Coconut plantations suffer the most crop damage by wildlife

The annual coconut harvest in Sri Lanka is between 2, 500 to 3,000 million. Drought, damage from wild animals and other pestilence cause some variation in this yield.

However, the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Research and Training Institute say that the biggest damage to coconut cultivation in Sri Lanka is caused by Toque monkeys, monkeys and Giant Squirrels. According to a study conducted by the institute regarding the agricultural and wildlife conflict in Sri Lanka, in the six months from January to June of 2022, coconut plantations have suffered the most crop damage by wildlife.

In six months in 2022, 93 million coconuts were destroyed by Toque monkeys, monkeys and Giant Squirrels, and by the end of 2022, the situation has increased to 180 to 200 million coconuts.

According to the report issued on the conflict between farmers and wild animals, 200 agricultural development areas were damaged by Toque monkeys, 180 agricultural development areas were damaged by Giant Squirrels, and 50 areas were damaged by monkeys.

Accordingly, the number of hectares affected by coconut crop damage in 21 districts is 57,815 hectares. The total amount of land planted with coconuts in those areas is 275,540 hectares, of which 21 percent has been damaged by wildlife.

Depending on the amount of damaged coconuts, between 1,600 to 2,000 coconuts per cultivated hectare have been destroyed by wild animals.

According to the Coconut Research Institute, the total area under coconut cultivation in the island is 440,640 hectares.  According to that, 13.1 percent of the coconut cultivated land which is reported to have been damaged by animals has been eaten and destroyed by above mentioned animals. 

Kurunegala, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Kegalle, and Moneragala take the lead in the districts where wild animals have caused the most damage to coconut cultivations in the first six months of 2022.

The area of crop damage in the Kurunegala district is 24,038 hectares. The number of coconuts lost to the country from Kurunegala is 42 million, Puttalam 13 million coconuts, Ratnapura 11 million coconuts, Kegalle four million coconuts and Moneragala three million coconuts.