Uttarakhand Elections 2017: Save our farms, cry worried state villagers to parties

As election campaign attains a feverish pitch in this tiny Himalayan state, perched in mountains, Darmayan Singh Bhandari is busy chasing away monkeys and wild boards from his farm to save his crop. The profusion of wild animals destroying livelihood of farmers has become an electoral issue in the region.

Bhandari (60) instead of attending to his bedridden son, recovering from a near fatal road accident, spends most of his time chasing away monkeys and wild boars from his field. The former pradhan of Bhandargaon in poll-bound Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal district in a way personifies the everyday distress of the farming community – deteriorating farming conditions exacerbated by animal attacks on crops. Animals are talk of the town, or rather village, and instead of greetings come the worried queries. "Did the boars enter your field today?", "How did you shoo away the monkeys?".

Bhandari finds it hard to explain why animals have become such a menace that he can't even look after his son. "I am not really sure why is there a rise in the incidents of crop raids in the past few years. But it is clear that wild boars are multiplying fast. There have been instances where the district administration was scheduled to survey crops, but by the morning all standing crop was destroyed."

With inadequate rainfall and irrigation, migration from villages into town and not enough people to tend to their fields or keep marauding animals at bay, this is a crisis for agriculture, the mainstay of the economy.

The issue of crop depredation has become a significant one in the upcoming polls. Last February, the union ministry of environment and forest had issued a notification declaring wild boars as vermin in all 13 districts of the hill state for a period of one year. The notification permitted locals to cull boars. But it was vague on the issue of implementation, leaving villagers to fend for themselves, and the results on the ground are clear.
The story is the same in village after village in the area.

The gradual desolation of rural landscape in Uttarakhand has also contributed to the rise in crop raids by animals, said Dinesh Prasad, 42, a farmer from Revati village. "Palayan kaafi gaon mein ho raha hai(Migration is occurring in several villages)."

"Farming is unsustainable and the younger generation is moving out to fulfill their aspirations. This has left villages with fewer families who would earlier guard the crops together. Wild boars are the worst, they come in packs with their juveniles and leave behind nothing. Even if one manages to kill a few, it makes no difference," he added.

The villagers use ingenious methods to tackle the marauding animals. In front of his living room, nestled between mountains, a small field is covered with bunches of thorny shrubs. Walking into the field with an impish smile, Bhandari picked them up to reveal a standing crop of potatoes. "This is my way to keep away the monkeys. It is working for now," he said placing back the safety net.

Before the problem of saving their crops though, locals are struggling to sustain farming itself. On the mountain slopes of the western Himalayas, farming is largely rain fed. Patterns and distribution have changed rapidly, leading to lower than usual yields and even crop failures. Irrigation is meagre, dependent on the fast depleting aquifers and village check dams, worsening the situation.

"Kheti baadi khatam (Farming is over)", Bhandari said in a matter of fact manner. "In the past, though there were not many jobs we had plentiful food, enough to feed us for months. Now, rains don't arrive on time and our yield has dipped. This season, there has hardly been any winter rain and it has delayed flowering of my wheat crop. These days, it either pours or there is nothing."

According to 2011-12 records, Tehri Garhwal witnessed the highest reduction in agricultural land. From 9,176 hectares in 2000-01, agricultural land in the district reduced to 7,334 hectares.

The low crop yield has also impacted fodder production and livestock maintenance. This has in turn reduced the manure they need for organic farming. "It is a vicious circle. With fewer livestock - cows and buffaloes - we don't have enough organic manure and are forced to use urea. Our organic crops are slowly dwindling," said Bhimanand Bhatt of nearby Semwadi village.

Bhatt hopes for a better farming policy from the next government. "We need smarter irrigation solutions to sustain farming and the incoming government has to pay heed to agriculture to care for those who cannot migrate outside for work."

(With inputs from Manan Kumar)