Jumbos force Athagarh farmers to quit farming (Cuttack) The New Indian Express September 9, 2023 Irrigation is not an issue in the villages of Kakhadi and Mancheswar gram panchayats in Athagarh. Still, farmers of the villages have given up cultivation. Thanks to the invasion of elephants. As per reports, farmers of the two-gram panchayats cultivate paddy, vegetables, and even sugarcane. Since irrigation was never an issue, the farmers did not have to worry about their produce. This was around three years back. Now, they are suffering huge losses as their crops are being destroyed by elephants. Sources said around 2000 hectare of agricultural land is lying barren in Rauli, Sana Kakhadi, and Bidyadharpur villages of Kakhadi gram panchayat and Bishnupur, Brahmanbasta, Nuadhia, Prasannapur, Lingapada and Paikarapur of Mancheswar. Bushes and creepers on the fertile land narrate the tale of an ongoing man-animal conflict in which the latter has the upper hand. A fragmented corridor has been forcing the jumbos to stray out of Chandaka in search of food. The elephants stay at Subasi and Brahmanbasta reserve forests within Athagarh division during the day. But after the sun sets, the elephants venture into the farmland and damage the crops. The elephant herds intrude into the localities at least thrice to four times a year. The Forest Department’s solar barricades and trenches have not been yielding the desired result. “We have become tired of the elephants and have no patience to bear losses anymore. After running from pillar to post, the compensation provided by the Forest department is too meagre to compensate for the loss. After failing to protect crops from regular raids and to bear the loss, we have given up traditional paddy and vegetable cultivation,” said Sarat Chandra Mohanty a farmer of Kakhadi. Some farmers had built scaffolds on their fields where one had to stay at night to keep an eye on the crops and alert others when the elephants strayed into their fields. It is a challenge to save the paddy and vegetable crops from elephants till the harvest is completed, said Bansidhar Behera, a farmer of Lingapada. While efforts to elicit a response from Athagarh DFO on the issue proved futile, Khuntuni range officer Nilamadhab Sahoo said trenches are being dug in the forest to check the movement of elephants towards farms. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2023/sep/09/jumbos-force-athagarh-farmers-to-quit-farming-2613203.html