By Our Chief  Reporter

Panaji (Goa) State government’s ambitious plans to have an expansive Horticulture Estate has hit the rock bottom due to unavailability of such huge space for the project that was aiming to revive the agriculture sector in the State, a senior minister said.

State Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai said that the scarcity of the land for such a massive project has forced the department to re-think on it as it required uninterrupted 100 acres of the plot.

Sardesai said that the initial plan was to award one acre of land of the proposed estate to each farmer for horticulture where he would be provided all the required support and amenities.

“We are not able to get the required kind of land for the project. We scouted at many places but it didn’t help much. At present, we are in touch with a panchayat at Loliem village in extreme South Goa for the land,” the minister said.

The Horticulture Estate is a major project to propel agricultural growth in the State which is largely dependent on tourism and mining industries for revenue generation and creation of employment.

It may be recalled that chief minister Manohar Parrikar  had initially suggested 200 acres of land at Surcorna in Quepem taluka owned by the Goa Forest Development Corporation (GFDC). However, the Chief Conservator of Forest declined to hand it over stating that it marked as private forest.

Sardesai said “that there is tremendous potential and scope for growing different  flowers in Goa that is why State government is keen on encouraging floriculture in the State.”

The minister said that the State government will also help the farmers in identifying the markets.

The project, he said, was supposed to be inspired from Talegao Floriculture Park near Pune  which is developed by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.