Betel nut becomes saviour for farmers battling jumbo conflict in Assam villages bordering Bhutan

Wild elephants coming down the nearby Bhutan hills destroying crops here in Guwabari is as serious a problem as it used to be a decade ago. However, as farmer Gopal Barman, and his other farmer friends, would attest—it doesn’t impact their livelihoods as badly as it used to.

Thanks to the decision farmers like Barman took nearly a decade ago—the farmers here in Guwabari village in north Assam’s Tamulpur district moved to betel nut cultivation—they can have a harvest.

“Betel nut has changed our lives. Elephants can’t destroy the betel nuts, the way they used to the crops like paddy or mustard,” 45-year-old Barman told DH, as he sat with at least 20 other farmers, to talk about the current problems confronting farming, such as irrigation, impact of climate change, lower prices of paddy and elephant depredation.

Rows of betel nut trees on both sides of the road welcome visitors to Guwabari and at least 15 other villages around it. “Earlier, we used to have a few betel nut trees in our backyards for personal consumption, and we used to sell some. But now, most houses have planted betel nuts due to the elephant problem and the lower income from other crops,” Barman said.

For him, betel nuts grown in one hectare of land fetch him at least Rs 1 lakh every year, whereas paddy from the same land acreage would bring just Rs 20,000. “Betel nuts don’t need much attention, except a little irrigation during the winter. But cultivation of paddy has become expensive. We need to use more and more fertilisers and insecticides due to fast changes in weather patterns. This may be due to climate change impact,” said a 70-year-old farmer, Haren Kalita.

A betel nut plant starts bearing fruits after five years, and it gives fruit for 30-40 years, “whereas we have to face the same struggle with paddy and other crops every year,” he said

Getting the markets for betel nuts is also not a problem as local traders queue up to buy the products. “Many have even paid in advance for the next three years. This has definitely helped us increase our income,” Kalita said. “Paddy, mustard, pulses and sugarcane used to be the main crops here about 20 years ago. But the good price and less production cost lured many farmers to switch to betel nuts. This has helped us tackle the impact of elephant depredation to a large extent also,” Kalita said.

Over 1,200 families live in the surrounding villages such as Ekrabeel, Bhawraguri, Kombhirjhar, Jaipur, Notunkhuti and Bogorikhuti. Betel nut cultivation has become the major crop for the farmers here.

The increase in income has also helped many farmers to buy solar fences to check the movement of elephants frequently coming down the adjoining hills of Bhutan. “Elephants not only destroy the crops, sometimes they attack villagers, too. Solar fences have provided a little relief, but we are still trying to find a foolproof solution,” he said.