Do you know that in India, as per The Week, between 2018 and 2020, about 1,401 people and 301 elephants have been killed attributable to conflicts?
In Maharashtra alone, tiger assaults brought about 86 deaths in 2021 and 105 in 2022. Whereas these would possibly look like mere numbers, animal battle is a rising concern amongst farmers.
Human-animal battle has been a lingering situation for many years. Human encroachment on forest land has been a rising development leaving animals astray. The results of that is elevated animal exercise in human settlements. Those paying probably the most for this are farmers and landowners dwelling across the fringes.
Whereas the query of who-is-endangering-and-encroaching-on-whose-space prevails, farmers in areas like Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat face heavy losses attributable to animal encroachment.
Whereas improvements to maintain animals at bay have been developed by firms all throughout the nation, there are just a few who purpose at scaring the animals away with out the intention of injuring them.
“Katidhan goals to assist farmers mitigate their losses whereas holding the animals at a distance. We examine their actions and use expertise to scare the animals from human settlements,” S R Ayan, xyz, shares in a dialog with The Higher India.
Katidhan is a Bengaluru-based startup that helps farmers cut back wildlife-related losses with their revolutionary merchandise geared toward a innocent decision of such conflicts. The startup was additionally featured on a Shark Tank episode in season 3, bagging a deal of Rs 1.5 crore.
Improvements that don’t hurt the animals
Hailing from Bengaluru, Ayan is a robotics engineer who labored on constructing client robots. “I used to be working within the metropolis when a pal highlighted the difficulty of human-wildlife battle. He defined how this situation exists and has been leading to losses, and I used to be fairly shocked,” he says.
On additional analysis, Ayan realised the depth of the difficulty and the way it’s prevalent in most states in India.
“In a bid to guard their fields, farmers would resort to issues like electrical fencing which might doubtlessly harm the animals,” he notes.
The engineer’s mind obtained into problem-solving mode and the concept of Katidhan was born. “The world wanted extra options that didn’t hurt the animals. I used to be in search of newer initiatives to work on and this felt like an ideal alternative,” he says.
So Ayan got down to discover a resolution and picked up a small group of scientists and engineers to develop an animal-friendly decision. “The extra I spoke to the farmers in numerous areas in the course of the preliminary phases of the mission, the extra I realised how small-scale farmers undergo extra attributable to animal assaults. They often lose greater than 15 % of their crop attributable to animal assaults,” he says.
He provides, “I actually sympathise with their state of affairs and wished to assist them and save the animals from merciless units too. I might see that the business was ravenous for improvements and I thus laid the muse of Katidhan,” he says.
The merchandise
Citing that each one their merchandise are non-invasive, Ayan explains, “Our merchandise are non-invasive and designed to discourage animals with out inflicting any bodily hurt. They work by altering behavioural patterns to scare the animals away. That is essential as a result of present strategies, like electrical fences, can hurt animals and even unsuspecting farmers.”
They provide two variations of their deterrent expertise.
“One in all our important merchandise is a solar-powered auto gentle, efficient towards numerous wild animals equivalent to elephants, wild boars, and tigers. It’s referred to as Parabraksh. This product operates robotically, flashing in numerous patterns all through the evening, creating the phantasm of one other animal within the space, which deters these animals from coming into the fields,” he says.
It’s a solar-powered autonomous gentle resolution.
“It operates robotically, switching on at sundown and flashing in numerous patterns all through the evening,” he explains.
He provides, “The LED gentle itself isn’t inherently threatening. It’s the best way the system is designed to be perceived by the animals that makes it efficient.”
One other vital product that the corporate provides is the bioplastic scare system, which they name Kaapikat.
“It makes use of sensors to detect movement and performs totally different animal sounds to maintain them away, significantly specializing in monkeys. Nonetheless, monkeys are very good and their behaviour varies by area, so we solely promote this product selectively and encourage farmers to check it of their space earlier than making a bigger buy,” he explains.
Additionally they provide customised options combining gentle and sound deterrents for particular wants. “This flexibility permits us to cater to various kinds of wildlife and their distinctive behaviours,” he says.
‘2000+ farmers benefitted’
Speaking in regards to the challenges that they confronted initially, Ayan remembers, “Our group consists of 4 to five devoted members, and it took us about two-and-a-half years to develop these merchandise.”
“Understanding the behaviour of various animals and the way it modifications with the seasons was essential. As an example, elephants and wild boars behave in another way within the winter in comparison with the summer time. We conduct pilots for at least 2 to three months to make sure the effectiveness of our merchandise over totally different seasons,” he provides.
Some of the vital challenges that he confronted was a lack of expertise among the many farmers.
“The farmers discovered it obscure how a easy gentle might deter animals once they have been experiencing vital issues with wildlife. To handle this, we carried out quite a few demonstrations and partnered with organisations and farmer-produce organisations,” he says.
Ayan ran pilots for 3-6 months in numerous areas, permitting farmers to see the effectiveness of their options firsthand.
“This hands-on expertise helped them belief and undertake the expertise. Moreover, there was a basic lack of understanding amongst farmers and villagers about non-invasive strategies to take care of wildlife. Many have been inclined to make use of dangerous strategies to guard their crops,” he provides.
“Introducing them to new, humane applied sciences required vital effort in training and demonstration to point out that these options may very well be efficient with out inflicting hurt to the animals.”
To date, the corporate has reached and collaborated with greater than 2,000 farmers throughout the nation together with in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttrakhand.
Suresh Majhi, who’s a farmer from Bandhuabeda in Karnataka, owns a small farm the place he grows mangoes, cashews and aamla (gooseberries).
“Alternatively, I additionally develop greens. The world is vulnerable to loads of elephant infiltrations and I used to be struggling to maintain my farm secure. I heard in regards to the gadget Parabraksh and spent some cash on putting in it. It was an ideal resolution as a result of the expertise has not solely scared the animals away but in addition helped me enhance my revenue. Because the set up, my revenue has elevated by Rs 80,000 attributable to decreased lack of crop,” he shares.
Farmers excited about putting in these units can attain out to Ayan right here.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All photos credit score: Ayan)
