Farmers in various hilly districts of the Sudur Paschim state have been suffering due to damage caused by wildlife to their crops. Monkey menace during the day and wild boar and porcupine during the night has terrorized farmers in the district. Baitedi, Darchula, Dadeldhura and Bajhang districts are the most affected by wildlife. “Despite our continuous vigil day and night, we have not been able to stop the damage to our crops,” said Keshav Bhatta of Chadepani in ward no. 7 of Dogadakedar of Baitedi.
Currently, the maize crop has been severely damaged by wild boars. We put in a lot of effort to save the maize crop from pests but fail to protect them from wildlife, said Keshav BC of Surnaya rural municipality-7. Meanwhile, the farmers have demanded that the local governments take the initiative to control the menace of wild animals. Furthermore, the farmers are also not provided any relief and compensation for the crop loss from the wildlife. However, chief of the Maize Zone Office, Baitedi Hari Prasad Paneru said there is no government provision to compensate the loss to crops caused by wildlife. Baitedi has been declared a pocket zone for maize farming but no incentives have been provided for crop loss. The Sunarya, Dogadakedar, Pancheswar rural municipalities and Dasarathchand and Patan municipalities have been declared the maize pocket zone.
Though many other programmes are being organized to promote maize farming in the zone, the farmers are finding it hard to protect maize crop from wild animals. —RSS
