BY ROQUE DIAS | NT

PONDA: The incessant rains are lashing the state for the last few days and this has put the farmers, who grow vegetables in hilly areas, in a quandary as the crop has taken a beating - the flowering of vegetable crop has been affected to a great extent.

These vegetable growers, locally also known as ‘molekars,’ speaking to this reporter, claimed that the incessant rains have affected flowering of the vegetable crop badly leading to the dropping of flowers prematurely, and as such the crop yield would be reduced.

"Yield of vegetables belonging to Cucurbita genus, which includes ridge gourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd, etc would be definitely affected if the rains continue with the same intensity. These vegetables require dry spells, at least in patches," informed a vegetable farmer from Priol area.

According to these farmers, the flowering continues for nearly two and half months, unlike in case of mango trees, and therefore the dry spells are necessary.

Agriculture department sources informed that there are nearly 6,000 farmers in Ponda taluka growing solely vegetables in the hilly areas. And, interestingly, 60 per cent of them are from Priol constituency areas.

What indeed helps the farmers here is the large sloppy areas. "There is no marketing avenues here and as such they are forced to sit along the road sides and sell their products. Many people prefer locally grown fresh vegetables,’’ said a vegetable seller of Borim, Ms Sudha Naik.

The zonal agriculture officer from Ponda, Mr Sriram Dhaimodkar confirmed that the incessant rains have affected the vegetable crop. Mr Dhaimodkar further said that areas of Bethora, Bandora, Veling-Priol, Cuncolien, Farmagudi, etc are suitable for such vegetable cultivation given the sloppy areas. He further said that a few farmers approached him and complained about the loss caused due to the rains. "Ponda tops among the vegetable cultivating areas and we hope it will continue,’’ he added.