Thoda hatt ke…!!!

Vol.04 No.09 DON BOSCO COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, sulcorna-goa. 11/05/2017

A Visit to Krishna Plantation by Andrea Cheradil

Krishna plantation is just a hop away from the college but we never visited it in the two years of our stay

here .Well better late than never....Glenda Carvalho Ma'am accompanied by Rajan Shelke Sir planned a trip

there as a part of the horticulture practical’. It was really our good fortune to visit such a well established

farm. Our dynamic Entomologist and Apiculture guru, Rajan Shelke Sir, said that he wished they had visits

like this one in his college days. Just a reminder of how lucky we are at DBCA, Sulcorna, where farm visits

have been a tradition from our very first semester. Practical experiences tend to last longer in one's memory

and psychologists tell us there is 70% retention of “learning by doing”. The purpose of these field visits is to

see, feel, do, understand, remember and cherish. May be visit again as we did to the Tanshikar Farm in

Netravali.

Initially we swarmed around the plantation like bees, eagerly observing everything we came across i.e. the

crops (okra, brinjal, exotic varieties of maize, kokum, chili, bush-type groundnut, beans, Malabar spinach

,cocoa , spices , etc ).The list seems to be never ending. Well, that is how substantial and economic Mr. Dinesh

Prayag, the manager of Krishna plantation has made it. He surely is better out of experience in the field.

That is one thing we as students lack but are sure to gain experience by living through the trials and attain

success facing all odds be it the adverse climate, insect pests, diseases, market fluctuations ,etc. Mr. Dinesh

Prayag is a living inspiration for agriculturists and he had amazing interactive skills. He explained

composite farming (cultivation of crops of different species in a same plot of land planted taking into

consideration the competition for nutrients, sunlight, etc) and how it was practiced at Krishna Farm .He

had two phases the main crop being coconut and the other crops nutmeg /clove, cocoa, banana ,kokum

(grafted ones which give early crop and there is more certainty of obtaining females unlike the seedling

plants, thus making optimum use of the available space ). He also had a patch of land for paddy. He also

grow sunflower for its oil and also because of the fact that it attracted honeybees thus boosting pollination in

that area and his apiculture making profit by all means.

He shared his experiences one that would not be found in books or any kind of records. He explained the

biology of coconut with an additional information on the cambium as to how the inter nodal space is more

and the trunk hollow when fertilizers are applied compared to organic practices. He demonstrated the

extraction of “kalpaneera” a refreshing drink which is different from toddy and has no alcohol content

whatsoever.

Well, it was not all study and no play ,we did get to give a shot at climbing a coconut tree, Dinesh Rekdo did

try and managed to reach a good height but the fun and tricky part is the descend which he managed pretty

well. Further, we were let to the plot where he grew turmeric. It was the time for harvest and we got to see

the harvesting and curing process of turmeric. Mr. Dinesh Prayag hinted to make an harvest on basis of the

demand in market because if your product hits the market at a time when there is no demand you will not

get the expected profit. And that is totally undesirable. Later, we saw the processing of VCO (virgin coconut

oil ) and jaggery . Another stop was made to see the tapping of the rubber crop to collect the milk and then

the making of rubber sheets for selling. Another interesting that Mr. Prayag shared was his idea of

providing his crops particularly the coconut with extra water so as to keep the rivulets and ground water

system active and preventing the water to runoff someplace else. Apart from an agriculturist Mr. Prayag

turned to be a really motivational speaker and encouraged all the students to participate more in the group

activities, to be more confident to be able to lead rather than follow the crowd an important lesson for life of

course. After thanking Mr Dinesh for his spending his precious time, experiences and knowledge with us we

parted our ways. Sulking into regular college practical for the remainder of the day that is the afternoon

session. The visit was rather unique and memorable, one where we learned about agriculture and life.... It

was an immense pleasure to meet a personality like Mr Dinesh Prayag emitting an aura of confidence for

anyone he comes across. Thank you teachers for making our day...

Permaculture by Kushal

Call it as a permanent agriculture,

Or a permanent culture,

It is the way of the nature,

Its principle is sustainable living,

For the betterment of human being,

Let’s not abuse the land ,

Using pesticide and chemical as they offend,

Let’s be smart farmers,

And allow the Nature to work for us.

Field trip by Joswin D’Souza

It is always a time of excitement for all the students of DBCA-Sulcorna when the field trip is announced .

The peak of excitement was reached on April 28th morning when we left for a day out to be with nature

.This was arranged by the staff of DBCA to visit some of the very important and beautiful places of South

Goa to increase our knowledge and to see the theory that we learn in the classroom in practice. Our first

visit was to the Tanshikar spice garden memories of which are still fresh in our minds. The well maintained

40 years old garden was admired by all the students. Some students even received the insights to grow their

own spice garden in the near future. From there, we proceeded towards the water treatment plant. The

beauty of the scenery that surrounds mesmerized the students as well as staff members and witnessed many

cameras being turned on! Our next visit was to the Selaulim dam, a huge structure that provides water to

the whole South Goa. The students did not mind walking in the scorching sun just to savour the beauty of the

place. This walk led us to the well maintained botanical garden which was thriving with greenery. After the

lunch we paid a visit to the medicinal plant/tree garden .The explanation and medicinal use of each

medicinal plant captured our attention and made us realize the importance of it. Thus, the whole day

outside the college campus away from lectures and the daily routine was well spent as we were enriched

with beautiful insights, knowledge and experience.

Mr N.D. Prabhudesai RFO explaining the varoius medicinal plants and their uses atSalaulimBotanical garden

Tanshikar farm Prachi Bhardwaj (Ashu Kumari )

On last Friday i.e. 28/04/17 the

students of DBCA (both from

first year and second year B.Sc

(Agri) course) accompanied by

their AssistantProfessors Rajan

Shelke sir ,ma’am Glenda

Carvalho ,ma’am Sumati

Chavan, Ma’am Ashika Sali and

Ma’am Shubhangini Thakre

visited the Tanshikar’s Spice

Farm & Ecological Resthouse

situated in the rainforest of

western ghats at Netravali

village in Sanguem Taluka. The

speciality of this place is the

genuine 25 acres organic farm

out of total 40 acre land area.

Netravali is extremely popular

among nature lovers as well as

for adventure tourism.

Chinmay Tanshikar, the owner

of the spice farm has received

best organic farmer award at

the hands of prime minister

Narendra Modi. The farm

consists of a ‘Kulaghar” with

coconut and areca nut palms

with creepers of ,vanilla and

pepper trailed on them and

interspersed with banana,

pineapple and spices such as

cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and

cardamom. Apiculture yields

sweet honey while providing

pollinator bees.

The mysterious world Tanvi Surlekar

Heard about life taking a ‘U’

turn? And that the failure slaps

in public and success hugs in

private? Of course there is lot

more.

I felt like I should pen down

some thoughts that rushed in

my mind. Why is that people die

of malnutrition even though

there is lot of food that is being

wasted? why is there still

violence of women even after

thunders of women

empowerment ?why are there

divorces and heartbreaks even

they say there’s true love?why is

there corruption even though

you voted the best politician?-

Like there’s evolution in animals

and plants and also

technologies, lifestyle and minds

are also going under evolution.

We don’t know whether there

will be any place left for

humanity in the future. There

are many strange and

mysterious facts that can’t be

explained. One never knows

what will happen in the very

next second. Life is very

unpredictable. Perhaps that’s

what people call destiny

……….no has control over it, all

we can do is value every second

of this mysterious life.

“Candles that lasts long: Natural candles” By Shivama Oppari

A few students along with

ma’am Pratiksha Dabolkar had

made natural candles for

Konkan Fruit Fest. These

candles were natural because

they were made from beeswax

and natural fruit extract. When

these candles are lit, the

fragrance and aroma of fruit

fills the air.

We used different fruits extract

from fruit or peel of orange,

pineapple, jamun, cashew and

kokum. Along with fruits some

scented flowers were used like

rose, jasmine, tuberose, etc. We

did the costing of the raw

materials and priced the

candles. The candles were for

sale in KFF and many people

appreciated our work and also

bought candles as this was

something new. While selling

candles we got an experience

how to market the products and

to be a good entrepreneur.

A dance for enjoyment by Saheel Velip

The Konkan Fruit Fest was held

from 21st April to 23rd April

near Campal Garden, Panjim. It

was a bright sunny Saturday on

22 April, 2017. All the stalls

were all set for their sale on 2nd

day of KFF. The students of

DBCA-Sulcorna were also

marketing their products and

experiencing entrepreneurship

hands-on.

The evening was ours! The

students of DBCA-Sulcorna let

their hair down and showed the

people what it is to dance the

Goan folk dances. Dance

releases all the stress from the

body and gives us happiness ,

enjoyment and the zest for life.

Dance is important in

everyone’s life. In today's life so

full of stress, dance is rhythmic

relief to the mind, body and

soul. Even watching others

dance can give relief to the

persons watching and bring

them some enjoyment. The FY

students presented the Goa's

most famous GoychoMando and

Kunbi dance. The performances

drew loud applause from the

spectators.

SergioFernandes, Liza Pinheiro

and Puja Phadte entertained

the crowd with their melodious

voices rendering songs in

Konkani. Joswin D’ Souza

accompanied them on his

keyboard .

Maria Joby and Shivama

Oppari performed the

Bharatnatyam with great

gusto. In Goa, the fun never

ends and so it was. The last

dance performance was the

Shigmo, the Spring festival of

colour, gaiety and enthusiasm.

It left everyone asking for more.

It was a dance full of joy. All we

knew was that we wanted to

enjoy and let people enjoy

watching us. Memories are

made by doing such small

things. So we must remember

that it doesn’t matter how the

day begins but it is very

important how we end it.

Editors: Karishma Parsekar & Bhushan Sawant Dessai

www.donboscocollegeofagriculture.com Mobile No. 9421414268