Nepalese farming system has faced different problems since time immemorial due to the distinct land use pattern as it is directly influenced by the climate variation, altitude and relief.  Nepal is broadly divided into three agro ecological zone namely mountain, hills and Terai based on the altitude, crops and livestock production system. These region are vulnerable to various problems such as pest incidence, rodent problems, wildlife damage etc.

Our course instructor Mr. Prakash Ghimire , Asst. Prof. IAAS Paklihawa Campus from Department of Agronomy has assigned us project work to make a model as well as idea by using locally available materials in order to address the major problem of the Terai Farming System and Hill Farming system.

 

Problem Statement: Among the multihued problems the majority of the farmers of the terai region has faced the problems of Bird Pest. The birds feed on the crop and decrease yield, market value and marketability of the produce. The birds such as parrot and sparrow are the major problems of maize and rice fields of Terai. This is not only the problems of terai farming system even the hilly crops are susceptible to the bird pest. There is limited research activities and no improvement in farming system to tackle current situation. Documentation and use of the indigenous knowledge and technology is still lacking. Remoteness, inaccessibility, marginality and fragility has also added problems. The emerging constraints such as the infestation from the parrot, rodent and sparrow are thriving problem of Hill Farming system. Though the problem seem to be small but it is causing huge loss in term of productivity. The farmers of developing countries are poor and illiterate and cant afford the high tech solutions/ devices hence we were assigned to design such equipment that are economically suitable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable as well as that equipment doesn’t kill rather only act as the preventive methods. The use of the indigenous knowledge and the locally available materials should be prioritize rather than the high cost device.

 

Result and Discussion:

Crop damaged by wildlife can cause significant economic loss and non human primates can be nuisance to farmers following their integrity. It is observed that monkey has adjusted their spatial and  temporal crop feeding behavior in accordance with the daily rhythm of human. Monkey usually come down to raid crops at the dusk when people aren’t present at field. The various reviewed literature showed that there is increase case of human wildlife conflict. Nowadays it has been observed that some farmer use slingshot to deter the monkey while some are found to fire gun in the air to scare monkeys. The monkey are found to raid the crops mainly wheat,maize, potato cauliflowers etc, the grainless cob have also been reported due to the destruction caused by monkey.

 

Birds pest are viewed as the serious in the crops. About 21% of the birds, inflict severe damage to crops. A total of 63 species of birds belonging to 19 families have been identified to damage several crop. The crop from the sowing- harvesting are affected by birds. The damage of birds at sprouting stage is faund to be so severe that farmer have to resow at affected field. The presence of the abundant feed at the agriculture land enables birds to reproduce and produce offspring at the natural habitat and that results in the high population of birds. The parrot damage the cobs with the silky style and green husk at the cob stage. When the cob starts to split and bracts are removed, its grains are exposed and further damage is continued till the cob reaches dough stage. Crows damage the cob at the dough stage and completely remove the spath and eat the grain

 

Possible solution that can be used for the management of bird and monkey:

• -          Use of the scarecrows (made up of the sticks shaped like a human being and covered with the wornout shirts (Usually red or white color). The color of the cloth should be bright to be clearly seen in the field. Many of such scarecrow should be placed at more than one location in and around the field.
• -          Clapping and shouting loudly also drives birds away
• -          The use of the bird nets has been successful in trapping birds
• -          Using some natural repellents such as chilly pepper will be excellent against monkey
• -          Using of the fire crackers or producing noise by beating drums and empty can

 

By studying and reviewing various literature, I found that Auditory repellant has been successful preventive method for the control of the birds and the monkey so on the basis of the sound production principle I had designed low cost and simple sound producing device name “Motor Operated Anti Bird and Monkey System: (Auditory repellant)” and hence constructed that device for the demonstration.

Materials Used:

a.       Power supply (Re chargeable battery /electricity)

b.      Motor /cycle Hub

c.       Base and stand (wooden plank)

d.      Utensils made up of steel (Plate)

e.       Old Clothes

f.        Earthen Pots (reused)

g.      Fan Made by Plastics

 

Procedure for making Equipment:

• -          The set up for supporting base and the stand was prepared by using locally available wooden plank
• -          The rotating DC motor was connected with the rechargeable battery and switch was adjusted in the stand and base
• -          The vane (fan) was made with the plastic bottles and adjusted to one end of the DC motor
• -          On the bottom around 15cm above from the base one plate made up of steel was fixed
• -          On the end of the vane the aluminium wire was fixed which just touches the steel plate.
• -          The structure of scarecrow (made up of old clothes, halloween like decorated earth pots was kept on the top of the device to give  vibe of the presence of the human.
• -          The switch was made on the fan starts to rotate and when the aluminium wire starts to touch the steel it produces sound.

Alternatives:

• For the power supply direct electricity can be used, in case there is no availability of the power supply them the cycle hubs can be used in place of DC motor. They are fixed in such a way that the fan remains in the direction of the wind
• This method is suitable in case of the low income country where farmers are poor and the highy technology cannt be adopted. It is suitable because:
• -          It doent need human presence
• -          Can be used both in terai and the hill farming system
• -          Suitable for pest like monkey, birds, rodents etc
• -          This equipment doesn’t kill or capture pest but instead threatens them away from farming system as a result ecosystem isn’t harmed/disturbed
• -          Suitable for large number of pest at once
• -          Cheap and sustainable method
• -          Doesn’t require high mechanization and sophisticated technology
• -          Suitable one day training for making and using procedure in field for farmers can be effective to safeguard crop and cropping sysem.

 

To sum up, the monkey and the birds are major problems in Nepalese farming system (hill and terai). However there is not any single management practice suitable for its control. IPM method can be suitable and promising one for its management in sustainable way.