Stylosanthes hamata, a perennial leguminous plant commonly known as Caribbean Stylo, could play a vital role in feeding lakhs of sheep to be distributed among people of certain castes by the Telangana government.
The fact, however, that the plants would be grown on thousands of hectares of forest land is inviting criticism from environmental and wildlife activists.
While it has been the practice of the Forest department to grow this plant for its nutritional value and its ability to fix nitrogen from atmosphere, a decision to grow it widely across the forest plantations was taken three to four months ago, reportedly for providing fodder for the sheep to be distributed by the government. The Telangana government has aimed at distributing over 80 lakh units of sheep among Yadav and Kuruma sheep-rearing communities over a period of next two years.
Such massive distribution would require enormous amount of fodder to be grown in open fields. While the existing open lands would anyway be used for this purpose, the government has also decided to use forest lands for the same.
The Telangana Forest department has already got the hamata seed from the Animal Husbandry department to be “broadcast” over plantations in the State’s forests and sanctuaries.
Officials of the department said the seed would be dispersed over 10,000 hectares of forest land across the State. However, they kept silent about the purpose of the same, while maintaining that it would be good for the fertility of the soil, as the leguminous plants would help fix the atmospheric nitrogen.
“We have not yet decided what to do with the plants once they grow. We shall not allow grazing, but may allow people to cut and take them away for a price,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
Environmental activists, however, are crying foul about the decision to use forest land for commercial purpose.
“The government has to win votes in elections, so it will resort to such measures. But the department is the custodian of forest lands which constitute only 4% of the State. How can they agree to put them to commercial use? Agroforestry activities cannot be allowed inside the sanctuaries” says Imran Siddiqui of the Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society (HyTiCos).
R. Hampaiah, former chairperson of the State Biodiversity Board in the unified state, supports the decision and says the species introduced in India from Australia is useful for sheep and goat. The Forest department has been propagating the plant for the last 25 years for providing food to the wildlife.
Farida Tampal, State Director of the WWF-India, however, contests this, citing the Wildlife Protection Act, which prohibits cultivation of any species inside the forests for purposes other than consumption by wildlife.
“If they allow outsiders to enter the wildlife area for fodder, it could result in other unintended damage to the forest such as felling of tree branches,” she says.
