DBCA Chimera Thoda hatt ke!!!

Vol. 05 No 06. DON BOSCO COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, SULCORNA 14 September 2017

15th August … completing 70 years of independence -By Saniya Makhandar and Kavita Pujari (F.Y.)

“Itni si baat hawaon ko bataye rakhna, Roshni hogi, chirago ko jalaye rakhna,

Lahu dekar ki hai jiski ifazat humne, aise trirangey ko humesha dil mein basaye rakhna”

The patriotic event of ‘Independence Day’ started with the unfurling of the Indian National flag followed by singing of National Anthem. The program was held in collaboration with the school as it has been done from the very start of the agriculture college. One of the students spoke on the change required in us to make India a better place. The school students even enlightened us by their skit on how India, in spite of being independent, actually is still a backward and not truly free and democratic in practice; that there has always been discrimination among its citizens based on caste, religion and wealth; and how this has hampered the growth of our country since independence. Each one of us must try to overcome this and ensure equal rights to all the individuals in our country. The school students even performed a entertaining dance and drama which showed the corrupt condition of our country. Our college students were equally enthusiastic and actively participated in the program. We presented a dance and two patriotic songs which were appreciated by all. At the end there was a motivational talk given by the director, Fr. Allwyn D’Souza. We enjoyed the program while remembering the great freedom fighters who made it possible for all of us to see India as a democratic country. Later, we all gathered at our college and released the students’ weekly wall magazine Chimera. This day marks the successful completion of two years of the creative work done by the students, unique among all colleges in Goa.

The inter-class football tournament - Kaiser Colaco (F.Y.)

The inter-class football tournament was held on 11 August, 2017. The first match was played by the students of

F.Y.B.Sc.(Agri) and T.Y.B.Sc. (Agri) and it ended in a draw where both the teams scored one goal each. The opening goal

was scored by F.Y’s Shivam Kolvekar in the 1st half, and the game was drawn by Nitin Gaonkar of T.Y. in the 2

nd half. The

referee of the match was Anshul Lanjekar of S.Y.. The girls were cheering and encouraging their respective class teams.

After a short break the 2nd

match was played by the students of T.Y.B.Sc. (Agri) and S.Y.B.Sc. (Agri) which again ended in

a goal-less draw. The girls of the S.Y.’s were cheering the boys using pom-poms which were actually branches of trees

which in turn gave hope to the boys. Finally, the 3rd

match which was an interesting one was played by the boys of F.Y.

versus S.Y. and it ended in an emphatic 3-nil win for the S.Y.B.Sc. (Agri) even though the F.Y. had some very good

players. Players from all three teams were the ultimate winners as they learnt teamwork and strategies. It made the selection

of the college team for the Goa University’s inter-collegiate football tournament possible.

Bees as pollinators…. – Priyanka Parab (T.Y.)

Bees are one of the most important creatures for human life to thrive on their desired food: without bees there is no

food!!! Most of the fruit crops and pulses are entomophilies and cross- pollinated; bees do the job for them! Pollination or

the transfer of pollen from the anther contains the male gamete of a plant and it needs to be transferred to the receptive

stigma, the female part of the same or another plant of the same species. The bees do the 80 % of insect-assisted pollination

in crops and, hence, they are very important to set the fruits, peas, beans and gram and to sustain the human population.

Bees have the special features which enable them to pollinate in the process of collecting pollen and nectar. Flowers possess

the colour, shapes, nectar and pollen to attract a large number of birds, bees and other insects towards them which in turn

helps in pollination process. When a Worker bee collects nectar or pollen in its ‘pollen basket’ from the flower of a plant,

some pollen from the stamens sticks to the hair on its body. When she visits the next flower, some of this pollen is rubbed

off onto the stigma—the receptacle of the female reproductive organ of the flower. When this happens, the pollen

germinates and enters the style to fertilization possible. Once done, there is fruit-set and the fruit can develop with seeds

inside.

There are many benefits when pollination is done by the bees as they visit hudreds of flowers of different plants of the same

species per day. It increases the yield and the size of the fruit, specially in water melons. They help develop resistant crops.

They even increase our aesthetic beauty of nature by producing spontaneous hybrids by cross-pollination and this brings

interesting hues and shapes of flowers to our gardens. Hence, we should promote bee keeping practices to conserve and

enhance our bee population which has been decimated by the rash and reckless use of insecticides as if there was no

tomorrow to think of. We should avoid the burning of beehives when smoking is enough to extract honey, minimize the use

of insecticides , pesticides, herbicides which are toxic chemical to the bees. Bees help us to be happy. We must let them be.

National Honeybee Day - Kavita Pujari (F.Y)

It is a happy occasion for all the members of DBCA family that one of our attempts towards celebrating National Honeybee

Day went off successfully. It all started with a nice workshop planned by Rajan Shelke Sir together with the ATMA-South

Goa. Many farmers from nearby areas were invited by the Zonal Agriculture Office, Sanguem, on behalf of the Agriculture

Technology Management Agency. Their presence at the programme made it more successful in creating awareness about

the honey bee. The workshop started with power point presentations by students Priyanka Parab (T.Y.), Ryan Mascarenhas

and Prency Fernandes (both S.Y.) on different types and importance of honeybees in pollination process; honey, its

medicinal uses, etc. These were the topics which were nicely explained by students. Definitely an awareness was spread

among farmers and students about how important honey bees are to our nation.

After every presentation, there was a Question & Answer interaction. During the Q & A, many students were able to

clear their different doubts on honeybees. Our Assistant Professor of Entomology Rajan Shelke Sir moderated the sessions

and helped a lot to clear our doubts. As a citizen of our nation I felt line there is even more need to spread awareness among

the people about importance of honeybees in our nation, the role they play in nature and for human life. We need to protect

and conserve the honey bees. They are the wealth of our nation and help to produce wealth through increased fruit and

pulses production by pollination.

Communal Integration Day - Shivama Oppari (T.Y.)

“India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters”. This the 1st sentence of our Indian pledge. As we follow

the Pledge, we also should understand the meaning of it and to celebrate our togetherness. At the DBCA-Sulcorna, we

celebrated the Integration day in our college on 23rd

August, 2017, to include the different cultures that we follow in India.

First we were told about Ganesh Chaturthi by Brijesh Faldessai (S.Y.) and Krutika Gaonkar (T.Y.) and later about Bhakra

Eid by Saniya Makhandar and Kavita Pujari (both F.Y.). We got learn the why lord Ganesh has a head of an elephant

instead of a normal human being and how the occasion of Bhakra Eid came into existence and the philosophy of sharing

food with family, neighbours and poor, giving a third of the goat to each group. Later we had different competitions like

Rangoli, Mehandi, Face painting, Palm painting. Rangoli and face painting were popular. The competitions were judged by

the teachers and the results were declared on the same day. We all had a great day.

Eid-ul-Zuha - Saniya Makhandar (F.Y.)

Eid-ul-Zuha also known as the sacrifice festival is an important festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide. The story behind

celebrating this Eid is that one day Prophet Ibrahim ( Abraham to the Jews and Christians) had a dream saying that he has to

sacrifice his son Ismail (Issac in the Christian version) for the sake of Allah. Next morning, the Prophet took his son to the

mountain to slaughter. On his way he lets his son know the reason why they were going. The son without hesitation tells his

father to tie up his eyes while slaughtering so that he does not feel the pain. At the place of slaughter everything was set and

when prophet was about to slaughter his son, Ismail was replaced by sheep. Prophet was shocked to see his son alive. Later

an angel arrives and tells prophet that it was a test by Allah to test his faith and love for his God. The Prophet did not

hesitate to slaughter his son ...since everything in life comes by the will of God ... and it has to return to him. God, in his

mercy, spared the child.

Importance of Ganesh Chaturthi…. – Tanvy Surlekar (T.Y.)

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is an Indian festival that marks the birthday of lord Ganesha. This

auspicious festival is observed in the month of Bhadra (mid august – mid September) according to Hindu calendar.

Ganesha, the most beloved god, is known by 108 different names in our culture. He is considered to be a symbol of good

fortune, wisdom, prosperity and wealth. This festival is celebrated with extreme devotion and joy in many states of India

and even outside the country. Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala , Tamil Nadu, are some states that have been whom to this

celebration since ages.

A week before Ganesh chaturthi excitement settles in, various artistic clay models, varying in sizes and poses are prepared

by the artisans. These statues are installed in colourfully decorated pandals or makaras in homes, localities and temples.

Garlands and lights add up to the beauty of the statue. It is celebrated for 1½, 5, 7, 11 and 21 days at various places. Finally,

there is a ritual known as uttara puja, which means bidding farewell to lord Ganesha with due reverence. After this ritual,

there is a ceremony of immersing the statue in water, which is known as ganapati visarjan. “Ganapati bappa moray” is a a

common chant that evokes the feelings of devotees and is commonly heard during the celebration.

But the main question is why we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi and what is its importance in our culture? The festival is

celebrated as rebirth of lord Ganesh, the story linked to the history of this festival, the most relevant on dates back to the

time of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It is believed that Parvati is the creator of Ganesha, the result of parthenogenesis or

virgin birth. The story says that Parvati used her sandalwood paste and created Ganesha in the absence of Lord Shiva. She

gave him the work of guarding her bathroom door while she was bathing. After Shiva returned home, Ganesha and Shiva

got into a tiff due to which Shiva severed the head of the child. Witnessing this sight, Parvati was enraged and lord Shiva

promised getting Ganesh back to life. The followers searched for a child’s head but all they could find was an elephant head

and that is how our Gajanan was created.

Eco – trek… connecting with nature!!! - Priyanka Parab (T.Y.)

The Eco Trek #111 was arranged on 3rd

September at Krishna Farm, Sulcorna-Goa, which is known for its organic practices

and composite organic farming. The city-bred youngsters and school students who attended the trek, felt re-connected with

Nature and experienced its aesthetic beauty. Such treks help people to experience life , enjoy the natural resources which are

still available in the present day situations and learn to care for it. The Eco Trek association mandates the participants to

bring their own re-usable plate, tumbler, spoon and napkin so that the place is not even accidentally littered with disposable

waste. The organizers even bring garbage bags to clean the site but there was no need at Krishna Farm, where every

biodegradable material is considered a resource to be composted and used as manure.

Increase in population, and the consequent urbanization, leads to deforestation even in the suburbs. People prefer the

convenience of city life but yearn for the fresh and clean environment of the village areas. Such treks help the people living

in city to get connected to nature and experience the world beyond the crowds, garbage heaps and air pollution of the cities.

Dinesh Prayag Sir, manager of Krishna Farm welcomed the trekkers and introduced them to the organic farming practices.

He showed them the various products that they prepare in their farm like Kalpneer (unfermented toddy), coconut cream,

desiccated coconut, copra, coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar and jaggery, vinegar, pulses etc. He explained the

process toddy extraction with actual specimens of the coconut spathe (poiee), the cutting bill-hook, the ice-cooled

collection box and the aseptic collection pouch. He also explained the cross-pollination process to produce T x D and D x T

hybrids of coconut using a mature spadix with coconut buttons and male flowers. Emasculation is very important in

production of D x T hybrids because the Dwarf coconut has synchronous flowering and self-pollination takes place. This is

not a problem in the Tall coconut because the male flower anthesis is about a fortnight after peak stigma receptivity.

Beekeeping was also explained with bee-boxes, honeycomb frames and centrifugal honey extractor.

The participants got to see the actual process of toddy extraction, including trimming and washing of the spadix (xellem)

with the melted ice water as well as replacement of the collection pouch and the ice-pack. Surprise, surprise! It was a young

girl employee who demonstrated all this to us. She then taught the participants how easily each one could climb the coconut

tree with the help of mechanical climber. Looking at her do it with aplomb, the excitement arose in most of the particpants

and they were soon clambering up the coconut trees. Not surprisingly from a children in their early teens to the middle aged

people learnt the technique of using the mechanical device to climb the coconut trees and enjoyed their achievement of

climbing a significant height on the coconut. Some of them even tried the conventional method of climbing the tree, using

the cuts ( khamp) made in the diffuse-porous coconut trunk.

After that we even saw the paddy cultivation which was done by SRI method along with the students of DBCA, the cattle

shed and the chaff cutter, and even the rubber plantations. The participants enjoyed a dip in the stream and then it was time

to depart. The two faculty and five of student volunteers also enjoyed the trek as we got to know and meet so many

enthusiastic people, all thanks to Miguel Branganza Sir who always motivate us to learn something new and interesting.

Three cheers for agriculture

All of the farmers amidst a flock.

Help harvest food for our spoon and fork.

They work very hard each day of the week.

Handling crops and animals that make sounds when

they speak.

We are thankful for farmers ho plant fruits and

vegetables to eat

And others who raise livestock for poultry, pork and

beef meat.

Agriculture is much more than just food,

Its also about fibers for clothing to fit every mood.

In the summer, fall, winter and spring.

Three cheers for the farmers who do farming!

LEAF FALLS

AND SO STARTS

LIFE ANEW

THOU SOUL

ENCOMPASSED

IN PERPETUAL

BEGINNING

HAVE I TOO

THOU SOUL

OF JOY AND DARKNESS

HERE THEN

IS THY End.

FESTIVAL

Music is booming,

People are dancing

I smell good food, hunger looming.

Everyone grooving, winning and grinding.

An amazing array of clothes,

Weird and wonderful.

From the way I dance it shows

I am having the good time of my life.

Night time, home time.

Tired, I drag my feet.

Till next time,

Goodbye my friend-until we meet again.

- Janice Fernandes

The Diamond Jubilee Birthday Man at 75 years complete on this Good Earth: Fr. Chris da Cunha sdb

The Lord’s vineyard in the tropics: Cashew apples ready for stomping Managing Goa’s largest single sugarcane producing farm, Sulcorna

Editors :- Priyanka Parab (T.Y), Vandit Naik (S.Y.) , Janice Fernandes (F.Y.)