Recurrent wildlife invasions take a toll on farmers in Kuttampuzha panchayat in Kerala

Farmers in Kerala's Kuttampuzha panchayat struggle with wildlife invasion, leading to dwindling agriculture and livelihood options.

As elephants on the run and the worsening wildlife-human conflict continue to make headlines in Kerala, farmers in the predominantly tribal Kuttampuzha panchayat near Kothamangalam along the eastern suburbs of the Ernakulam district rue how the frequent wildlife invasion over the years has taken a massive toll on their livelihood, forcing them to look for other jobs.

From being the mainstay of the local economy, agriculture has now become a risky proposition for farmers with the season-long hard work in danger of getting undone by a single night of wildlife invasion. All 17 wards of Kuttampuzha remain vulnerable to wildlife invasion. There are 6,500 farmers across 3,050 families under the Kuttampuzha Krishi Bhavan, a number that keeps dwindling by the year.

“The changing fortunes of the farmers from Kuttampuzha can be gauged from the drastic dip in the business they have done, especially in the last four years, at the market run by Swasraya Karshaka Samithi in the neighbouring Keerampara panchayat where agricultural crops are auctioned in last four years. From the height of around ₹50 lakh-worth business they did by auctioning crops such as banana, elephant yam, tapioca and so on four years ago, it dropped to a mere ₹5 lakh in 2024,” said K.K. Sivan, president, Kothamangalam area committee of Kerala Karshaka Sangham.

Elephant attacks receive wide media coverage, especially when lives are lost, just like in the case of the death of a 45-year-old man at Urulanthanni in Pinavoorkudy ward in a wild tusker attack last December. But farmers face threats to their crops from not just elephants, but also a wide range of animals from wild boars, monkeys, peacocks and even squirrels. For instance, growing fruit trees has become near-impossible owing to frequent attacks by troops of monkeys.

“People are quitting farming and trying to sell off their farm land for whatever little price since land doesn’t attract much price either. In fact, even the population in the area seems to be dropping. From around 21,000 people during the last census in 2011, the number has dropped to around 15,000 to 16,000 going by the data amassed during the recent ward delimitation,” Mr. Sivan said.

Sabu Varghese, founding president of Swasraya Karshaka Samithi in Keerampara, did confirm that the flow of agriculture produce from Kuttampuzha had indeed dropped significantly.

“Those with no other alternative to survive continue to engage in farming. But crops like coconut and areca nut have become a strict no because of monkey invasion and farmers are turning to crops like rubber and cocoa,” said Kanthi Vellakayyan, Kuttampuzha panchayat president.