MP farmers battle stray animals, sleepless nights to protect crops

Farmers are forced to cultivate just one crop this year in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. Delays in monsoon and the problem of stray animals have reduced the interest of farmers in sowing Kharif crops.

Shivendra Patel, a farmer from Kachhgawan of Mangawan block in the district, owns a four-acre land where he cultivates paddy, lentils, and sesame. Farmers are compelled to wake up at night to guard the crops. He informed Ground Report,

“Last year, 40 per cent of my Kharif crops were destroyed due to cattle attacks.”

Stray cattle had grazed the crops. Suresh Tiwari of Tiwarigawan says that most of the farmers in his village have now stopped sowing crops in the Kharif season. He told us, 

“The farmers here have barely 1-2 acres of land, and even in that they have to stay awake all night to guard the crops. If we even take our eyes off for a while, stray cattle eat up the crops. Their number has increased in the last 4-5 years.”

Cattle are loaded into vehicles from the border of Uttar Pradesh and left in their villages. Suresh Tiwari says that the number of Nilgai (antelope) in his village also increases in the Kharif season, and the farmer's entire time is spent chasing away these animals. In such a situation, the hard work is more and the profit is negligible.

People are now leaving farming; they are frustrated.

Another district, same story

Sachin Bundela stands in his agricultural fields after ensuring wired fencing around his 40-acre land. In this Kharif season, he has sown soybean, peanuts, moong and black gram. Bundela is a farmer from Deri village in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. His struggle to safeguard his crops increases with cattle frequently entering into the fields. 

Madhya Pradesh has one of the highest numbers of stray cattle. According to the 20th LiveStock Survey by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, India has approximately 5 million stray cattle. Madhya Pradesh has 8.53,971 stray cattle. Mostly, these lead to traffic, a risk of accidents on the highways and attacks on agricultural farms. In a common scenario, the villagers abandon the cattle, which include cows, bulls, or calves, when they no longer give milk. 

“Last year, around one acre of my crops were destroyed when cattle invaded the fields. This year I am making sure that the crops are fenced from every side,” Bundela told Ground Report.

He believes that the number of cattle on roads and in the fields has increased in recent years. He explained that during the rainy season, cattle walk the roadways, particularly at night, to escape puddles and insects in agricultural fields, which increases the chance of accidents. 

As per another farmer from the village, people generally abandon cows when they no longer produce milk. 

“We do not have a gaushala yet, and so the abandoned cattle have nowhere to go and they enter into our fields,” he added.

Farmers also stated that there is always a risk, even when the land is enclosed. If the fence is damaged or the gates are left open, the cattle might harm the crop.

State government’s efforts

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to recruit volunteers on an honorarium basis to eradicate the state's stray cattle population. As per the reports approximately 2,000 volunteers will be engaged with a monthly honorarium ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 to relocate stray livestock to shelters. According to sources, a five-member high-level team led by the additional chief secretary (home) has been formed to carry out a 15-day campaign to stop the state's stray cattle scourge.

As per a report, the district panchayat and rural development department would determine the amount of honorarium based on the number of stray cattle in their respective areas. All panchayats along highways will appoint volunteers to relocate stray livestock and erect makeshift shelters for them. The district administration has been instructed to purchase hydraulic cow lifting trolleys worth ₹6 lahks each to safely relocate cattle from highways. 

The Madhya Pradesh Krishak Pashu Parikshan Act prohibits cow slaughter. It states,

“No person shall slaughter or cause to be slaughtered or offer or cause to be offered, for slaughter of any cow progeny. “

As a result, there have been cases of smuggling of cattle to Nagpur city and other states. While the state government organizes committees to control the stray cow problem, increases the number of gaushalas, and bulldozes the residences of suspected beef keepers; farmers remain concerned for the crop damages. 

Interestingly, the Madhya Pradesh government has also declared that stray cattle will no longer be called 'stray' in the state. Former Mandsaur MLA Yashpal Singh Sisodia in one of his social media posts shared that after his request, the state government has decided to address the cattle roaming on the streets as 'destitute' 'Nirshrit' instead of 'stray'.

मवेशियों में गाय भी होती है और गौ माता को आवारा कहना कदापि उचित नहीं है, इस बात को लेकर मैंने 18 अगस्त 2024 को × पर @GADdeptmp द्वारा जारी किए गए आदेश में संशोधन का आग्रह @CMMadhyaPradesh श्री @DrMohanYadav51 जी से किया था, विषय की गंभीरता को लेकर संवेदनशील मुख्यमंत्री जी ने… pic.twitter.com/giZ1DlH2Qb

— Yashpal Singh Sisodiya, (@ypssisodiya) August 23, 2024

Status of Gaushalas in M.P

Ground Report’s assessment of cow shelters in the Sehore and Bhopal districts of Madhya Pradesh revealed that the administrators do not receive regular payments from the state government.

Madhya Pradesh has two types of cow shelters: 618 government-recognized cowsheds, housing around 1.5 lakh cows. There are 1,800 cow shelters built on government land with MNREGA subsidies, housing 2.80 lakh cows. Last year, the state increased the ₹ 1000 penalty for neglecting animals, including cattle. Over the last seven years, the police helpline received 45,800 distress calls regarding runaway cattle, averaging 18 calls each day. 

Madhya Pradesh has had a Gau Samvardhan Board (cow protection board) for the past two decades. Three years ago, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the formation of a "cow cabinet" to safeguard cattle and promote dairy products. However, the official website had its last circular updates in October 2023. Also, many villages in the state are finding it difficult to manage the cow shelters.

Difficulties on ground

The gram panchayats struggle to run the cow shelters due to a lack of funds. Tejbhan Patel, former Sarpanch of Tiwarigawan, Rewa says,

“The government directs to build cowsheds, but the Panchayats do not have enough funds to run these cowsheds. Even if a cowshed is built with some grant, the Panchayats do not have the money to bear the cost of food for the cows living there.The number of stray animals increases every year but the grant received from the government per cow does not increase for years.”

As per the provision under section 237 of the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1959, a minimum of 2% of agricultural land is required to be reserved for pasture and the State Government is not making any allotment of such 2% reserved land. Before the amendment made by the State of Madhya Pradesh in September 2001, the Collector had a statutory obligation to set aside a minimum of 5% of the total agricultural land in every village in the State for pasture purposes, which was reduced to 2 per cent for allotment to landless persons belonging to the SC/ST community. 

Bundela’s village does not have a cow shelter or any grazing land and with more cows who no longer produce milk getting abandoned, the increasing number of stray cattle is a growing concern for the villagers.

“The government should help cattle owners and gaushalas with sufficient funds to take care of them and that will help to avoid road accident risks and attacks in crop fields. If there is an allotted land for gazing, it will protect the crops,” added Bundela.  

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