BHUBANESWAR: Weeks after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi directed forest authorities to take up paddy cultivation inside forests to curb rising human-elephant conflict, the state wildlife wing has asked divisional forest officers (DFOs) to identify suitable land for the purpose.
In a letter to all territorial and wildlife DFOs, PCCF (Wildlife) Prem Kumar Jha instructed them to earmark at least 15 ha of open space in multiple patches for meadow development. Of this, 10 ha will be used for planting local varieties of grains, while another 5 ha will be planted with local varieties of banana.
Jha said the plantations could be fenced initially until the crops are established, after which they would gradually be made available to elephants and other herbivores. The patches may be developed as exclusive grain or banana plots, or integrated with existing meadows.
He stressed that habitat enrichment is a key intervention in wildlife conservation, particularly for elephants and herbivores. Measures such as meadow development with fodder and fruit-bearing plants, soil and moisture conservation, and creation of waterbodies are already being implemented as part of wildlife management.
“Special emphasis has been given on raising grain crops such as paddy, maize, sorghum and local grasses in forest clearings to augment food availability for elephants and reduce their straying into human habitations,” Jha stated, adding that the approach was also highlighted in the recent international workshop on human-elephant conflict.
Majhi had earlier urged DFOs, during their conference, to cultivate paddy in open forest land to provide fodder for elephants and check farm raids. He also reiterated the proposal at the human-elephant conflict workshop, emphasising the need to protect forest-fringe villages.