In the wake of increasing incidents of elephants destroying crops inside the Aralam farm bordering the Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary in the district, the authorities have decided to increase the area for cultivating turmeric and other alternative crops.
The decision was take by the Aralam Farming Corporation Limited following the successful cultivation of turmeric in 25 acres, which was started in May last year. The turmeric is in the harvesting stage and the corporation already had takers for the turmeric, said Bimal Ghosh, managing director of the corporation.
He said that the Regional Agro-Industrial Development Co-operative of Kerala Ltd. (RAIDCO) had approached the corporation to take the processed turmeric. Considering the good potential to market the produce, it had been decided to increase the cultivated area, he said.
Mr. Ghosh said that the decision to grow turmeric had yielded a good result. Elephants and other wild animals did not destroy the crops and the corporation was expecting a revenue of ₹60 lakh from the sale this year.
The corporation is planning to expand nurseries where coconut, arecanut, pepper, and ornamental plants would be developed, he said. The corporation had incurred huge losses owing to the destruction of crops including coconut, arecanuts, cashew, pepper, and rubber trees earlier. He said that around 8,000 coconut trees, arecanut in 12 hectares, and cashew trees were destroyed by elephants in the farm in the past two years.
“We suffered a loss of ₹19.75 crore during the past two years,” Mr. Ghosh said. The corporation had leased out the coconut trees for collecting toddy to 5 licencees at ₹425 per tree a month. About 1,200 trees were being used for collecting toddy, employing 100 tappers, including 50 tribals. The destruction of the coconut trees by the elephants had reduced the revenue of the corporation from ₹4 lakh to ₹1 lakh this year, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal association and activists have protested against the corporation allowing toddy tapping from the coconut trees and cultivation of crops that attract elephants. The killing of a toddy tapper by an elephant recently triggered the issue. Sreeram Koyyon, president of the Adivasi Dalit Munnetta Samithi, said that the elephant menace had increased ever since the government allowed toddy tapping in the farm. The elephants were attracted to the smell of toddy and they ventured out from the jungle to destroy the trees in the farm in an attempt get at the toddy pots fixed atop the strees.
He demanded that the government immediately cancel the licence and stop tapping of toddy. The Forest department has also written to the government to change the crop patten in the farm and adjoining areas. Growing crops such as cashew, pineapple, coconut, and jackfruit inside the farm and the adjoining areas lured the elephants out of the forest. That had been another reason for the casualties thereand cultivation of such crops should be reconsidered, said a senior Forest official.
