Stray cows, wild boars damage crops

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 24

Manjit Rai from Hoshiarpur is having sleepless nights. He is left with no option but to visit his fields twice in the night, but even when he comes back his mind stays at his fields. Stray cows and wild boars enter fields and destroy the crops. It has become a common problem for the farmers and they have been left troubled and worried.

He said they could not even go to their fields late in the night because of increase in crime incidents.

The moment stray animals enter their fields, farmers are seen running after them and chasing them out. Manjit Rai said the problem was grave and some farmers, who could not even afford fencing their fields, were trying to buy barbed wires so that no stray cattle could enter.

“But the animals are so wild and big that even fencing cannot do anything to keep them out,” said Rai.

Jagroop, another farmer from Hoshiarpur, said in one night, animals destroyed crop on one- kanal land. “I do not know what to do. I have no idea how we are going to save our crops. It is so depressing. Firstly, we work hard to grow the crops amid various problems and then we struggle to keep our crops and fields protected from the animals such as cows and wild boars,” he said.

One of the farmers from Gadaipur village in Jalandhar said running after the stray cows had become his daily routine. “Not even a single day has passed when animals don’t enter my fields. It is so embarrassing to run after them,” he said.

Notably, the farmers from Tanda and Dasuya had also brought stray cattle in tractor-trailers in front of the District Administrative Complex (DAC) recently in protest against the state government for their lackadaisical attitude in solving the stray cattle menace. Besides, the district administration had to face the wrath of farmers, led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), as they tried to enter the city to leave 400 stray cattle from villages.

Farmers a troubled lot

Stray cows and wild boars enter farmers' fields and destroy crops. It has become a common problem for them and the growers have been left troubled and worried. The moment stray animals enter their fields, farmers run after them and chase them out. Notably, farmers from Tanda and Dasuya had also brought stray cattle in tractor-trailers in front of the DAC recently in protest against the state government for their lackadaisical attitude in solving the stray cattle menace.

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