumbers, lady fingers, chillis and variety of vegetables and fruits are cultivated here for the past few months. A separate stallhas been also set up where the fresh vegetables are sold. People visit this outlet and buy vegetables which has encouraged the workers to take up more production.
After successfully cultivation of fruits and vegetables, the factory administration is now eyeing pisciculture in the farm premises in cooperation of the fisheries department. They have even dug three pits to breed fish at the farm.
It may be recalled that the State-run lone sugar factory of Goa has been shut down by the government since 2019-20 after the factory had started incurring heavy losses. According to the government, expenditure on machinery repairs was more than the income of the factory.
Factory workers have even appreciated the effects initiated by the administrator. The employees have claimed that the efforts have turned the land fertile. The land was left barren for years due to negligence.