Milk
Production
During 1990 and 2000 the area under greenery and the overall production
of fodder varieties increased appreciably. In the same period the
availability of drinking water increased by leaps and bounds. Villages
like Alsund, Khambale, Kamalapur which depended for drinking water
on tanker supply, became water surplus villages. Due to these factors
milk production in the area has registered a marked improvement.
As
part of the water conservation measures two percolation tanks at
Alsund and Kamalapur villages were built. One tank at Alsund was
deepened and repaired. These tanks have a total capacity of 6.5
million cubic feet. With a view to optimizing the utilization of
irrigation potential the following measures were taken,
i)
completion of 80 irrigation wells
ii) erection of small lift irrigation projects on Verala river front
at Vazar village, having a total irrigation capacity of 150 hectares
iii) a lift irrigation project at Kamalapur with irrigation capacity
of 200 hectares.
New
Crops
Thompson
seedless grape cultivation was introduced in the project area. The
total area under the vineyards is 200 hectares. There are special
features involved. Seedless grape is not a traditional crop of our
State whose geographical coordinates are 74°E to 81°E Longitude
and 16°N to 22°N Latitude. The average temperature ranging
between 20° to 42° Celsius. In this region the per hectare
grape yield is 20 tonnes a hectare and upwards. Cultivation of the
crop was pioneered in 1962 by two farmers and a professor of Mathematics
who studied plant morphology as a hobby. The grape produced is mainly
of table variety which excels both in quality and quantity. They
export grapes to Europe, the Gulf and South East Asians countries.
Fortyfour years on since the triggering of this grape revolution,
the farmers still hold the edge in technology. Lately they have
branched into production of wine varieties..
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