Champua: The farmers of Champua seem to prefer harvesting paddy prematurely rather than allow marauding elephants to destroy the standing crops.
They said after spending sleepless nights in agricultural fields to protect their paddy from jumbos, they are left with no other choice but to harvest the paddy prematurely.
The worst sufferers are poor and marginal farmers. They are becoming helpless after spending substantial money, either borrowed or taken on loan, on their crops as elephants are turning their paddy fields into their playgrounds.
On the other hand, pre-determined compensation money given by the government to farmers, for their crop loss caused by elephants, does not cover the expenses incurred and labour rendered by them. Moreover, recovering the damaged crops is becoming impossible for them as jumbos are devastating the agricultural fields.
The government gives farmers compensation against crop loss caused by jumbos at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre for paddy and Rs 12,000 per acre for pulses and oilseeds. As against that, a farmer generally spends about Rs 8000 to Rs 9,000 on paddy cultivation per acre.
In some cases, even if there is a huge loss, a farmer gets much less as compensation. Mostly, the paddy fields near forest areas are more vulnerable to elephant attacks.
Reacting to this, the Divisional Forest Officer, Ghasinath Patra said, “The government has accelerated crop loss compensation payment, these days. Hence, farmers are advised not to cut paddy earlier.”
