Around 4,669 hectare baron land is being re-cultivated in Himachal Pradesh under Mukhya Mantri Khet Sanrakshan Yojana (MMKSY) as the farmers had left farming on these tracts due to damage to crops by wild animals.

A state government official said though the agricultural climate of the state is suitable for production of cash crops, yet crop production in several areas have been affected by stray and wild animals with some farmers even stopping farming activities.

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“To prevent crop damage, the state government is implementing MMKSY and under the scheme, a subsidy is being provided to agriculturists for setting up solar power fences. A provision of 80 percent subsidy for setting up solar power fences at a personal level and 85 percent subsidy at the community level is made under the scheme. The fencing is operative with solar power which helps in keeping away stray animals, wild animals, and monkeys,” he added.

The official stated that keeping in view the suggestions and demands, the state government has made a provision of 50 percent subsidy on barbed wires and chain link fencing along with 70 percent subsidy on composite fencing.

An increase in beneficiaries of the scheme has been witnessed in a few years as the farmers who had left farming due to monkey menace and trespassing of wild animals but MMKSY has proved to be a boon for such farmers of the state.

“With the scheme, the crops of the farmers are now protected from monkey menace and a provision of barbed fencing along with solar fencing has proved beneficial in protecting the crop from wild and stray animals.

About Rs 175.38 crore has been spent under the scheme and about 4,669.20 hectare land has been covered and has benefitted 5,535 farmers under the scheme.

To avail the benefit of MMKSY, farmers can apply individually or as a group of farmers to the Deputy Director of Agriculture through the Agriculture Extension Officer, Agriculture Development Officer, or Subject Matter Specialist (SMS). Application forms are available in the circle, development block and district level offices of the department. Along with the application they have to attach the revenue documents related to their land,” he said.

He further stated that agriculture plays an important role in the economy of Himachal and as per an estimate of the Agriculture Department, about 90 percent of people of the state live in rural areas and 70 percent of people are directly dependent on agriculture.

The contribution of agriculture and allied sectors in the state’s GDP is about 13.62 percent.

There are about 9.97 lakh farmer families in the state and 9.44 lakh hectare land which is being cultivated with an average holding size here is about 0.95 hectares.

In the state, 88.86 percent of farmers belong to marginal and small sections who have about 55.93 percent of the sown land and about 10.84 percent of the farmers belong to the medium category. Only 0.30 percent of the farmers come under the category of large farmers, he added.