In recent years, farmers have been forced to reduce their sugarcane cultivation due to the constant threat of wild elephants.
What you should know
Farmer Mohammad Atim of Gherabari, Kachankawal Rural Municipality-1, Jhapa, is currently struggling to dig up sugarcane. Although the sugarcane is growing well in his field, he is worried about wild elephants coming at night.
‘Wild elephants that come after nightfall dig up and eat the sugarcane fields,’ said Atim, who was found digging up the sugarcane fields. ‘Last year alone, elephants destroyed 14 katthas of sugarcane fields.’
The Kachanakawal area of southern Jhapa is famous for sugarcane production. But in recent years, farmers have been forced to reduce sugarcane cultivation due to the constant threat of wild elephants.
‘I have been cultivating sugarcane for the past 10 years,’ says Atim, ‘I used to plant two and a half to two bighas of sugarcane. This year, I limited myself to only 10 katthas due to fear of elephants. What can I do if I plant more, the elephants will eat it.’
According to local farmers, wild elephants enter the village after 10 pm and create terror in the fields until 3-4 am. This is why farmers are worried.
Another farmer who has reduced his cultivation like Atim is Ghanesh Rajbanshi of Kachanakawal-1. He, who had been planting sugarcane in 10 acres until last year, has reduced the cultivation from 2 acres to only 8 acres this year.
‘It is not possible to plant sugarcane in many lands due to fear of elephants,’ he says, ‘the damage is immense.’
The sugarcane, which will be planted from Bhadra 10, will be dug after Mangsir. Farmers say that wild elephant attacks are more common during this time. In some places, flickering lights have been installed to protect the crop, while in others, fences have been erected. But farmers complain that elephants enter the fields despite all these measures.
According to Rajbanshi, sugarcane can be harvested about three months after planting. He says that he spent about 18,000 rupees on cultivating eight acres this year. If the production is good, four to five maunds of sugarcane are produced per acre. Currently, traders visit the fields and buy sugarcane for 45 to 48 rupees per kilogram.
The produce here mainly reaches various markets in Birtamod and Sunsari in Jhapa. Farmers prefer to sell their produce there as they get better prices in the Sunsari market than in Jhapa. Despite the good production, farmers complain that the government has not supported the cultivation of sugarcane.
Sugarcane is a traditional crop used as a snack. It is also used as a fruit during festivals. In the eastern Terai, it is also called 'Suthuni'. The Kachankawal area, which was once known as the 'storehouse of sugarcane', is now in crisis due to the problem of wild elephants and government neglect.
