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| Bio-fencing with Karonda plant-A low-cost and Eco-friendly practice to protect crops | | | N.P.Thakur, Ashok Gupta, Vikas Koul, Meenakshi Attri
Nowadays, it is observed that small and marginal farmers in hilly regions are not able to cultivate their fields properly. Even those farmers who manage to grow crops often face losses instead of profits. The main reason for this is that the crops grown in the fields are destroyed by monkeys and other wild animals. Due to this problem, many small and marginal farmers have almost stopped farming particularly in hill regions of J&K. To protect crops from wild animals, the government has introduced several measures, but these measures are either very expensive (costly) or not practical for small and marginal farmers (farmer-oriented), because of which farmers are unable to adopt them easily. Keeping all these problems in mind, a team of scientists from the FSR Centre, SKUAST Jammu has developed a simple and effective agricultural model commonly known as Integrated Farming System Model in which the Karonda plant is used as bio-fencing. This model has proved to be low-cost, sustainable and highly beneficial for farmers.
The karonda plant, commonly known as sour karonda, and locally known as kharnu in Himachal and Garne in J&K is easily grown in rainfed regions of hill states of India. Since it is a thorny plant, it prevents wild animals from entering the fields and provides natural protection to crops. Thus, the Karonda plant is an effective, low-cost, and eco-friendly bio-fencing technique, which can be extremely beneficial for farmers in hilly regions.
If farmers plant the Karonda (Karonda Plant) around their fields as boundary plantation in the form of bio-fencing, it can be observed that it not only helps in controlling the menace of monkeys but also protects crops from other wild animals such as wild boar and nilgai. The Karonda is a plant that has thorny bushes. Gradually, when these bushes become dense, they form a natural fence around the fields, which prevents monkeys and other wild animals from entering the fields and thus keeps the crops safe.
The Karonda plant is a rainfed plant and does not require much irrigation. Along with protecting crops, it also provides farmers with extra income in addition to their main crops. Along with bio-fencing, it also produces edible fruits, which are a rich source of Vitamin C. These fruits can be used to make pickle, jam, jelly, etc. This plant also helps in reducing soil erosion and works as a wind barrier.
Considering all these facts, it can be said that the Karonda plant is a low-cost bio-fencing technique, through which farmers can protect their crops from monkeys and wild animals and also earn additional income. |
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