Marauding elephants threaten Muthalamada mango farmers (State of Kerala, India)
Marauding elephants threaten Muthalamada mango farmers (State of Kerala,
India)
Abdul Latheef Naha, The Hindu
December 5, 2022
See link
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/marauding-elephants-threaten-muthalamada-mango-farmers/article66227059.ece
for photo.
Mango farmers of Muthalamada are facing a new threat. This time it is the
threat of sporadic incursions by wild elephants. The elephant threat,
though limited to some areas, has come at a time when the farmers are
heaving a sigh of relief this season after back-to-back crop losses in
recent past.
Although mango orchards spread across 4,500 hectares in Muthalamada have
not been a favourite raiding spot for the elephants of the Parambikulam
Tiger Reserve and adjoining forests, the number of marauding pachyderms has
increased in recent times.
A lone tusker that reached the Chulliyar dam at Muthalamada last week
caused much angst among the farmers, local people and forest officials
alike.
“It has not been an isolated case. We are facing frequent threat from
marauding elephants. I noticed elephant presence behind my house last night
[Sunday night]. And the threat is increasing,” said M. Sacheendran, a mango
farmer who recently shifted to his new house built within his 10-acre
orchard.
Elephants will break the branches of mango trees and will terrorise the
farmers and workers guarding the orchards at night. With most mango trees
having flowered now, a single incident of elephant raid can cause
considerable loss to the farmers.
“When an elephant breaks a branch, it is destroying quite a large number of
flowers that are to become mangoes,” said Mr. Sacheendran. He said he was
terrified as the elephant raided his farm at night.
Driving Them Back
A couple of days ago, an elephant strayed into the farms at Vellaramkunnu,
Muthalamada, giving tense hours to the villagers. It took several hours for
the forest guards to drive the elephant back to the jungle by using
crackers.
The elephant threat has come at a time when the Muthalamada farmers are
hopeful of a copious crop after having suffered heavily in the last four
years. If it does not rain on consecutive days in December, Muthalamada
orchards are expected to offer a decent yield in the mango season beginning
by February.
In the current season, farmers expect a yield of more than 20,000 tonnes in
Muthalamada, much of which will reach markets in Mumbai, Delhi and
Ahamedabad. Muthalamada mangoes are often synonym for Kerala mangoes. As
Muthalamada mangoes are the first to hit those markets, there is good
demand for them.
Much in Demand
“The reason for this demand is the timing. Our orchards start flowering by
November and will be ready for harvesting by January end. Muthalamada
mangoes reach the market well before the season peaks,” said Hafees J.M., a
leading farmer and exporter.
Muthalamada has different mango varieties such as Alphonso, Banganapalli,
Sindhooram, Totapuri or Kilimooku or Kilichundan, Kalapadi, Mallika,
Nadusalai, Neelam, Rumani, Malgoa and Gudadath. But Alphonso continues to
be the leader in bringing two to three times the price of other varieties.
Banganapalli, Sindhooram and Totapuri are the key varieties covering
two-thirds of the total crops in Muthalamada.