Sneaking giant snails snatch Kovai farmers’ toil

“The snails destroy all kinds of crops ranging from tomato, lady’s finger and bitter gourd cultivated by us. The menace is getting more pronounced with the onset of monsoon,” said R Moorthi, vice president of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, Coimbatore district and a resident of Kemmarampalayam, an affected village. Experts said that the giant African snails, reported in at least a dozen districts of Kerala, are rapidly invading Tamil Nadu too. Dr Suganthan, a scientist from Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), warned, “The mollusca (organism which have a mantel with a cavity used for breathing and excretion) are prevalent in Coimbatore and Erode districts now. Immediate measures should be taken to eradicate them, as the species multiply manifold in a short time.” 

The giant snails were sighted in a handful of villages falling under the Karamadai block two years ago. The villagers believed them to be harmless. “But, the organism has multiplied exponentially making our lives miserable by destroying the crops. It sneaks out in the night in clusters, invades the crops and retreats during the day,” rued S Soundarajan, a Kemmarampalayam farmer. 

The snails can survive in rough climate and withstand common pesticides. An easy way to drive it out is to spray salt water, but the farmers hesitate to adopt this strategy as water mixed with salt would retard the growth of the crops. “Anyway we have to suffer heavy revenue loss,” said Moorthi. As the menace is growing steadily, villagers have urged the district administration to eliminate the snails. 

Seeniraj, Assistant Director, Department of Agriculture in Karamadai block, said, “So far the issue has not been brought to our notice. We will immediately arrange for a camp in those villages involving scientists from the TNAU to take up eradication measures on a war footing.”