The Karigar Bazaar is underway in Panaji at the Convention Centre in Mala. It brings in arts and crafts from some 20 states and is being organised by the Delhi-based Arts and Crafts Revival, a non-profit organisation. This will draw urban crowds, but it should be more than that.
There can be little debate over the need for a revival of our arts and crafts. This is true everywhere. Modernisation has had a mixed impact on such sectors: it has opened new markets, improved access to materials, and made it easier for artisans to reach buyers through online platforms; yet, at the same time, it has also led to the decline of many skills. Mass-produced, cheaper factory goods have replaced handmade items. Younger generations are moving away from craft work as it is poorly paid and lacks social prestige. Changing lifestyles also reduce our use of traditional objects. Tourism, heritage branding and design collaborations can revive arts, though often in commercialised or altered versions.
How does the Goa situation look? The state has been known for its pottery (including the famous Bicholim pottery), traditional goldsmith and filigree work, brass and copper utensil-making, Kunbi weaving and other forms of handloom, coconut and coir craft, bamboo and cane weaving, shell craft, woodcarving (especially for churches, altars and furniture), terracotta figurines, carpentry for local homes, crochet and embroidery, traditional and festival costumes, ramponn making, and the crafting of traditional musical instruments like the ghumot, etc.
Some are facing severe pressures and could be endangered. For instance, Kunbi handloom weaving is now practised by only a handful of families. Traditional pottery and terracotta toys are not as visible as they once were. Brass and copper utensil-making, coconut-shell craft, cane and bamboo weaving, and artisanal goldsmithing (replaced by machine-made jewellery) are under pressure. Woodcarving and altar-making survive only through a few elderly craftsmen. Likewise, coir rope and ramponn making and shell craft are rapidly fading as cheaper imports dominate. Such crafts are mostly labour-intensive, poorly paid and lack successors from among the younger generation.
Fairs such as these can help build markets and boost visibility. But what could make a difference to Goa’s traditional arts and crafts is steady, structural support.
This could play out by way of long-term government procurement, perhaps for schools and public buildings. Or by creating craft hubs where artisans get subsidised workspace and common tools, along with design mentoring to keep up with changing times without losing authenticity. They could surely benefit from digital marketing assistance to facilitate sell year-round sales rather than only during tourist seasons.
Stronger school-level craft education and apprenticeships are long overdue, though there has been talk of this since at least the 1980s. This could help bring younger people into the trades. Social security, health insurance and pension schemes can make artisans’ lives less risky.
We have a Department of Handicrafts, Textiles and Coir, which conducts training in various handicrafts, textile and coir trades, and also provides handholding support to trained artisans. The state also has the Goa Handicrafts Rural & Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, whose mandate is mainly to promote and market handicraft items. One should not overlook the possibilities of tying Goan crafts to heritage tourism through village walks, craft museums and live workshops. Only bold and imaginative measures can create sustained demand and help these traditions survive, which is what everyone who cares for these people, their talent and their traditions will surely wish for.
some have been purchased by the agricultural related societies under the subsidy scheme of the government and some have been brought from other states on rent.
The less used local varieties need to be conserved and cultivated as they are more tolerant to the climate here than the new varieties, however, they are not as profitable as the new variety seeds.
Where one kudav (approximately 6 kg) of local variety seeds gives a produce of two to three khane of paddy (one khane’ is about 120 kg) whereas a kudav of the new high yielding variety seeds gives a yield of 5-6 khane, which is double the yield and this is one of the main reasons why the local variety seeds are been replaced by the new varieties.
It may be noted that vegetables and pulses are mostly cultivated after July heavy rains and it is the paddy which is the main crop for which plenty of rain is required and there are various varieties of paddy seeds which have different growth time and some paddy seeds require 130 to 135 days, while there are varieties of paddy seeds which require 105 to 110 days and incase of little delay in the rains short duration seeds could be used by the farmers.
The short duration paddy seeds could be used if there is delay in the monsoon at the beginning, however, if there is dry spell in the middle of the monsoon season then, the short duration variety of paddy seeds also is not useful and rains are needed on time, as the first rains makes the land soft and it becomes ready for tilling, however, if the rains are delayed then it will have effect on various stages of the paddy process like harvesting, threshing or winnowing and if the dry days continue and if there is deficient rains then there may be effect on the paddy yield also.
The old local variety of seeds for paddy cultivation like Damgo, Mudgo, Sotti, Navan and Korgunt which were once used by the farmers in large scale, are now less in use and the farmers are now shifting to the new variety of high yielding seeds, however, some farmers are still using the local varieties of seeds as these local varieties of paddy seeds are better adaptable to the Goan soil and climatic conditions and they don’t get easily damaged like the high yielding variety seeds.
The local variety paddy seeds do have certain benefits for instance, the Damgo local variety does not get spoiled even if the field is submerged during heavy rains whereas Jyoti seeds get destroyed in such conditions. It may be noted that to boost the agriculture in the state the government has provided the farmers with various government schemes and one such scheme to give boost to the paddy cultivation the government is providing the farmers support price and the support price of the government have shown results and even small farmers can benefit from the various schemes of the government.
The farmers need to put in a lot of hard work when using the local variety seeds which is not the case with the new varieties. Nowadays, mostly focus is there on high yielding varieties, as the population is increasing there is need for more rice and the high yielding varieties produce two to three times more yield then the local varieties and also, the new variety seeds like Jyoti and Jaya are easily available in the market and farmers can also avail subsidy on these varieties, while local variety seeds need proper storage facilities for future use.
