KOTTAYAM: The forest department is planning to grow Agave Americana, a thorny plant, to cover at least six-kilometre radius of the Vanchivayal tribal colony in the Vallakadavu Range of the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR).
The bio-fencing will prevent the wild animals, including elephants and bisons, raiding their crops.
The 40.2-hectare habitat inside the PTR limits has 73 Oorali Adivasi families. They faced attacks from the wild on many occasions.
Agave is a species of flowering plants of the Agavaceae family and is native to Mexico. The sharp edges of its leaves block wild animals, especially elephants.
The plant has a lifespan of twenty to thirty years. The forest department conceived the idea in consultation with the Eco Development Committee (EDC) authorities after the elephants started demolishing the side walls of trenches and the solar fencing became ineffective.
“We will be proposing the project in the micro plan and the planting will begin by the middle of the next year,” Sebastian, the facilitator of the Vanchivayal EDC, told Deccan Chronicle.
The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) will give technical support while the Periyar Tiger Conservation Foundation (PTCF) will provide funds. Plantains, tapioca, ginger and pepper are cultivated fully by organic means in the colony.
