PATHANAMTHITTA: Once a village where the cultivation of tapioca, colocasia and yam was plentiful, Mezhuveli panchayat in Pandalam has decided to depart from this norm and become the cashew village of Pathanamthitta. The reason - wild boars.
Villagers here have had to suffer heavy losses after their produce was destroyed by wild boars encroaching into the settlement from nearby forests. Cashews, they deem, are not attacked by wild boars.
“Under a new initiative, the grama panchayat has started the distribution of cashew saplings to all the villagers. Saplings are being given to the villagers in tune with their demands. Our villagers do not need to spend any amount for this purpose. MGNREGA workers of the panchayat are clearing their land and planting the saplings free of cost.
The responsibility of the families is to take care of the saplings. Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation distributed the saplings to us free of cost. Over 6000 families are living in our panchayat in 13 wards. They can start harvesting cash crops after three to four years,” said Pinky Sreedhar, the panchayat president.
“We did not face any threat from wild boars until 2018. Though climate change has affected our farming, we were able to manage it somehow. Though our village is around 40 kilometres away from the jungle, wild boars have started to reach our village since 2019. All the farmers here have had to face huge losses,” said P S Jeemon, a retired school teacher and farmer.
“ I conducted root vegetable farming on one acre. But wild boars destroyed my crops many times. We tried many measures like fencing to prevent the animal’s incursion. But all our efforts became futile. Last year, they destroyed over 300 tapioca plants that were six months old. I suffered a loss of Rs one lakh. The new initiative of the grama panchayat is a big boon to us. I am going to plant 100 cashew plants on my land. These are the only ways to survive as a farmer when wild boars make our life so miserable,” said Jeemon.