“Damage to crops caused by toque monkeys increased across the country”

The farmers have complained to the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera that the damage to crops caused by the toque monkeys has increased in every district across the country.

The farmers presented the facts to the minister and said that they have lost the entire harvest that can be obtained from the plantations due to the damage caused to coconuts, vegetables, fruits as well as almost all other crops.

In recent days (04 and 05), Minister Mahinda Amaraweera went to different areas of Kegalle and Kandy districts and met the farmers and discussed their problems.

The farmers who mentioned about the damage done to their plantations said that they could not harvest even 100 coconuts from their plantations where they harvested about 800 coconuts.

They requested the minister to provide some permanent solution in this regard

The minister who replied said that among the crop damage caused by wild animals, the damage caused by wild boar, peacock, and toque monkeys and giant squirrels has increased and the rapid increase in the population of these animals has also affected it.

The Minister stated that although there was a plan to implement a program to provide 100,000 toque monkeys to zoos in China, the program had to be abandoned due to an injunction against it by some animal friendly organizations. The Minister also mentioned that if the program of providing toque monkeys to zoos in China is successful, then many other countries have requested to provide toque monkeys to this country.

However, the farmers asked the minister to reduce the currently considered limit of 05 acres to two acres in providing shot guns to protect crops from wild animals.

In this regard, the Minister instructed the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries to prepare a Cabinet Paper to get the approval of the Cabinet.

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