KALPETTA,
April 28, 2014
A
series of crop raids by animals had been reported from Mathamangalam, a
small village in Poothadi grama panchayat, even after trenches and
power fencing were put up in the area.
As many as 50 students of the KVASU took part in the initiative.
The
students took up the work as part of an innovative project being
implemented by the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA,
Wayanad), in association with the State Forest and Wildlife Department,
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and the
Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB).
The brain
behind the project is K.M. Sankarankutty, a field worker of KVIB. His
trial project at Amba, a tribal hamlet inside the forests at
Sugandhagiri, proved that bees could scare away big beasts.
He
developed the fence with technical advise from Lucy King, a U.K.-based
wildlife researcher in Kenya with expertise in beehive fences.
Honeybees produce three types of buzz, the most ferocious when they are provoked, Mr. Sankarankutty said.
The
technology of the fence is quite simple: when the elephants hit the
cable of the fence, the looped beehive boxes fall down swiftly, and the
sudden shock provokes the bees. The ferocious buzzing drives away
pachyderms, said A. Karthika, a B.VSc. third-year student of KVASU.
The students used nearly 120 beehive boxes for the purpose.
“Initially,
we were afraid of bee sting, but we soon got acquainted with the
apiculture procedure, said Vivek Philip, a research scholar at KVASU.We
plan to install a 4-km beehive fence under the project this year, Anil
Zachariah, deputy project director, ATMA, said. Farmers would also be
trained in apiculture procedure to maintain and harvest honey from the
hives. ATMA is planning to market the extracted honey and wax under a
brand name, ‘Elephant friendly honey,’ Dr. Zachariah said.
The Nabard has earmarked Rs.6.5 lakh and the Forest Department has allotted Rs.1.5 lakh for the project.
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