At the inaugural of the Botanical Society of Goa's Konkan Fruit Fest, in Panjim, the chief guest for the function and Member-Secretary of the Goa State Biodiversity Board, Dr Pradip Sarmokadam said that efforts were being made to protect a plateau at Riovna, South Goa, which is covered with a rare variety of Dipcadi Goaense (Hyacinthaceae).
"This is probably a rare patch in the entire world, where the Dipacadi Goaense species is present. It was discovered by Ashish Prabhugaonkar, along with Dr M K Janarthanam and Dr Usha S Yadav in Kevona. And, for nearly four years, we have been trying to give it a heritage tag,” he said. The problem with that, he explained, is acquiring of land.
He spoke about notifying new wetlands. "Out of the 9 wetlands in India, 7 of them are from Goa. We are trying to notify more as the water scenario is changing, and we need more such wetlands," Sarmokadam said.
He also appealed to the people to avail governments benefits of 'one district, one product' which will help people in a great way as the subsidy for the same is almost 35% and people can get upto Rupees one crore of funding.
Sarmokadam also went on to mention that Goa had over 120 plus mango varieties, out of which, only 78 have been identified by the ICAR, government body. "People should speak to the older members who have vast knowledge, and document it, before it is gone," concluded Sarmokadam.
Over three-days, the Konkan Fruit Fest will have various events and competitions along with the sale and display of various fruit and plant species found along the Konkan region.
Director of the Directorate of Agriculture, Nevil Alphonso, was also present at the function.