GA-ORCHID

The Goa government is going to

rope in a Poland-based company to develop a special variety of

orchids which will have colours of the national flag.

The new variety will be called `Goa orchid',

Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at Margao after inaugurating

an agricultural technology exhibition, he said the new orchid

should be ready by 2022, the end of the current government's

term.

The minister said most of the orchids grown in the

state are Thai varieties, but the state should have its own

distinct variety of this exotic flower.

Sardesai also said the government is finalising an MoU

with an Israeli company to set up a Centre of Excellence to

promote organic farming in the state.