Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Friday urged people to adopt agri-entrepreneurship to grow, buy and sell local produce and promote Goan crops worldwide. Speaking at the launch of the Swayampurna Vocal for Local initiative at Old Goa, he asked farmers to treat agriculture as an industry and integrate allied activities to raise incomes beyond paddy.Sawant said farmers should use the directorate of animal husbandry and veterinary services’ cattle management scheme, build small sheds and manage five cows each, instead of letting cattle stray on roads. He said govt will form a cashew board, coir board and bamboo board.He appealed to people to gift plants as mementos in coir pots rather than ceramic pots, noting ceramic takes about 1,000 years to degrade. He stressed the need for better packaging, marketing and branding of products such as mancurad and red rice.Over the next 90 days, the initiative will focus on integrated and organic farming, local products and GI-tagged produce under the Amrit Kaal Agriculture Policy.
