MARGAO:  Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik on Thursday said that the Agriculture policy will not only help to revive agriculture in the State, but will dissuade the people from selling their fields to outsiders.

The Minister has warned that Goa will feel the heat of Climate Change if the pace with which concretisation of the State is taking place does not stop.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of a programme at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on Thursday, the Agriculture Minister said the department has already finalised the policy and the same has been submitted to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for implementation. “The policy will come into force after it receives the Cabinet nod,” he added.

Saying that the policy will be implemented after the Chief Minister places the document at the Cabinet, Ravi has exuded confidence that the Chief Minister will implement the policy at the earliest.

While declining to go into the highlights of the Agriculture policy finalised by the department with inputs from the experts and people at large, Ravi, however, said the policy has focused on the revival of fallow lands for productive use and stress on providing facilities for the farmers.

Saying that Goa is a small State, the Agriculture Minister said that the land should remain with the people of Goa. “Outsiders are coming into Goa in droves to buy our land, including agricultural fields. We should protect our land for posterity. Our future generations should get the land of our ancestors for cultivation,” he said.

Ravi warned that Goa would turn into a concrete jungle if the pace with which buildings are mushrooming across the State. “If the State is turned into a concrete jungle, Goa will feel the heat of climate change. We have done the Agriculture policy for Goa for the first time. It will be notified after the cabinet approval,” he added.