Farmers in Sangolda have been grappling with an unexpected but persistent problem over the past decade: flocks of peacocks and pigeons are increasingly making agriculture a losing battle.
In recent years, many ryots have been unable to cultivate paddy successfully, as peafowl and pigeons destroy large swathes of crop during both sowing and harvesting seasons. The birds descend in large numbers, pecking away at the seeds and mature grains, leaving little behind for the farmers. The scale of destruction has been so severe that many cultivators are left in tears, unable to salvage a season's worth of hard labour.
The problem is not limited to paddy. During the rabi season, these birds invade fields of chillies, watermelons, and pulses as well, wiping out what little income the farmers hope to earn from selling their produce. The repeated losses have demoralised villagers who were once able to sustain themselves through seasonal farming.
But the solution is not simple. Peafowl, being protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, cannot be harmed. Harming, hunting, or killing them can invite strict punishment, including imprisonment of up to seven years. Understandably, this puts farmers in a helpless position—they are not legally allowed to act against the very creatures that are destroying their livelihoods.
With no support in sight, some farmers now spend entire days standing guard in their fields from dawn till dusk, trying to shoo the birds away. Despite their efforts, they are often unable to prevent the loss of their crops.
“Who do we even complain to?” say villagers. “We try everything we can, but these birds just keep coming back. We don’t know how to deal with this.”
While other birds have always been part of the agricultural landscape, farmers say that peafowl have only become a serious problem in the past decade. The number of birds seen in and around human settlements has increased significantly over the years, raising concerns not only for the farmers but also for the safety of the birds. Peacocks are frequently attacked and killed by stray dogs—an unfortunate and violent end for a bird revered in Indian culture.
There is also a growing belief among locals that peafowl are not native to Goa and that their growing presence may be an indicator of changing climate patterns or ecological imbalances. Whatever the reason, the sudden rise in their numbers and their aggressive foraging behaviour has caught farmers off-guard.
This is yet another challenge in a long list of difficulties Goa’s farmers already face, from rising input costs to erratic rainfall and shrinking agricultural land. The peafowl menace, as they now call it, is pushing more and more farmers to abandon their fields.
Many farmers believe that it is time for the Forest Department to step in. Farmers are urging the authorities to relocate the birds to forested areas where they are less likely to interfere with human activity.
If action is not taken soon, farmers fear that more fields will be left fallow, and the tradition of farming in Sangolda may slowly fade away—not due to lack of will, but because of a problem they were never prepared to face.