POINGUINIM: Most parts of Canacona experienced unseasonal rainfall for two consecutive days, which has left local farmers worried that it may affect their crop output. Officials of the horticulture corporation have, however, allayed such fears.
A farmer from Gaondongrim said the rainfall, in the case of plantation crops like cashew and mango, may affect the flowering process, where it has already started, or is likely to delay it. “The unseasonal rains can also spell doom for other crops like onions and cowpeas as well. In the case of mango plantations, the showers may mean flowering does not take place at all,” the farmer said.
Managing director of horticulture corporation Sandip Faldesai, however, said that plantations crops like cashews and mangoes are almost on the verge of flowering and therefore there is nothing to fear.
“Most cashew plantations are past their flowering stage and such rains are a boon to cashews which have flowered. It is not good for crops in the coastal side of Bardez and Tiswadi, where the land is sandy and water percolation is slow, in which case several crops may be affected. For rabi paddy crop, this rain will have no impact. In Canacona, apart from some plantation crops, there won’t be any harm and farmers need not worry,” Faldesai said.