Wild animals have caused many problems for the agriculture sector of Goa. With their numbers on the rise in the last ten years, farmers are fed-up with the situation. Monkeys and wild boar are usually responsible for the large-scale destruction of crops, while the worst-affected places are usually forest areas, like Sattari, Sanguem, Quepem and Ponda.
For many farmers, agriculture is the only source of income. They have been requesting the government to curb the growth of wild animals, but nothing has been done. The farmers have demanded that wild animals, like monkeys and boar, be classified as ‘vermin’ so that they could be killed if they ventured onto agricultural land. Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have already declared these species as vermin to control the animals’ growth by hunting.
According to farmers, the number of monkeys was very small ten years ago. In the last two years, it gradually increased to over 50. In Sattari, especially, parts of Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, monkeys as well as bison have destroyed large areas of agricultural land, due to which production of coconut, banana, and arecanut have been seriously affected.
Farmers have submitted memorandums to the government drawing its attention to the wild animal menace. They requested the government not to ignore the issue as it directly affected the State. They also questioned why the government could not declare invasive species as vermin when other states had done the same.
The government is trying to boost agriculture in the State by implementing various schemes, but farmers are changing their interests due to the wild animal menace. In Sattari and Sanguem, farmers do not hesitate to sell their agricultural land to builders.
Farmers also stated that the main the reasons behind the migration of wild animals into agricultural areas is deforestation. They requested the forest department to plant fruit-bearing trees in the forest area so that wild animals can enjoy the same and stop entering agricultural land.
