Cotton growers are excited about the record high price of Rs 9,100 per quintal for cotton and hope it will hit the Rs 10,000 mark soon, while fearful of harvesting the crop due to increased tiger activity
Post Date – 11:30 PM, Tuesday – 11/22/22
Adilabad: Farmers in the erstwhile Adilabad district find themselves in a tricky situation. They are optimistic about the sharp increase in the price of cotton products but at the same time, they are afraid of harvesting the crop due to increased tiger activity and recent reported human killings in the Kumram Bheem Asifabad area.
Cotton growers are excited about the record high price of Rs 9,100 per quintal for cotton and hope it will reach the Rs 10,000 mark soon. Some of them have already started harvesting their crops.
However, most farmers have not yet started this activity, and many fear being attacked by animals, especially tigers, which have recently been spotted in the area, including near farmland.
“We are nervous about the presence of tigers on the fringes of forests and farmland. Given the unprecedented sightings of tigers on farms, hiring labor has become a daunting task. By the way, from 2020 to 2022, two-thirds of The human deaths happened in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district and it happened during the cotton crop harvest season,” said K Narayana, a farmer from Karjelli village, Chintalamanepalli mandal.
In the latest incident, Sidam Bheem (69) was allegedly killed by a tiger while collecting cotton balls on November 15 in the small village of Gondapur below Choupanguda village in Wankidi, Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. Pasula Nirmala (18) was beaten to death on November 29, 2020, while she was collecting cotton balls in a field in Kondapalli village, Penchikalpet mandal.
“When farmers bend over to pick up cotton balls, they look like animals to tigers. Tigers and other big cats like leopards develop deviant behavior and often kill farmers as they seek territory,” says Dr. Wildlife Conservation Forest Manager S Venugopal said.
Farmers are advised to leave their farms by sunset and to speak loudly if they encounter the animal, forest officials said.
