Why marigolds spell good news for Goa's Myndoli banana

We celebrated Dussehra a week ago, and the very first Kadamba bus bearing number GDX 1 was decorated like a bride at the anniversary of the Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd, a Government of Goa undertaking that has made travel to far-flung villages of Goa possible.

Garlands of marigolds adorn vehicles, shops, institutions and houses at Vijaya Dashmi, Dosro or Dussehra, which was celebrated with pomp and gaiety.

The marigold flowers look good for many days, retaining their colour even as they dry up.

The name marigold is derived from ‘Mary’s gold’ because of the presence of these golden flowers at the shrines of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima and Lourdes.

Marigold flowers have a ready market right from and Diwali till the end of the wedding season in June next.

This seasonal plant can be easily grown in Goa during the monsoons as well as with the winter crop of chillies and tomatoes, and also as a means of protection against nematodes for our chillies, tomato and banana plants.

The crop can be grown in coconut plantations, helping to reduce weeds while giving a good crop at the end of the monsoon rains.

The crop can be grown in coconut plantations, helping to reduce weeds while giving a good crop at the end of the rains.

The good news is that an increasing number of farmers in Goa are now growing marigold flowers on a commercial scale and earning good money.

The root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is a major problem in the cultivation of tomato, a Solanaceous crop, and also in banana. The affected tomato plants have very conspicuous root galls or knotty swellings on the roots.

Farmers in Spain realised that tomato crop grows better when marigold plants are also grown in the field along with them. The Jesuits brought this finding to Goa.

Farmers also grew marigold plants alongside . Now, scientists have discovered that the root exudates of marigold plants are most effective against these nematodes. It can also end the need to use carcinogenic chemical pesticides.

This problem was identified in the early 1990s during an insect pest surveillance conducted by a survey team.

The village of Moira, where I grew up, was famous for the large-sized Myndoli bananas; but that is now history. The root burrowing and lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus penetrans and Radopholus similis – which cause the roots to disintegrate and the banana plant to collapse with the immature fruit bunch – are a major problem.

This problem was identified in the early 1990s during an insect pest surveillance conducted by a survey team led by Mr Mirajgaonkar, with an entomologist of the ICAR-Research Centre for Goa (now ) and an extension officer of the Directorate of Agriculture.

It is a major problem among banana plants in Moira.

Growing marigolds has been shown to reduce nematode numbers by 90% in fields. However, farmers in Moira remained unconvinced. Perhaps, it was the lack of communication skills or sustained extension support that contributed to this.

Now, the village of Ibrampur in Pernem taluka has a ‘Geographical Indication’ or GI for banana.

Marigold flowers now find application in petal therapy and aroma therapy. This can help one overcome depression. The dried petals can be added to chicken feed to get better coloured egg yolks.

After the festival and wedding celebrations, marigold flowers are not a waste: they are a resource!

(The author is the former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan)