HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Aug 29: A low-cost solar fence that has protected standing crops on three hectares of crop fields from depredation by wild elephants in the Mirza area of Kamrup district, has significantly boosted paddy harvests for local farmers in the last harvesting season.
The local community of Gosaihat village, near the Maliata reserve of Palashbari Range Forest, Mirza, installed the low-cost seasonal solar fence in November 2023 with the technical guidance of the Aaranyak team, supported by Aaranyak and WWF. The US Fish and Wildlife Service backed the Aaranyak initiative.
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The Aaranyak team initially trained the Gosaihat community on solar fence management and operation. Eventually, a low-cost community-managed solar fence was successfully installed on an experimental basis. The fence provided excellent protection to the standing crops from wild elephant herds, allowing local farmers to harvest 90 percent of the crop in the last season.
“Previously, when there was no solar fence, the farmers could hardly harvest anything as wild elephant herds used to devour and destroy the standing crop,” said Aaranyak official and solar fence installation expert Anjan Baruah.
The solar fence power machine was installed at the residence of Sukleswar Boro, a local farmer of Gosaihat. After the last season’s harvest, the local farmers, led by Boro, removed the entire fence, including the solar fence machines, solar panels, etc., and stored them properly for the next year.
According to Boro, they were able to protect their crops from wild elephants last season, realising the utility of the seasonal solar fence. They have taken the responsibility to care for the fence materials, machines, and battery.
After the successful results of the last harvesting season, the local farmers decided to install a seasonal solar fence covering a larger area this year, including crop areas previously left unused due to the threat of elephant depredation. In August 2024, the Gosaihat farmers installed the seasonal solar fence using the stored materials to protect 10 hectares of crop fields.
A group of farmers, including Sukleswar Boro, Bonapart Boro, Milon Boro, Bhubaneswar Boro, Jiten Boro, Dipen Boro, Kamal Das, Lal Mohan Das, Bhola Das, Bhaben Das, Dimpu Thakuria, and Manoj Das, led the installation of a one-kilometre-long low-cost seasonal solar fence using bamboo posts to protect around 10 hectares of crop fields. The installation was completed in two days, from August 20 to 22.
“This year, the farmers expect to harvest 100 percent of the crop with the help of the seasonal solar fence. The farmers no longer worry about crop damage by elephants outside the fence,” said Boro. The farmers have left some space for wild elephants to move while installing the fence.
Boro mentioned that the fence would be removed after harvesting the crop and stored properly for use next year, as was done last year.
Thus, the local community of Gosaihat village has adopted the low-cost community-managed seasonal solar fence to boost their agricultural income while learning to coexist with wild elephants.
