Farmers go bananas over Kerala govt's 'no jackfruit, no jumbo' plan

Tracking jackfruit along Kerala's forest fringes and harvesting it before ripening is the state government's latest initiative to tackle human-wild elephant conflict. The pilot project is based on the Forest Department's assessment that ripe jackfruit, particularly during the March-July season, attracts elephants to human settlements. However, farmers and wildlife experts have questioned its practicality, while Forest Department officials acknowledge that it cannot be a permanent solution.

Under the proposal, jackfruit trees along forest borders will be tracked and the fruit harvested at the raw stage before being removed and processed into value-added products. The project will be implemented with the Local Self-Government and Agriculture departments, with support from farmers and Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS).

An official from the Kerala Forest Development Corporation told Onmanorama that an application-based system is being planned through which farmers and local bodies can provide details of jackfruit trees and fruits to be tracked. A buyer will be selected through a tender, and the fruit must be harvested and transported to the market within two to three days.

“The project cannot be implemented overnight. At least six or seven additional workers may be needed in each panchayat. The work cannot be assigned to existing forest staff. We need people who can climb trees, track fruit growth and update the data on time. The harvested jackfruit must also be fit for processing,” the official said.

Meanwhile, farmers have rejected the project, arguing that jackfruit is only one of several crops preferred by elephants and is available only seasonally.“Bananas, pineapples and coconuts are also among the crops elephants prefer. Will the government next ask farmers to stop cultivating them too? If elephants cannot find food along the forest fringes, they will move deeper into human settlements. Elephants have no compulsion to eat only jackfruit,” said Alex Ozhukayil, chairman of the Kerala Independent Farmers Association (KIFA).

Ozhukayil said some tribal communities in Wayanad already remove jackfruit to reduce elephant visits but argued that the larger issue is the availability of food and water inside forests. “A single elephant needs around 250 kg of food and 100 litres of water a day, while Kerala has thousands of elephants and limited forest space. If there is no jackfruit, elephants will simply look for something else,” he said.

In a recent statement to Forest Minister Shibu Baby John, KIFA said farmers should have the freedom to decide what they cultivate on their land and urged the government to focus on keeping wildlife inside forests. It also called for greater legal protection for farmers when wild animals enter agricultural land, citing provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Wildlife biologist P S Easa, who specialises in Asian elephant ecology and human-wildlife conflict, also said the project could not be viewed as a lasting solution. “The current situation is the result of years of forest and wildlife mismanagement. At this stage, the focus should be on minimising conflict by understanding the structure and species composition of forests while addressing farmers' concerns,” Easa said.

He said there could be no single solution for the entire state as the nature and intensity of conflict vary across locations. “There is no statewide remedy. Each location has to be studied and addressed according to its specific problems. Human behaviour also has to be considered while designing interventions,” he said, adding that Kerala needs a clear forest policy to address the issue comprehensively.

The Forest Department too acknowledges the limitations of the pilot. “Jackfruit is a seasonal fruit and removing it alone cannot address the core issue. In several areas, wild boars, gaur and monkeys create more problems for farmers than elephants. The elephant conflict receives greater attention because it involves human deaths,” a Forest Department official said.

The official also pointed to shrinking space for wildlife and an increasing animal population. He said there were currently no adequate mechanisms to relocate animals from areas where they are abundant to places where they are scarce.

The project will be finalised after consultations with the Local Self-Government and Agriculture departments and the creation of a detailed implementation framework. “Even collecting accurate data on the number of jackfruit trees and fruits is a major task,” the official noted.