Latest news with #VivekanandEnvironmentAwarenessBrigade
Time of India
25-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Legacy harvested: Silt-based agri, ‘puran sheti', shoots out from oblivion in Sattari
Keri: The traditional silt-based agriculture, locally known as 'puran sheti', that had gone into oblivion has been revived at Shir, Savarde, in Sattari. The renaissance represents the will of farmers to surmount multiple hurdles. A quarter century ago, right from Uste to Ganjem on either side of the Mhadei in Sattari, chiefly landless farmers were engaged in silt-based agriculture. It provided them rice, a basic constituent of Goa's staple diet. However, as the water resources department began building bandharas to store raw water, the water levels along the banks surged, wiping out puran sheti. This year, Sujan Sawant, a youth from Shir, undertook an initiative to bring back the agricultural legacy. He was guided by his father Krishna, 65. 'Our ancestors lived in harmony with nature and started this unique silt-based agriculture inside the river by using its rich alluvial silt,' Krishna said. 'By transplanting paddy, they used to grow the crop in the winter without ploughing. They irrigated the field through naturally available river water,' he added. Rice is a family necessity, Krishna said. 'As it usually starts raining early in Sattari, we immediately reaped the crops,' he added. Suryakant Gaonkar of Bhuipal said, 'The bandharas have increased water levels. Yet, in the vicinity of Pishyabaichi Kond, the Sawant family decided to revive puran sheti without any govt support.' They were successful in reaping paddy this season, Gaonkar said. 'In the past, many landless families had been involved in puran sheti in the winter,' he said. 'As the new generation was unaware of the tradition, we decided to resuscitate it, focusing on the respectful relationship with the river.' Shilpa Bhousule, an associate professor at Dhempe College, helped the Sawant family by providing seeds of walay, a local variety of paddy and boosted the farmers' morale by visiting their field. Vithoba Gawade, a member of Vivekanand Environment Awareness Brigade, who photo-documented the tradition, said, 'At Shir, I got an opportunity to experience this year's theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity — living in harmony with nature and sustainable development.'
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Orchid that mimics female bee blossoms amid Sal biodiversity
Keri: Students of the govt primary school at the rehabilitation colony of Kholpe came across a unique orchid that mimics a female bee sitting on the flower. It is also known as a bee orchid . While documenting the biodiversity of Sal, they were delighted to see the flowering of bee orchids on the sacred mango tree that has been protected by the locals as the abode of the holy spirit, Ghavanaleshwar . Along with the wildlifer Suraj Malik of Vivekanand Environment Awareness Brigade, the students were involved in the documentation of the biodiversity. This sacred tree, in the Ghavanalyan area of Sal, has a perennial spring and, in the past, was known as the natural habitat, thriving with a wide range of flora and fauna. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo The lip of the flower appears like a female bee and attracts the male bee, thereby facilitating pollination. 'A monotypic genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, it is the only known species of Cottonia peduncularis . It is native to the Eastern and Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka. It is an epiphyte that grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. We have noticed it on the trunk of the sacred mango tree in Ghavanalyan,' Suraj Malik told TOI . Earlier, this species was recorded in the forest of the Dudhsagar waterfall. The presence of the epiphyte in Sal, an agricultural village of Bicholim, indicates the richness of biodiversity.
