Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jun 12: It is hard to witness agricultural activities in cities. Till some time back, Kadri Kambala was being organized in the city. At that time, there used to be a field rich with green paddy plants. Now there is no field in Kadri. In most vacant spaces, multi-storied buildings have taken over the space of fields.

However, surprisingly, a patch of land used as a field in Chilimbi here has been used to grow paddy every year. This field belongs to Francis Saldanha, who grows paddy during the monsoon months in his 1.25 acres land. After the paddy crop is harvested, he grows vegetables.

Francis reveals that this field has been existing since the times of his father and in the past the family used to grow three crops every year. The family used to raise paddy crop twice and then black gram. "Because of Land Reforms Act, our land went to others. This is the only field we have now. The drains have been damaged and they are filthy too. As water availability is less, we grow paddy and then vegetables," Francis says.

Francis has been a farmer for the last 35 years. He confesses that farming is not profitable but undertaking cultivation regularly keeps the field clean. Otherwise the weeds and other plants grow and then people will start throwing garbage. He says even though farming is not profitable, it is not la loss making proposition either. He notes that they also have some coconut trees and somehow the activity is going on.

In the past the family used to raise a pair of buffaloes but now it is not cost effective. He brings a tiller, ploughs the field twice and directly sows the seeds. Normally he sows the seeds in June second week and reaps the harvest in November. He admits that getting workers is difficult and he gets people belonging to other neighbouring districts to work in the field as the locals are not interested to do the agricultural work.