Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 16 (ANI): To protect their crops from destruction, farmers in Sambhal district have taken to wearing bear costumes to scare away troublesome monkeys at Firozpur village.
One of the farmers, Dharambir, narrating his plight, said that several farmers have already adopted this solution as monkeys have become a major menace and are destroying numerous crops like potato and strawberry crops. He further sought a permanent solution to this recurring problem.
“Monkeys cause a menace, and eat potatoes and strawberries from our fields. There must be more than 100 monkeys here. This happens every day. Monkeys run away after seeing us like this…There should be some solution to this…2-3 of us are doing this…” Dharambir told ANI.
Meanwhile, the local Forest Ranger, Manoj Kumar, emphasised the need for concrete steps to capture the monkeys, noting that simply chasing them away from one location causes them to relocate to another. He assured that the Forest Department will make every effort to catch the animals.
“I do not have complete information regarding this. But I have come to know about this. Monkeys run away, but this is not a permanent solution. If they run away from one place, they will reach another…Concrete steps will have to be taken so that we can catch monkeys and release them in the jungle…Forest Department will make all effort to catch the monkeys, we will take action as per the instructions we receive,” said Kumar.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli, Banana growers are concerned with a sudden fall in Nendran banana prices in and demanded government intervention to address the issue and support their livelihood.
Banana Farmer Rajendran said that several farmers fear that, due to the sudden crash in prices, those farmers who have pledged their valuables in private banks might be able to redeem them next year. He urged the government to provide compensation.
“Many farmers had pledged household jewellery in private banks, hoping to repay the loans with the profits from this season’s harvest. However, due to the sudden crash in prices, they are now unable even to pay the interest and fear they may only be able to redeem their pledged valuables next year. We urged the government to provide compensation to banana farmers affected by the price fall. Government could procure bananas directly from farmers and sell them to neighbouring states to prevent further losses,” he said. (ANI)