Geographical Indications For Goan Products - II

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GOA needs a central registry to identify and catalogue all the products with potential for GIP registration. Perhaps this project could be undertaken by the GCCI itself with some support from the state government. This would go a long way in rejuvenating and boosting forgotten occupations and employment. Such items need a taxonomic approach for systematic classification. These could include local cultivars of edible crops, preserved and processed food products, local herbal medicines, medicinal teas and tinctures, traditional dresses and costumes, handicrafts, furniture, jewellery and ornaments, pottery, ethnomusical instruments, brass and copper utensils, sweetmeats and confectionary items, fireworks, needlecraft etc. Christian art in ivory, wood, metal or alloy is a specialty of Goa. There is no match for the craftsmanship of internationally known ivory sculptor Mr Waman Zo from Chimbel or the entire line of life like terracotta figures of Mr Vishnu Cuncolienkar. These are unique products from Goan soil though you may find many crude imitations in the market.

Some of Goa’s traditional jewellery designs also need GIP registration. A large number of Goan products are based on local biotic resources. Even if we consider the coconut tree – there are numerous products, which are based on it. The traditional Goan products toddy, palm feni, coconut jaggery, vinegar are well known. But what about the typical Goan brooms – the vhirachi sann/zadu, assembled from dry midribs of coconut leaves? Goa did not import the art of their production from Kerala or Philippines. The shape and size of the Goan broom is standardised so well that it easily qualifies for a geographically indicated product. But the use of coconut goes beyond these well known products. Master craftsman, Mr Vijayadatta Lotlikar, a teacher by profession, from Arradi, Parra has perfected the art of making various handicrafts and novel items from the coconut shell. Many of these items not being produced anywhere in India may deserve GIP registration. Creative and innovative craftsmen like Mr Lotlikar need sustained government support for research and development.

The connection between biodiversity and production of a whole array of local products is revealed if we travel from Pernem to Polem or Marmagoa to Molem. In every village on the way, we may encounter people making use of traditional knowledge to produce unique items from local natural resources. The papads made from jackfruit pulp is a specialty of Canacona taluka. This product deserves to be an equivalent of crispy wafers and need to be called – ‘Goan jackfruit papad’ for GIP status. In my opinion the deep fried or roasted jackfruit papads are best evening snacks. The demand for these papads exceeds the supply because the production has not reached factory scale. Only few families produce them. In case these papads get GIP registration the women’s’ self-help groups would be able to create marketable surpluses. That would solve two problems – vast, unsold crops of jackfruits would be utilised and value addition would give good profits to the producers and processors. The village panchayats need to join the mission to identify plant-based products with GIP registration potential. They need to demand the immediate formation of biodiversity management committees under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Things have changed since Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002 was passed. National and state biodiversity boards were constituted. GIP registrations based on sustainable utilisation of biodiversity are related to effective implementation of BDA, 2002.

The Goa state biodiversity board is the nodal agency for empowerment of the local authorities – the village panchayats and municipal councils. It has not been able to devolve statutory powers to the local authorities consistent with the provisions of BDA, 2002, Chapter X, 41 (1). This clause says clearly that – ‘Every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee within its area for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and micro organisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.’ Goa needs 188 biodiversity management committees but at present there is none and nobody is complaining. Anyone who reads the ‘Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999’ along with Biological Diversity Act, 2002 would see the tremendous benefit if the statutorily constituted biodiversity management committees first focus on Goa’s vast basket of preserved and processed food products.

Goa’s well-known local variety of rasbali bananas missed GIP registration. But see how Karnataka got GIP registration for a similar variety – Nanjangud bananas. The credit goes to Karnataka’s dynamic department of horticulture. The Goa state horticulture corporation would find its’ hands full if it decides to follow the Karnataka strategy to apply for GIP registration of their local farm products. Even if local traditional varieties of bananas, mangoes, chillies, onions/shallots, cucurbits, (watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers), tubers, bulbils were considered, the horticulture corporation would have to send hundreds of applications. But the experience in gathering data for Goa’s cashew feni has shown me that not a single concerned department of the state government is competent to understand the importance and implications of GIP registration.

There has to be a paradigm shift in the governments’ outlook and the academicians’ priorities. There has to be an awakening at the rural level that Goa would lose not only its’ traditional cultivars, germ plasma, seeds, arts, crafts and knowledge but would have to pay a double price if substitute imitation products get dumped in local markets. Karnataka may discover another cultivar of banana like Goa’s saldati or velchi. Banana producers of Moira, Bardez could have easily got GIP registration for their famous and popular ‘moidolim keli’, but their leaders have to take the initiative. The panchayats need to arm themselves with biodiversity management committees. The government needs to reactivate the state level committee on GIP. NGOs like Goa Bagayatdar Sangh with excellent membership base need to come forward to apply for identified GIP registrations. The agriculture department and horticulture corporation need to give them help. The GCCI and GSIA –two premier organisations serving the interest of industries, trade and commerce need to constitute cells to coordinate efforts on GIP registration.

Goa needs to understand that the new ideas to create wealth, new employment opportunities could be generated from strategic marketing of geographically indicated Goan products. Goa can learn from Italian Tuscan olive oil. Many countries produce olive oil. There is fierce competition in market. But after Italian Tuscan Olive oil got GIP registration under EU in 1998, suddenly it began attracting premium price in the global market, thus richly benefiting the producers. If Goa keeps a goal of getting 100 GIP registrations by 2012 – it would launch a revolution in every economic sector. But do Goans have priority for such missions? (Concluded).