Farmers at Gawdewade in Korgao have been left harried by wild boar attacking crops in their fields. The animals have destroyed ripe and ready to harvest fields causing heavy losses to farmers.
Herds of wild boar flock to the fields at nights and damage the crop here. Farmers in the village are mostly senior citizens and lament that their only source of livelihood has gone to the pigs and it is futile to cultivate fields as precious time, money and labour is lost.
Two senior citizens Mohan Gawade and Bhavani Teli could not even harvest their fields as they were completely damaged. Both sustained a loss of Rs 20,000 each. Besides there are other farmers who have met with the same fate.
Farmers here try to tackle the problem at their end by putting up night vigils and shooing the animals with sticks, but the boar strike back with vengeance. Villagers are so terrified that they hardly step out after 8 pm for the fear of being attacked.
The Forest Dept should wake up from slumber and deploy their forest guards to either take care of or fields or compensate the famers in the area. The authorities should do something to encourage the farmer to continue cultivating the land and keep the night raiders at bay. Measures must be taken for the management of wild boar to prevent them from damaging the crops.
Over the years, there is a drastic increase in the population of wild boar and with men encroaching into their habitats, the boar then invade fields and damage crops. Time the Forest department and panchayat find an immediate solution to the issue and put an end to the damage being caused to crops by wild boar. The earlier the better before the farmers give up cultivating their land. The Agriculture department too should assess the damage and reach out to the farmers here and compensate them for the losses sustained.
