Farmers struggling with crop damage from wildlife, disease, and weather woes

HONNAVAR
Agricultural land is suffering from various issues like diseases, wildlife attacks, and more, leaving farmers in distress as they are unable to reap the benefits of the crops they have worked so hard to cultivate.
In many areas, the havoc caused by wild animals is extreme. Monkeys and other animals, such as wild boars, are damaging crops like arecanut and tender coconut by raiding fields during the day. At night, wild boars often destroy banana and arecanut saplings.
Due to excessive rainfall, a large number of arecanut plants have fallen prey to a fungal disease. The wet conditions have caused an outbreak of yellow leaf disease, which has spread widely across arecanut trees. According to the Horticulture Department, at least 102 hectares of arecanut farms in areas like Hirebail, Mahime, Nagarabastikeri, Chittara and Jalavalli have been affected by the disease.
Along with pest infestations and other issues, strong winds and rains have caused thousands of trees to fall in farmers’ fields. In some regions, as the monsoon ends, arecanut, coconut, and other trees have shown signs of their leaves turning red, which experts suspect is due to lightning strikes.
During this year’s monsoon, we have seen an unprecedented outbreak of fungal diseases, and at least 200,000 arecanut trees on our land have been damaged, said Gurudatta Appagal, a local farmer.