Udupi: Following the menace of monkeys devouring their horticultural produce the people all along the Western Ghats fringe areas the farmers are a worried lot. The situation has gone beyond mere amusement as the monkeys have become a serious menace, particularly targeting coconut plantations and causing havoc in the cultivation of vanilla vines, pineapple patches, and papaya trees. The lives of farmers have been greatly affected, especially in the fringe areas of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Chikkamagaluru Districts, where monkey problems have been prevalent.
The fringe areas of these districts encompass around 5000 hectares of land dedicated to horticultural crops. According to farmer groups in these regions, the crops cultivated in their farms, such as vanilla, pineapple, pepper, lemon grass, aromatic plants, and medicinal herbs, have become the favourites of the monkeys. Large groups of monkeys, some of them enormous in size, intimidate the farmers.
Vignesh V. Naik from Shankaranarayana Village in Kundapur Taluk shared his experience, stating that his entire coconut crop was devastated in the past three months. He estimated a loss of over 4000 tender coconuts, each pod valued at Rs. 15, resulting in significant financial damage.
Narasimha Naik, who grows vanilla, added that the monkeys not only destroyed his vanilla vines but also devoured all the vanilla beans he had laid out for drying. He estimated a loss of at least 300 kilograms, with each kilogram worth Rs. 300. While the monkeys didn’t consume all of the beans, they caused extensive damage, rendering the crop useless for value addition. The buyer usually utilises the crop for making medicines, ice creams, and confectioneries.
Officials from the Kundapur Taluk Moorthedarara Sangha (Toddy Tapper’s association) emphasised that monkeys also attack palm trees and destroy the palm fruit crop. Forest officials estimate that monkey infestation causes a loss of nearly 4 crores per season in Karkala, Kundapura, Puttur-Sullia, and other affected areas.
According to sources from the Horticulture Department in these districts, farmers have abandoned over 900 acres of horticultural land due to monkey infestation.
Forest officials, however, attribute the problem partially to the farmers themselves, as they have been cutting down trees that yield wild fruits, which serve as food for the monkeys. Trees producing fruits like wild mango, jackfruit, and various types of berries have been disappearing due to the expansion of commercial farming. When their natural food sources vanish from their habitat, monkeys are left with no choice but to invade the farms, explains a forest official.
In an effort to address this issue, the Forest Department is establishing a nursery for wild fruit-bearing trees and distributing them to farmers in the fringe areas. Additionally, they are planting wild fruit varieties in these areas to protect farms from the monkey problem. However, the results of these efforts will only become evident after 3-4 years, according to Assistant Conservator of Forests in Udupi.
Farmers, unwilling to wait that long, have resorted to extreme measures, with many of them applying for gun licenses not to kill the monkeys but to scare them away. Attempts to deter the monkeys by using methods like bursting crackers and setting up high-rise nets around the farms have proven ineffective. However, it seems that the monkeys are fearful of gunshots, as mentioned by Siddappa Naika, a farmer from Naravi in Karkala Taluk.
The increasing monkey problem also indicates a rise in the monkey population and a scarcity of food available in the forests. In the past, people used to hunt and bury monkeys mercilessly. However, due to stricter wildlife protection laws, killing any wild animals is now prohibited, as it should be. Monkeys are categorised under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Act, granting them special protection against poaching. There was even a proposal to establish a monkey park in Karkala, but it did not come to fruition.