The Zonal Agricultural Department in association with St. Joseph Vaz College, Cortalim organized a session to enlighten the young minds of our students on Kitchen Gardening and on the Techniques of Mushroom Cultivation. Before the informative session began, the student sand staff of St. Joseph Vaz College, assembled at the Marigold Plantation. (‘Tagetes erecta’Saplings given by the agricultural department were planted by the staff and students on 20th September 2021.)The Guest Speaker, Mr. Shariff Furtado, Zonal Agricultural Officer, (Salcete & Mormugao Taluka), Asst. Agricultural Officer, Ms. Jovita Sequeira, Block Agricultural Officer, Ms. Richa Dessai along with the Administrator of St. Joseph Vaz College, Rev. (Dr.) Fr. Simão R. Diniz, Principal, Prof. Dr. Maria A. A. R. Fonseca were present for the harvesting. The Harvesting began at 11:00 hrs. After which all were asked to proceed to the College Hall for the informative session.

Dr. (Fr.) Bolmax Pereira introduced the Guest Speakers for the session and also made the students aware of the seeds of different vegetables provided by the Zonal Agricultural Department to promote Kitchen Gardening. The students were also briefed about the kitchen gardening Competition to be held. The session in the hall began at 11:25 a.m. with a short speech by Shri. Shariff Furtado, Zonal Agricultural Officer, followed by an informative session on Kitchen Gardening by Ms. Jovita Sequeira, Asst. Agricultural Officer. Ms. Sequeira highlighted upon the importance of Farming, schemes for farmers, Important aspects of kitchen gardening and its benefits, tips on site selection for growing vegetables at home, ways to take care of these, variety of plants, Land preparation & after care etc.

Ms. Richa Dessai, Block Agricultural Officer, gave an interesting session on Cultivating Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.). She gave examples of poisonous & non-poisonous / Edible mushrooms, types of Oyster mushrooms and also informed the students of the nutritional value of oyster mushrooms. She then spoke of the cultivation techniques and material used, harvesting and post harvesting techniques to cultivate mushrooms at home or on a small scale. Ms. Dessai also gave a demonstration on how to cultivate mushrooms at home, with participation by two students and one staff member (Department of Botany).

Attendance was taken and snacks were provided to all. Mr. Furtado also briefed the students of the various agricultural schemes provided by the Government, Subsidies in Farming activities etc. Our Student Ms. Sabira Shaikh presented the Vote of Thanks. The programme concluded by 13:15 hrs. By distributing seeds to the students.