Protecting Crops From Monkeys In Mid-hills 

Crop damage from wild animals like monkeys, wild boar, porcupines and birds has drastically increased in recent years in the mid-hills of Nepal.  The damage to the maize crop from monkeys ranges from 20 to 90 per cent.  The total statistics of crops damaged by wild animals are not available. But the loss is huge, resulting in food insecurity and great economic losses. Food import is increasing due to crop damage from wild animals particularly in the hills.  In some areas farmers are out-migrating due to monkey and wild boar raids on crops and farming is abandoned. There is no research and recommendations for new alternative crops for farming.  There is no policy support to encourage organic means for protecting crops from wild animals. The relief and compensation packages for the damage by wild animals are not enough and are not easily available to poor rural farmers.  

National context

The human population in remote rural areas is decreasing due to the outmigration of youths in search of employment for a better livelihood. Subsistence farming with low land holding and low productivity could not ensure local food security, employment and livelihood for the youths with growing aspirations. There is no business-enabling environment for the development of micro and small enterprises based on agriculture and forest products. Nepal is suffering from poverty and bad governance. Therefore, the rural areas are going to have less population one after another year while the population of wild animals like monkeys, wild boar, porcupines and tigers are increasing and they are destroying crops, fruits and vegetables of the poor farmers. Tiger is a great problem in areas where there is a national park and the farmers are raising goats.  Monkeys have become a greater problem in recent times and pose a serious hurdle to protecting crops. Infestation of exotic bushy weed species like Parthenium and Banmara which are noxious and not liked by monkeys and domesticated animals are increasing and destroying local biodiversity. There is biodiversity loss of edible species due to pine tree plantation also. So monkeys have less food available in the forest and so they enter the farmland in search of food. The crop damage and infestation from monkeys is observed all over the mid-hills and some mountain districts also. Crop damage from monkeys is reducing crop production, and productivity and threatening the farming occupation. 

Extent of damage

Monkey menace in Nepal prevails from the altitude of 350 metres to 2350 metres from the sea level. The Mahabharat and Chure rocky slopes provide good habitat for monkeys. The undulating mountain terrain is also helpful for their survival. Maize is the crop most liked by monkeys. Raids of monkeys happen in all cereal grains, major vegetables and fruits. They not only eat but destroy the crops. They also attack older people and children in lonely situations. They also destroy stored food, sun-dried grains, plastic utensils and thatched roofs. As monkeys are omnivorous, they eat roots, leaves, vegetables, sprouts, fruits, grains, twigs and bark of plants. Monkeys are largely vegetarian but they also eat small creatures like insects, bird eggs, lizards and frogs. Monkeys fear possible attacks of snakes, leopards and tigers. So they always want to escape from these animals. Monkeys are very sensitive to smell. They do not like a bad smell. They also do not like aromatic plants and fragrances. They are social animals and live in groups. As they are very good at imitation, they learn crop and fruit-eating skills from human beings. Many zoonotic diseases can be transmitted to human beings from monkeys. They are vital players in the ecosystem and they make great contributions to pollination, seed dispersal, plant regeneration and biodiversity promotion. Therefore, we need policy and technology on the harmonisation of monkeys with local farming systems.

Protecting crops 

Due to the out-migration of all members of farm households, abandonment of farming is observed in certain pockets of mid-hill districts of Nepal due to the monkey problem. The government and farmers are responsible for addressing such problems. There are different ways of protecting our crops from monkeys.  We can use an integrated approach to crop protection from monkeys. First, we can use natural predators of monkeys. Raute, an ethnic nomadic tribe of mid-western Nepal used to hunt monkeys and there was no crop damage from monkeys traditionally.  But now they are hunting less because government and other donors are providing them livelihood subsidies. So they are less active in monkey control. Other natural enemies of monkeys are large snakes, owls, wild cats and eagles. There should be a natural balance in the ecosystem for maintaining natural control by an effective food chain. Farmers should apply an integrated approach to protecting crops from monkey infestation. Food leftovers, dropped fruits, scattered grains and other edible materials should be cleaned from the farm compound so that monkeys will not be attracted. The farm compound should be fenced by thorny plants where monkeys cannot come. Monkeys cannot climb and sit in thorny trees near houses and farms. Farmers can keep dogs to watch monkeys. If the dog is painted like a tiger and if it follows money, they will run away and do not dare to come again. Drum beating, noise-making and crying also scare monkeys. There is also local wisdom about trapping and caging monkeys. 

Local aromatic plant extracts can be prepared for spraying to protect crops from monkeys. Monkeys are very sensitive to smell and do not like good and bad smells. Rotten fish can be kept in the field which gives a bad smell and monkeys will not come to that area.  Monkeys do not like fire and smoke. Monkeys cannot live in areas where chillies are burned with other materials which irritates their eyes and nose and make them leave that area. Collecting Bunmara and Parthenium weeds from the forest, and burning them through a pyrolysis process to make biochar which emits smoke scares monkeys away. 

Farmers can add chilli powder in the burning process to make smoke more effective for controlling monkeys. It has three benefits at a time, controlling forest weeds, improving soil fertility through bio-char which increases crop productivity and controlling monkeys from the smoke. Different botanical repellents can be used for controlling monkeys according to the agroecological condition of certain geographical areas. Nepal Agriculture Research Council needs more research on botanical repellents for protecting crops from monkeys. Visual deterrents like scarecrows, big snake toys of plastics and tiger toys can also be used to deter monkeys.  Tri methyl Amines, a chemical can also be used for repelling monkeys to protect crops.

 Alternative crops

The problem of monkeys is more in hilly regions of the country where maize is the major food crop which is liked by the monkeys. The agroecological diversity is higher in Nepal allowing to flourish many types of grains, fruits, vegetables, root crops and medicinal and aromatic plants. The easiest way of escaping the monkey problem is to cultivate alternative crops which are not liked by monkeys. Different crops are cultivated in different ecoregions. Spice crops like ginger, turmeric, garlic, chillies, onion and coriander are not eaten and destroyed by monkeys. Root crops like yam, colocasia, elephant root yam, Banko, Githa, Bhayakur, cassava and many other roots are also not liked by monkeys.  Bitter gourd, tobacco and marijuana can be successfully cultivated as alternative crops. Fruits like a walnut in the upper altitude area, Timur, lemon and lime in mid-hills and pineapple in the lower altitude area can be cultivated as alternative fruits to escape monkey damage. Many species of medicinal and aromatic plants can be cultivated which are more profitable than cereal crops.

Awareness creation 

Farmers should apply an integrated approach of monkey management for protecting their crops. Farmers living near the forest area, river sides, roadsides and any other adjoining land should cultivate alternative crops where there is a greater problem of monkeys. In interior areas where there are fewer attacks from monkeys, farmers can apply an integrated approach to monkey management. District agriculture development office, division forestry office and other agencies should work in a coordinated way to solve the problem of monkeys. The government should provide training to farmer groups and provide subsidies for saplings, seeds, rhizomes and other planting materials needed by the farmers. There is provision of relief for crops damaged by monkeys up to ten thousand rupees in a year. This amount is provided by the district forest office or nearby national park office. There is no provision for compensation for crop damage done by monkeys. The policy on compensation should be changed. 

Conclusion

The problem of monkeys is affecting the national food security and livelihood of hill farmers of Nepal. The problem is expanding northwards up to the altitude of 2,400 metres.  The problem is more serious in remote areas where there is less human population due to out-migration. The problem should be solved with coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. The national federation of farmer groups and other actors should support solving the problem. The government should collect data on crops damaged by monkeys in the country. NARC should immediately start research on botanical repellents and another aspect of protecting the crops from monkeys. 

The farmers of the remote area should have full access to technical and other services. Training and grooming of the agriculture technician at the local level is also needed for quality service transfer to the farmers.

(The author is a senior agro-scientist.)