Ben Madilynn
Verlem farmers ‘abandon’ farms destroyed by wild animals
Allege they haven’t received compensation for crop losses and their farms have not even been fenced; generations of cultivators forced to witness the devastation of their crops by wild boar, bison, etc
GAURESH SATTARKAR
SANGUEM: Farmers in Verlem, Sanguem are going wild looking at the destruction of their crops. And this time it is not floods, or broken bunds or construction debris.
Animals, including wild boars, peacocks, and bison, continue to devastate their paddy fields. Despite consistently reporting the damage done by animals to the Agriculture Department, and submitting applications for compensation, farmers have not received any compensation for losses suffered in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Out of sheer frustration, the farmers whose generations had been cultivating the fields, have now stopped farming, due to destruction of the fields and are complaining the government is turning a deaf ear to helping them fence their fields.
Gajanan Gaonkar, a farmer from Verlem, narrating the plight of the farmers, said, “Once we plant the crop, the bison come and destroy it. Seven to eight years back I used to grow paddy. The crop came up nicely, but the bison came and ate the entire crop from the root. Although the Agriculture Department asked us to fill forms for compensation, till today we have not received any compensation.”
Gajanan said that he had stopped cultivating all the three fields following destruction of the crop by wild animals. “Several times we have told the Agriculture Department to build fences and give us. But they just don’t listen to us. The animals break the makeshift fencing put up by us. We get scared to cultivate the crop, since after all the hard labour, we will get nothing. So what is the benefit of growing the crop?”
Chandrakant Gaonkar, another farmer from Verlem, said that their plea to the government to put up fencing has fallen on deaf ears. “My grandfather and father used to cultivate paddy here for decades. At that time most villagers were carrying out farming activities. But now people have stopped cultivating the fields. The population of bison and wild boars has increased. They just don’t allow us to cultivate our fields. I applied for compensation to the Agriculture Department in 2022, 2023 and 2024, but till date they have not paid me any compensation.”
“Eight days ago I went to the local office of the Agriculture Department. They said we will inquire and tell you, if we can give you some compensation. If the government puts up fencing and gives us, most farmers will be ready to cultivate the fields.”
