The Atal Incubation Centre at Sri Krishnadevaraya University functioning under the Atal Innovation Mission programme has announced an innovation challenge, Rakshak 2.0, to encourage people come up with smart solutions to mitigate crop damage by wild animals.
Incubation Centre Director K. Nagabhushan Raju said animals causing damage to crops was a common phenomenon around forest areas in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh, to tackle which there was a need to invent a method which is non-fatal yet effective and one which can be implementable in all geographical areas.
The competition is slated for November 18 and the last date for applying the same is November 15. Animals being protected by law under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 they cannot be injured or killed in retaliation by the aggrieved farmer.
Currently, poisoning of water sources, putting up snares and leg traps, live electric wire, etc. are the general methods used, but the damage can be co-lateral as sometimes leopards, tigers, and bears, which are not the crop-raiding ones, get killed too. Meanwhile, live electric wires too have led to loss of lives, both of humans and animals.
Mr. Raju said the participants can be students, or those working with startups (registered or non-registered), entrepreneurs. Further details can be had from the link: http://aic-sku.com/progress/events/innovation-challenge-3-0.
