On Friday, the operation commenced in the presence of chief conservator of forests, Kodagu circle, Brijesh Kumar Dixith, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Virajpet division, Malathi Priya, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Nagarahole wildlife division, Gokul, assistant conservator of forests and range forest officials and staff from all the forest department divisions of Kodagu district.

14 Jumbos Driven Back to Forests

The teams were able to chase away 14 elephants from Devarapura and Nokya Gram Panchayat limits, ACF Belliappa told Express.

On Saturday, the teams were unable to spot even one elephant.

He said the teams will continue to ensure the elephants do not return.

“The operation will be continued next week in Pollibetta areas. Movement of vehicles and people will be restricted through publicity arrangements,” he said.

Belliappa added that most elephants entered South Kodagu either from Mauvkal or Nagarahole forests.

Need for Public Help

The operation involved tamed elephants, special task force staff, wildlife staff from Nagarahole, Virajpet division forest officers and staff along with watchers. General public and police also extended required assistance to the department.

Chief conservator of forests, Kodagu circle, Dixith told reporters here on Saturday that as per the elephant census taken last year, as many as 6,000 elephants were located in the state. In Kodagu region, covering Gonikoppa, Thithimathi and Maldaare areas, as many as 100 wild elephants are troubling people, he said.

“Another 32 elephants are permanent residents of BBTC coffee estates in Siddapura. These should be captured and shifted,” he said. However, before their capture, a few technical and legal aspects need to be addressed, he said.

In Bramhagiri wildlife sanctuary, 30 elephants on the Kodagu-Kerala border have been identified that need to be captured and sent back into forest cover, he said. All these issues have been brought to the notice of Forest Minister Ramanath Rai, Dixith added.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service – Madikeri / July 29th, 2013

Many farmers are steadfastly continuing the avocation against odds such as expensive labour, high input costs and irrational prices.

Transplantation has started in Napoklu and surrounding areas. Paddy seedlings are ready for plucking in the district and the works are expected to gather momentum in a couple of days, says Deputy Director of Agriculture, Kodagu, Ramakrishna. The target for paddy cultivation was 35,000 hectares of which 1,360 hectares had been covered till date, he told The Hindu.

Farmers in remote villages still depend on agriculture in Kodagu though it is not financially viable for most of them. However, the sheen associated with paddy transplantation where a large group of men and women sang to chorus to mask the tiredness of work cannot be seen any longer.

One would compete with the leader to match his speed of transplantation even if it rained hard. A big column in the middle of the paddy field would be left vacant to facilitate the ‘Nati Vota’, wetland sprint, in which youth would take part with great glee. It used to be the custom in the past. Not many indulge in ‘Nati Vota’ these days. The vacant column used to be covered up with seedlings after the sprint.

According to Monnanda Somaiah, a farmer from Napoklu, expensive labour costs, apart from the shortage of workers, had made many farmers give up agriculture in villages. Many of them had sold off cattle and some had converted fields into housing sites.

Farm mechanisation was a process yet to catch up in the district, though a few progressive farmers had discovered its utilities. Elephant attacks would result in destruction of paddy crops in the district in the recent years.

Fertilizer had replaced cow dung and other leafy manures that were organic, says Subbaiah, another farmer from the same region.

Paddy transplantation would pick up in Virajpet taluk, which had the largest areas in terms of coverage, in a few days as seedlings were ready for plucking, Mr. Ramakrishna said.

Not so long ago, the extent of paddy fields was considered a sign of high social status. Coorg mandarin (orange) cultivation had become popular enhancing one’s social status later onwards.

Coffee holding now symbolises the social status in Kodagu. Paddy crop is seen as goddess Lakshmi as the ‘Puttari’ of ‘Hutri’, the harvest festival for the people of Kodagu, is directly connected with it.

Cutting the paddy sheaves and taking home by chanting ‘Poli poli deva…’ meant appeasing goddess Lakshmi to give them a bountiful crop and abundance. Decrease in the paddy cultivation has robbed the harvest festival of its glory, says, Mr. Somaiah.

Kodagu received 1,602.1 mm of rainfall from January this year till 8 a.m. on July 18. It is more than last year’s figure of 732.89 mm.

Madikeri taluk received 2,372.24 mm, the highest among three taluks, in the same period this year. It was 1,049.2 mm last year. Virajpet taluk received 1,146.61 mm (622.19 mm) while Somwarpet taluk received 1,287.4 mm (527.27 mm).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by K. Jeevan Chinnappa / Mysore – July 21st, 2013