Crop-raiding monkeys haunt farmers in Malnad districts

Growers of banana, areca, maize, coconut, and ginger suffering losses owing to the menace; indigenous techniques to combat the problem have failed to yield results

December 29, 2020 01:50 am | Updated 09:26 am IST - Hassan

A planter has put up a net to protect vegetables and fruits from monkeys at his farm near Sringeri.

A planter has put up a net to protect vegetables and fruits from monkeys at his farm near Sringeri.

Srinivasa Murthy, a farmer with four acres of land at Mundagodu near Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district, wants his schoolgoing son to take up some job after he completes his studies. The losses Mr. Murthy has suffered in his farm owing to monkey menace in the last 10 years have pushed him to this.

“Earlier, I wanted my son to remain a farmer. But crop loss to the tune of ₹1.5 lakh a year owing to monkey menace has made me change my mind,” he told The Hindu .

Hundreds of farmers in parts of Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, and Hassan districts have been hit hard by the monkey menace in the last 10 to 15 years. “During our school days, monkeys used to visit our farms in a group of 10 to 15. They used to damage our banana plantation and go away. But, now they raid our farms in large groups. At a time three or four herds, each with 50 to 60 monkeys, attack the farm,” he said.

Growers of banana, areca, maize, coconut, and ginger are facing this problem as the food patterns of monkeys have also changed over the years. Prasanna Bhat of Nandodi in Sagar taluk is a small grower with one acre of areca plantation. “Monkeys have developed taste for areca as well. They eat less and damage more,” he said. Many banana growers have zero income from the plantation. The scene in cornfields is no better. “They come in large numbers and damage the crop within minutes. Our yearlong hard labour is lost within no time,” said Nagaraj of Uralagallu in Sagar taluk.

Over the years, farmers have adopted indigenous techniques and burst crackers to combat monkeys. They use home-made tools that make noise to deter monkeys. However, these techniques have failed to yield the desired result.

The farmers alleged that the government machinery has failed to understand the gravity of the problem. “They brush it aside as a silly thing, without analysing the damage monkeys can cause. The increasing number of monkeys has affected bird population as well because they damage nests,” said Mr. Murthy.

Monkey park

The State government had proposed a monkey park in Shivamogga district as a measure to handle this problem. The idea was to capture monkeys and leave them in the park where fruit-bearing trees are grown. However, environmentalists dub the idea of a monkey park impractical and unscientific.

“The concept of making animals live in a closed place is itself bad. The government should think of birth control methods for monkeys so that their number could be brought down. This is the method we follow in case of dogs, with whom we live,” opined Kalkuli Vittal Hegde, writer and activist of Sringeri.

Initially, the Forest Department had proposed to set up the monkey park at Nagodi in Hosanagar taluk. Following opposition from the local people, the department thought of setting up the park in an island in the Sharavati backwaters near Kargal. There too, people opposed it citing that the monkeys could spread Kyasanur Forest Disease in the area.

“Considering the opposition from the public, the idea of the monkey park has been put on hold,” said D. Mohan Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sagar division.

Plan to sterilise them

The Forest Department will take up sterilisation of monkeys (bonnet macaques) damaging crops in Shivamogga.

Mr. Mohan Kumar told The Hindu that a three-day training programme was held at the Veterinary College in Shivamogga. “The Department of Animal Husbandry conducted the programme in which 15 veterinarians participated. They will be involved in the programme,” the officer said.

Monkeys causing trouble in the agricultural fields would be caught, sterilised, and released back in the same place, the officer added.

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