Jumbo herds destroy banana plantations

Goalpara: Wild elephants in Assam's Goalpara district, used to feasting on paddy, have now acquired a taste for bananas.

On Thursday night, a herd entered a banana farm at Madang village near Dhanubhanga under Dudhnoi revenue circle and devoured thousands of fruit-bearing trees. The farm, maintained by a group of Rabha youths, supports several families.

"We are a group of seven youths and had established this farm on 32 bighas of land. There were about 8,000 banana trees of Malbhog species and the fruits were ready to be harvested. We were planning to take the crop to Daranggiri banana market next week," Bishu Rabha, one of the youths, said.

There are about 150 hectares of banana farms under Rongjuli development block and more and more people are shifting from rubber plantation to banana farming.

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