Where are Bharat’s local leafy greens in this chart?
Here is the list of the principal vegetables grown, according to the third advance estimates for 2013-14 (the agricultural year is July to June) for horticultural crops. The figures are from the usual source, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture. The quantities are in million tons. Where’s the vegetable diversity? Where are the leafy greens? Are they included in that bland circle called ‘others’? The DAC won’t/can’t tell us.
This is an enlightening comment a reader of Resources Research. Neville said:
“We moved to Goa 5 years ago from California. First thing that shocked us was the (low) quality and diversity of greens and other vegetables here. Most farmers here have stopped growing due to the soaring price of land, so veggies are trucked in from Belgaum where there doesn’t seem to be any oversight or regulations. For example, we stopped buying spinach and other leafy greens as they reek of DDT 90% of the time. The average person doesn’t seem to notice / care. There is a healthcare crisis here in Goa – soaring rates of cancer and stroke and I am convinced it is due to the bad quality of food and the rampant burning of plastic waste. We now grow our own veggies or buy from small-time villagers. Sad state of affairs indeed.”
The numbers are: Beans 1.213; Bitter gourd 0.971; Bottle gourd 2.192; Brinjal 13.842; Cabbage 9.109; Capsicum 0.156; Carrot 1.19; Cauliflower 8.585; Cucumber 0.69; Muskmelon 0.702; Okra/Ladyfinger 6.461; Onion 19.769; Peas 4.165; Potato 44.306; Radish 2.561; Sitaphal/Pumpkin 0.356; Sweet Potato 1.126; Tapioca 7.778; Tomato 19.193; Watermelon 1.827; Others 21.953.
Shaktichakra, the wheel of energies 
We think it is difficult to quantify green leafy vegetables because of their inherently very perishable nature with very high water content.
D Roy Laifungbam
September 5, 2014 at 11:27
Thanks for your comment. True the greens are perishable, and it would be difficult to judge, for example, how much reaches the retail market compared with what is lifted at the mandi. I don’t see why the crop production data collected, which is in theory based on regular block level surveys, should not include veggies and greens as this is to be collected *before* they leave the field.
makanaka
September 20, 2014 at 10:50
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October 2, 2014 at 17:24
We moved to Goa 5 years ago from California. First thing that shocked us was the (low) quality and diversity of greens and other vegetables here. Most farmers here have stopped growing due to the soaring price of land, so veggies are trucked in from Belgaum where there doesn’t seem to be any oversight or regulations. For example, we stopped buying spinach and other leafy greens as they reek of DDT 90% of the time. The average person doesn’t seem to notice / care. There is a healthcare crisis here in Goa – soaring rates of cancer and stroke and I am convinced it is due to the bad quality of food and the rampant burning of plastic waste. We now grow our own veggies or buy from small-time villagers. Sad state of affairs indeed.
Neville
November 15, 2014 at 03:18
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comment. You’re quite right that Goa ‘imports’ most of its vegetables from neighbouring Belgaum. The size of the hotels and restaurant industry in Goa means that the demand is large, while much of this ‘industry’ is informal and unorganised and resists standards. So yes pesticides, weed killer sprays and other deadly chemical residues are commonplace in the Goan food chain. Grow your own and encourage locally grown indigenous veggies – that’s the safest and happiest alternative.
makanaka
November 15, 2014 at 12:09