PONDA: In an attempt to revive their fields lying barren for over 15 years, a total of 52 farmers from Talaulim village in Ponda have joined hands under the banner 'Kutumban' to cultivate black rice.
Shankar Satarkar, a member of Kutumban, said that cultivation of black rice in his village was an experiment and they have succeeded in it. "Over a lakh square metre of their land had been lying barren. As an experiment to revive the land, we brought under cultivation a small part of it, around 3,000 sqm," he said, adding that the entire farming was done using organic fertilisers.
The farmers have announced that this year's crop will be solely utilised as seeds.
Satarkar said that cultivation of black rice was earlier done at Collem and from there they bought the seeds. Since their experiment has borne fruits, many farmers from Ponda and Dharbandora have approached them for seeds and they have agreed to utilise this year's crop as seeds, he added.
Director of agriculture Nevil Alphonso said the black rice is rich in nutrients and has a good market value. The black rice is sold at Rs 300 to 400 per kg as against Rs 50 to 60 of regular paddy. The Profit from this community farming project will be distributed equally among all the 52 members of Kutumban.
Alphonso said that the only problem a farmer could face in cultivating this crop is that it may attract birds as seen in other places. Satarkar, however, said they were lucky to not face such a problem.
The farmers ceremonially commenced harvesting the crop by inviting local MLA and power minister Ramkrishna 'Sudin' Dhavalikar. He has called on farmers who have abandoned farming to try cultivating the black rice.
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