PANAJI
Farmers heaved a sigh of relief after the Chief Minister assured that wild boar will be declared as vermin, though some of them said they would have been happy even if monkeys were brought into that bracket.
“Wild boars damage crops but not everywhere in Goa, but monkeys are all over the place. In Keri-Sattari most of the damage is done by monkeys. Wild boars have rarely damaged our crops,” said Venkatrao Rane, a farmer from North Goa
“Precautions have proven ineffective against monkeys. Monkeys can tackle all the obstacles within a few days. They are very intelligent and cause damage to the coconut palms. Even bananas are not allowed to grow, as the monkeys eat them raw,” Rane added.
In Goa the farmers are constantly in tussle with animals like monkeys, wild boars, peacocks, porcupine and Gava redo. But monkeys are the most troublesome ones, says Rane, adding, “The government should declare monkeys as vermin at the earliest and make arrangements to keep them in the jungles, by growing fruit yielding trees in the forest. This will allow them to settle in the forest and not enter the villages.”
Farmers that have fields bordering jungles have stopped planting bananas a long time ago as they cannot enjoy the crop anymore. Any type of fencing also is of no use, as monkeys jump from high trees. Just declaring any animal as vermin, also does not serve the purpose, as most of the farmers do not have arms, and not all who have them, know how to use them. There are incidents of accidents happening and humans getting killed in the process. Many times, fatal accidents have happened while using arms against wild animals, and humans have lost lives.
“The best alternative is to grow maximum fruit-bearing trees in the forest and maintain them, so that animals do not come into the fields. Trees like jamun, vokambo, jackfruit, mangoes, kokum and some new varieties which bear fruit throughout the year. There are jackfruit grafts that yield throughout the year,” suggests Rane.
“During the cashew season, monkeys rarely come down to the fields. This proves that they only come to eat when they don’t get anything in the forest. This is the reason why more and more fruit bearing trees are needed to be grown in the forest. Declaring any animal vermin, or allowing it to be killed is not the solution to farmers’ woes. Making sure that the animals remain in the forest is more important,” concludes Rane who grows areca nuts and coconuts but stopped taking a banana crop. The CM has assured that the forest rights cases will be expedited, and a survey agency has been appointed for settling of forest rights.
“Monkeys, especially the red-mouthed ‘kheti’ destroy 40 per cent of fruits - coconuts, bananas, mangoes, cashews and paddy. They have increased in numbers, in the last 5-6 years due to the protection and have ruined the farmers,” said Ashok Joshi, a farmer from Valpoi, Sattari.
