At a time when the State government has decided to establish a monkey park in Shivamogga district to keep the animals away from the agricultural lands, a farmer in Kakkarasi village of Sorab taluk has devised a novel method to save his crops.
Chidananda Gowda has a four-acre agricultural land on the fringes of the forest in the village. The raids by monkeys, peacocks, and deer from the forest were so frequent that he was getting an yield of only 10 quintal of maize per acre over the past few years, when the average yield in Shivamogga district is 26 quintal per acre.
Earlier, they used to burst fire crackers to scare away the monkeys. But, the animals got used to the sound. “The menace of wild animals was such that I even contemplated quitting farming and setting up a grocery shop in Sorab town,” he told The Hindu.
Mr. Gowda knew that monkeys didn’t come near the village since they were scared of domesticated and stray dogs there. So, he recorded the voice of dogs barking and played it over as many as eight speakers at vantage points in the maize field, in order to scare the animals.
The audio is played round the clock from the day the cob formation commences in the plant to the day of harvesting. As the power outage is common here, he got a UPS battery as a backup as well. The flex boards with pictures of dogs and tigers are also installed in the plot to create a sense of fear among the monkeys.
Mr. Gowda said the experiment that he undertook last year has proved successful and he has repeated it to protect the maize cultivated this kharif season also, resulting in normal yield. Even farmers in the nearby areas have benefited this innovative solution.
The farmer has spent ₹10,000 for the recorder, speakers and flex boards. “The expense is nothing compared to the loss incurred because of the raids by monkeys,” he said.
