• Dr. Arvind N. Haldankar

With not much diversification that has taken place in the occupational domain, agriculture continues to support the livelihood of the Velips, a pastoral-agricultural Scheduled Tribe existing in the villages of Canacona in south Goa. Given the rather dissatisfactory trend of work participation in agriculture in the State, one witnesses an altogether healthy work participation of Velips in the villages of Canacona. Agriculture is monsoon fed, and the lands are logically and systematically terraced. Topographic limitations create a pattern of segregation of land into small plots, unlike the pattern of distribution seen in north Goa. The continuing tussle between the tribals and the forest, and the paucity of lands in the respective settlements compelled the state government to allocate open spaces for carrying out agriculture. Introduction of cash crops and the declining use of jaggery in diet brought abandonment of sugarcane cultivation, a practice once in vogue among their ancestors. However, lately, there is rejuvenation of interest in sugarcane due to profit orientation. Despite the high nutritional content of traditional paddy seeds such as Panio, Shitto, Tamso and the Ajgo have found a discontinuity with the introduction of sophisticated seeds and implements of production. More importantly, the Velips cling to a belief in rituals, considered as approvals for the different cultivation tasks. The broadcasting method (rovap) for paddy cultivation seems to have found favour than the method of transplanting (ropap). While there are mixed roles undertaken by men and women, the present ethnographic study looks into the emerging challenges faced by the tribal communities in the domain of agriculture.

- Scheduled Tribe, Velip, Agriculture, Panio, Ethnography

"AGRARIAN PRACTICES AMONG THE VELIP TRIBE IN GOA: A DISCOURSE ON CHANGE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no.455-460, April-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1904065.pdf

"AGRARIAN PRACTICES AMONG THE VELIP TRIBE IN GOA: A DISCOURSE ON CHANGE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no. pp455-460, April-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1904065.pdf