Goalpara: Wild elephants in Assam's Goalpara district, used to feasting on paddy, have now acquired a taste for bananas.

On Thursday night, a herd entered a banana farm at Madang village near Dhanubhanga under Dudhnoi revenue circle and devoured thousands of fruit-bearing trees. The farm, maintained by a group of Rabha youths, supports several families.

"We are a group of seven youths and had established this farm on 32 bighas of land. There were about 8,000 banana trees of Malbhog species and the fruits were ready to be harvested. We were planning to take the crop to Daranggiri banana market next week," Bishu Rabha, one of the youths, said.

There are about 150 hectares of banana farms under Rongjuli development block and more and more people are shifting from rubber plantation to banana farming.

Bishu said this year their plantation was appreciated for its good quality by the wholesale banana purchaser who collects bananas from their garden.

"We expected around Rs 10 to 12 lakh from our farm this year but now we are doomed," he said.

"This is not the first instance. Last year also we incurred losses because of elephant aggression. Even our rubber plantations are not safe," said Debobrata Rabha, another banana farmer.

The areas around Rongjuli and Dudhnoi have a big banana market at Daranggiri.

"Of late, the Assam Agricultural Marketing Corporation has announced a development scheme of Rs 9.9 crore," said Diganta Rabha, who is closely associated with the Daranggiri Coal Market Unnayan Samiti.

The forest department, on the other hand, has claimed that most of the banana gardens are illegal and fall under the reserve forest area. "It is natural for the elephant herds to visit banana gardens as it falls under the reserve forest area," Rongjuli range forest officer B. Das said.