Revive watermelon cultivation in Parra, urges Parrikar

CALANGUTE: Chief minister Manohar Parrikar has urged farmers in Parra to revive the old tradition of growing watermelons which the village was once famous for. He was speaking at a function organized by Syngenta Krishi Mitr to felicitate farmers who participated in the ‘Watermelon Demonstration Project’ at Parra on Sunday evening.
Parrikar recalled that Parra watermelons were famous during his young days, but the once-famous watermelons gradually disappeared over time.He said there’s an urgent need to identify the traditional Parra watermelon seeds and to preserve them for future generations and suggested that Syngenta could make this their next project.
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo too urged Syngenta to help preserve the traditional Parra watermelon seeds.
Pradip Mayekar, a farmer, said that Parra is known for its watermelons and thanked Syngenta for their support in providing the latest know-how in the cultivation. The CM, later, felicitated veteran farmers of Parra including Kamla Sattoskar, Luiza Fernandes, Vishnu Kambli, Gangaram Jadhav, Filomena Fernandes and Laxmi Sawal.
A number of farmers were also felicitated by Parrikar on the occasion. Syngenta officials said the ‘Watermelon Demonstration Project’ is part of its ongoing corporate social responsibility activity and they have so far reached 50 villages in Goa where they are helping farmers with seeds of different fruits and crops, besides manure and also training so that farmers can grow more with less effort. In Parra, 33 farmers took part in the project.