Farmers who visited the farmland of M. Kalimuthu, where wild boars had destroyed the banana crop on 3 acres of land near Tiruchuli on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
After a failed crop of Maize in 2024, 70-year-old farmer M. Kalimuthu decided to grow banana crops with borrowed money on the land in Kullampatti in Tiruchuli block.
Despite his elderly age, Kalimuthu was able to raise the ‘rasthali’ variety of banana crop on three acres for the last seven months.
The 3,000-odd banana plantains had grown well and few had started to develop cluster of flowers.
“My father had taken loan from local people for interest. He was hopeful of a successful harvest with which he had planned to repay the loan and also make some profit,” said his son, K. Palpandi, 41.
However, nature played havoc in the form of wild boars that started to attack his plantains.
“The wild boars come in droves and after it had tasted the root of the banana, it started to invade again and again every night,” Mr. Palpandi said.
Efforts to use a gadget that would produce sound and light to drive away the invading animals also failed.
Within a week, a vast majority of the plantains was destroyed leaving Kalimuthu in dire straits.
“We have been complaining for years to the district administration about the wild boar menace which eat up all crops or just destroy them, but to no avail,” said R. Rampandian, district president of Cauvery Vaigai Kiruthumal Gundar Irrigation Farmers’ Federation.
The Forest Department came up with an “ambitious” scheme of culling these wild animals with trained shooters from the forest staffers, but it has proved to be an eye-wash.
Meanwhile, the federation had also complained about denial of crop loan for banana crop to the farmers in Tiruchuli block.
The federation accused the officials of their lackadaisical attitude in making right enumeration of coverage of banana crop farming in each firka which denied farmers crop insurance.
“The officials who failed to check wild boars at least should have taken earnest steps to provide crop insurance. But, they failed on both fronts,” Mr. Rampandian said.
As a result, Kalimuthu was unable to stomach that his seven-month-long hard work in raising the banana crop had been rendered useless by the wild boars and eventually put him in a debt trap.
“He had been crying for the last two days and did not eat at all. No amount of effort put in by us could console him and he took the extreme step,” said Mr. Palpandi.
The chemical which he had bought to kill the weed took his life on Friday.
Members of the farmers’ federation visited the family members and consoled him.
The federation has sought ₹10 lakh compensation to the family that has lost the bread-winner from Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.
Besides, another ₹10 lakh should be given as compensation for the banana crops lost to the wild boar attack.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416, Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050 and Speak2Us helpline at 9375493754.)
Published – July 13, 2025 08:34 pm IST
