CASEY MONTEIRO
Want to get away from the daily grind? A scenic getaway awaits you at the award-winning RasRaj Goa Farms in Mollem. Besides day tours, this organic farm has night stay cottages as well.
Started by Rajendra and his wife Rasita Naik, the farm has a plant nursery and offers visitors opportunities to learn about composting and activities related to agriculture.
KRISHI RATNA AWARD WINNING FARM
"The farm started in 2011, while the name ‘RasRaj’ was formed by combining the names of my mother and father, Rasita and Rajendra," informs Vandit R Naik.
Vandit helps manage the 21-acre RasRaj Goa Farms in Dharbandora taluka, along with his wife Priyanka – both agriculture graduates from the Don Bosco College of Agriculture, Sulcorna.
RasRaj appends Goa as Vandit explains, "We take our state, Goa, with us when we get recognised."
RasRaj Goa Farms bagged the prestigious Krishi Ratna award, the highest award in the field of agriculture, in Goa in 2021.
Sustainable practices are followed at the farm. "For optimum land utilisation, we practice inter-cropping. We have livestock such as cattle, and so, we make manure on the farm, enriching the soil naturally following organic practices."
BACK TO FARMING
"Traditionally, our family has been into farming," says Vandit. "We are from Goa Velha. We still cultivate our fields in Pilar.”
“My father turned from farming to business, and then, went back to farming," says Vandit whose father wanted to do something new on a bigger scale, and that's how the seed for the farm took root.
A water stream from Dudhsagar waterfall runs through the farm and replenishes it throughout the year. The farm also has apiary units which help cross pollination of crops.
SUSTAINABLE AGRO TOURISM
Vandit believes there's tremendous scope in agropreneurship. In 2022, Ras Raj Goa Farms had 48 schools and institutions and 26 farmer groups visit them.
The earnings they receive from their farm produce and products (such as the plant immunity booster RasRaj Panchagavya) rake in a decent income, too.
In the initial decade of the farm, there were just plantations, and later, the day-long farm tours were introduced.
Recently, farm cottages were added to this. “We want to develop agro-tourism. We give visitors an opportunity to learn about agriculture,” expresses Vandit.
Seeing how tourism can denude the beauty and aesthetics of a place, we ask Vandit his views on agro-based hinterland tourism.
“It’s about giving visitors, which includes tourists, an experience of Goa’s culture. It could be even roasting and eating your own cashews," he says.
"They (visitors) want experiences. The focus should be on core practices which are present in Goa’s villages – all this without destroying the environment,” emphasises Vandit.
His future plans include making Goa grow organically, and develop farm agrobusiness projects and small scale processing units.
Some of the agrobusiness projects will be aimed at training women to become self-reliant and create a market for their organic produce says Vandit.
For field tours, with an authentic Goan lunch and farm cottage, at RasRaj Goa Farms, Mollem, contact +91 75078 87303 or +91 70836 33897