By Matters India Reporter
Panaji, May 19, 2026 — In a city where urban life often overshadows the soil, 21-year-old Cleto Avito Fernandes has become a role model for Goa’s youth.
A farmer, environmentalist, and entrepreneur, he is reshaping perceptions of agriculture by blending tradition with innovation.
“I started agriculture in the 7th standard… just by growing 2 lady finger plants at home,” Fernandes told Matters India. “From there I have grown all the vegetables that can be grown in Goa in my garden including cauliflowers and strawberries.”
What began as a small experiment in his Panjim backyard has grown into a movement that inspires students, educators, and communities across the state.
By 2024, Fernandes was cultivating fields in Taliegao and teaching paddy transplanting techniques across Goa.
“I have been invited to teach paddy transplanting in the fields all over Goa. I have taken talks for various schools and colleges on composting and other topics,” he says.
His residence has become a learning hub, where students tour his garden and learn about sustainable farming.
Fernandes insists on organic methods, producing vermicompost and liquid manures, though he admits challenges. “Now due to low availability of cow dung and cow urine it’s kinda very difficult,” he explains.
That difficulty pushed him toward diversification. In April 2024, he launched a poultry farm in the heart of Panjim.
“After a lot of ups and downs I was able to get everything together and I finally kick started my whole setup… By God’s grace everything is going well.”
His ventures extend beyond farming. Fernandes has mastered bonsai cultivation, offering free training to students in an art he calls “a skill lost in today’s world.”
He runs a small nursery selling grafted bonsai, ornamental, and flowering plants, and cultivates turmeric powder through a barter system with local farmers. “Finally, all my products are 100% organic and naturally processed,” he emphasizes.
Recognition has followed. In March 2025, Fernandes received the Youngest Entrepreneur Award, adding to a list of honors that includes national level achievements in performing arts. He has acted and sung in tiatrs and plays across Goa and India, winning awards for his performances.
“I also like dancing Jive, waltz, etc… So also I am into acting and singing,” he says, underscoring his versatility.
His journey was not without resistance. Fernandes recalls that his grandmother discouraged him from farming, citing the hard work and stigma attached to the profession.
Yet encouragement from his mother, who urged him to grow more after his first harvest, proved decisive. “My mother’s encouragement and her words motivated me to cultivate more,” he says.
Fernandes’ story was featured in O Heraldo in April 2024, spotlighting his rise as a young farmer. The article noted his persistence despite challenges of land access and labor shortages.
“I cultivate only the rabi crop as of now, since I haven’t been able to get a field during the monsoon season,” he explained at the time.
Today, Fernandes balances his studies — he is in the fourth year of a B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture program — with his entrepreneurial ventures. His résumé lists experience in organic farming, poultry management, bonsai artistry, and public speaking.
He has trained students in composting, hosted guided tours, and participated in environmental activism, including the Save Mollem movement.
His career objective is clear: to promote sustainable agriculture and inspire youth participation. “My future aim in this line is to get more youngsters in agriculture so that farming can become sustainable in Goa,” he says.
For many in Panjim, Fernandes represents a new vision of success — one rooted in sustainability, creativity, and resilience.
His early mornings spent watering crops before college, his workshops on composting, and his ventures in poultry and bonsai all point to a life dedicated to nurturing both plants and people.
As Goa grapples with questions of sustainability and youth engagement, Fernandes stands as proof that farming can be more than survival — it can be a calling, a business, and a cultural force. In his words and actions, he embodies a model of leadership that is grounded in the soil yet reaching toward the future.
(Photo supplied)