India: Betel nut becomes saviour for farmers battling jumbo conflict in Assam villages bordering Bhutan

Wild elephants coming down the nearby Bhutan hills destroying crops here in Guwabari is as serious a problem as it used to be a decade ago. However, as farmer Gopal Barman, and his other farmer friends, would attest—it doesn’t impact their livelihoods as badly as it used to. Thanks to the decision farmers like Barman took nearly a decade ago—the farmers here in Guwabari village in north Assam’s Tamulpur district moved to betel nut cultivation—they can have a harvest. “Betel nut has changed our lives. Elephants can’t destroy the betel nuts, the way they used to the crops like paddy or mustard,” 45-year-old Barman told DH, as he sat with at least 20 other farmers, to talk about the current problems confronting farming, such as irrigation, impact of climate change, lower prices of paddy and elephant depredation. Rows of betel nut trees on both sides of the road welcome visitors to Guwabari and at least 15 other villages around it. “Earlier, we used to have a few betel nut trees in ...