Guwahati, Aug 30: A low-cost solar fence has immensely boosted paddy harvest for farmers in Assam’s Mirza, resulting in a 90 percent harvest. The solar panel has protected standing crops on three hectares of crop field from depredation by wild elephants.
Installed in Gosaihat Village, near the Maliata reserve of Palashbari Range Forest, Mirza in November 2023, the prime focus was to protect the vast crop field with the technical guidance of the Aaranyak team and the collaborative support of Aaranyak and WWF, with support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Initially, the team trained the local people in solar fence management and operation, and eventually a low-cost community-managed solar fence was successfully installed on an experimental basis.
The fence effectively protected the standing crop from wild elephant herds. As a result, local farmers could harvest 90 percent of the crop in the last season.
“Previously, when there was no solar fence, the farmers could hardly harvest anything as wild elephant herds used to devour and destroy the standing crop,” said Aaranyak official and solar fence installation expert Anjan Baruah.
The solar fence power machine was installed in the residence of Sukleswar Boro, a local farmer of Gosaihat. After harvesting the crop in the last season, the local farmers led by Boro removed the entire fence, including the solar fence machines, solar panels, etc., and stored the same decently for the next year.
The positive outcome encouraged the local farmers this year and they decided to install a seasonal solar fence covering a larger area, which includes crop areas that were earlier left unused due to the threat of elephant depredation.
