Farmers' rue over wild animals ravaging their crops
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US Federal reserve|Thirumangalam Taluk Farmers Association|agriculture department|Wildlife Act
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MADURAI:
Fighting many odds already, farmers in Thirumangalam, Kallikudi and T
Kallipatti blocks of the district are faced with another challenge as
the wild boars and deer are ravaging their crops in these blocks.
Though the forest areas are not present in the region, the animals apparently migrated into the areas and are feasting on the crops like maize and vegetables. The farmers in this region estimated that 50% of the crop lost was cultivated in more than 20,000 acres of fields sprawling in these blocks. Millets and maize are the major crops in these rain-fed areas and the farmers are not able to manage this sudden menace of the wild animals.
N Palaniraj, a farmer from Kallikudi says that wild animal menace was intense in the first few days of this year though the wild boars and deer started appearing in their fields last year itself. While the spotted deer are found in the tanks of Nalluthevanpatti and Vaiyur villages, wild boars are spread every where across the villages. "The boars are destroying the maize and sorghum fields while the deer are eating away vegetable plants. We have not found these many wild boars in these villages before," he lamented.
The farmers also expressed their helplessness in controlling the wild boars and deer since they are protected under the Wildlife Act and hunting them down is illegal. "We don't know how to tackle the wild boars and deer because the forest department does not heed to our complaints though they are prompt in taking action against the farmers if they kill any of these animals," charged S Viswanathan, secretary of Thirumangalam Taluk Farmers Association.
He has petitioned the district administration in this regard but the authorities have written back to them instructing to claim compensation for the damages. "The village administrative officer, agriculture officials and forest department have to jointly certify the crop loss and the challenge is bringing these departments together to obtain crop loss estimation certificate," Viswanathan lamented.
Agriculture department officials also confirmed that the wild animals were destroying crops in the region. Joint director of agriculture, Jayasingh Gnanadurai said the farmers were advised to claim the compensation from the forest department. Agriculture officials said that they are also helpless in this regard since it involves the Wildlife Act and the animals ravaging the crops are protected ones.
A S Marimuthu, district forest officer said that the farmers can go for compensation and the department will bear the crop loss incurred by the wild animals. He also said that the department will study the curious case of wild boars migrating into the agriculture fields from their regular habitat of forest.
Though the forest areas are not present in the region, the animals apparently migrated into the areas and are feasting on the crops like maize and vegetables. The farmers in this region estimated that 50% of the crop lost was cultivated in more than 20,000 acres of fields sprawling in these blocks. Millets and maize are the major crops in these rain-fed areas and the farmers are not able to manage this sudden menace of the wild animals.
N Palaniraj, a farmer from Kallikudi says that wild animal menace was intense in the first few days of this year though the wild boars and deer started appearing in their fields last year itself. While the spotted deer are found in the tanks of Nalluthevanpatti and Vaiyur villages, wild boars are spread every where across the villages. "The boars are destroying the maize and sorghum fields while the deer are eating away vegetable plants. We have not found these many wild boars in these villages before," he lamented.
The farmers also expressed their helplessness in controlling the wild boars and deer since they are protected under the Wildlife Act and hunting them down is illegal. "We don't know how to tackle the wild boars and deer because the forest department does not heed to our complaints though they are prompt in taking action against the farmers if they kill any of these animals," charged S Viswanathan, secretary of Thirumangalam Taluk Farmers Association.
He has petitioned the district administration in this regard but the authorities have written back to them instructing to claim compensation for the damages. "The village administrative officer, agriculture officials and forest department have to jointly certify the crop loss and the challenge is bringing these departments together to obtain crop loss estimation certificate," Viswanathan lamented.
Agriculture department officials also confirmed that the wild animals were destroying crops in the region. Joint director of agriculture, Jayasingh Gnanadurai said the farmers were advised to claim the compensation from the forest department. Agriculture officials said that they are also helpless in this regard since it involves the Wildlife Act and the animals ravaging the crops are protected ones.
A S Marimuthu, district forest officer said that the farmers can go for compensation and the department will bear the crop loss incurred by the wild animals. He also said that the department will study the curious case of wild boars migrating into the agriculture fields from their regular habitat of forest.
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