Miguel Braganza
Physics teaches us that potential energy of an object that is placed high up can be converted to kinetic energy as it moves down. Similarly, business teaches us that the potential of a highly prized product can be realised as value in money. However, the trick is in knowing how to do it and enabling this conversion. Water from a waterfall or dam can be channelised to produce electricity without losing its ability to be used for irrigation of crops or purification for human consumption. Similar is the use of branding for sale of fruits, vegetables, grains, poultry, meat and other agricultural produce and processed products.
The coconut on the tree has great potential when brought down and processed for value addition and sale, locally or exported. Union Minister for Agriculture, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, has promised support for increasing production in an era when Gujarat produces 26 crore coconuts in 25,000 hectares while Goa’s productivity is dropping from 16 crore nuts in 2019-20 to 15 crore nuts now, while area has increased beyond 25,000 hectares. The priority of the Directorate of Agriculture must be to identify and mark the superior coconut trees in farmer’s fields as ‘Mother Plants’ now and to collect ‘Seed nuts’ only from these trees during the March harvest for raising seedlings in large polybags for damage-free planting. This is the most important step to increase productivity. Manuring and other practices only help if the seedling has the genetically superior qualities. Work has begun to get a G.I. tag for Benaulim coconut variety, already exploited as ‘Pratap’ and ‘Banawali’ in Maharashtra.
Goa has been granted fifteen ‘Geographical Indication’ (GI) tags, including three G.I. for products of the cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale. The tree itself is not native to India but cashew feni was the first G.I obtained for Goa in 2009 and ‘Goa cashew apple’ is among the last five to get G.I. tags in 2025. Feni is not yet classified as a ‘white spirit’ that has been achieved by more recent products like Mahua, while feni remains a ‘country liquor’, not even a ‘heritage spirit’. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have aggressively promoted their G.I products and are obtaining premium values for them in India and abroad. Alas, Goa and Goans are slow learners in the field of entrepreneurship and economics and have been content with little. This attitude is changing now.
Under the able leadership of Chandrahas Naik Desai, the Goa State Horticulture Corporation Ltd. (GSHCL) increased the local procurement of fruits and vegetables for sale through a thousand franchisee outlets of GSHCL across Goa. It has boosted local production and incomes. Now, the Goa Agriculture Produce Marketing Board (GAPMB) has launched the ‘Goa Fresh’ brand for locally produced fruit, vegetables, fish, milk, meat and poultry. Vegetable production was increased by former director of Agriculture, Nevil Alphonso and now by Chandrahas Desai, who is also heading the GSHCL. It would be nice if the secretary of Agriculture held the charge of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry again as during the tenure of R.N. Mishra. If the allied departments work as a T.E.A.M. – for Together Everyone Achieves More – ‘Goa Fresh’ can be a brand with a great future!
