The human-wildlife conflict is a never-ending story in the rural pockets of the country. As a measure to address the issue, the government has been supporting the farmers by providing the electric fencing. However, those farmers who are yet to receive such kind of assistance are still struggling with human-wildlife conflict. Yangbari village under Gongdue Gewog in Monggar is not an exception to such a problem.
As the sun sets and dusk emerges, most of the farmers in Yangbari village are seen going to the temporary shed with torchlight in their hands to protect their crops from the wild boars and other wild animals. Some farmers even raised pet dogs to help them in guarding crops but up to no avail. Farmers claim that it has been over a couple of years that wild boars attacking maize plants have become a serious issue. Dorji Lhamo, a farmer of Yangbari village said “I came here to guard the maize plants against the wild boars. If we don’t guard the crop, we don’t get anything to eat. Wild boars damage maize and other crops as well. So far we have not harvested any crops without being damaged by the wild boars.” Another farmer, Karma Dorji said “If we don’t protect our crops from wild animals, the monkey will come to attack crops during the day time. And I don’t know if its due to changing time, but despite protecting the crops from wild boars, the animal always come to damage our crops at night. ”
Besides maize, wild boars have also become a nuisance for farmers who depend on horticulture. A farmer said, “During winter, wild boars will damage the pineapple plants. Currently, we have put metal sheet fencing along the field. So we would be grateful if we get electric fencing. ”
However, from next year, farmers would not have to undergo the same trend of guarding their crops. The gewog agriculture extension has prioritized to install almost three-kilometres of electric fencing in the village. The gewog agriculture extension supervisor, Chimi Tshewang, said “ In Yangbari, pineapple and mango are the cash crops for the farmers. Until now, the wild boars did not attack the pineapples but from last year, wild boars have started damaging the crop. So, after discussing with the farmers, I have proposed some funds to the ministry to stretch electric fencing in this financial year. So we will install electric fencing starting from December. ”
Yangbari village has over 55 households and maize is their staple diet. These days with the support from the government, commercial farming is picking up the village.
Sonam Tshering
