Monkey menace causing losses to farmers in Napoklu

Wreaking havoc in the plantations across the hobli, monkeys have been giving nightmares to the planters in Napoklu.

The farmers who are already worried by the wild elephant menace, are now fed up with the trouble caused by monkeys.

The problem is on the rise in Hodduru-Kumbaladalu villages, near Moornadu, from the past few years.

A significant chunk of mango, jack fruit, coffee, orange and pepper are consumed by monkeys. More than 100 monkeys attack the plantain farms and hog bananas.

In coffee plantations, they break the branches of coffee plants and feed on the ripe coffee berries. The pepper vines on the trees are broken to pieces and the pepper is destroyed during the process. The merrymaking of monkeys has been causing losses for farmers.

Some farmers have come up with ideas to scare away the monkeys. Rearing dogs is one of them. Some others burst firecrackers and some farmers hang rotten fish on the trees in the plantations.

The planters have urged the forest department to catch and translocate the monkeys, as they are posing a threat to the survival of agriculturists in the region.

The elected representatives and officials should come up with an effective solution and implement it soon. The monkeys should be caught and released into the sanctuary, said Chettimada G Vasanth, a planter from Hodduru.