In the wake of surging prices of garlic in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara, farmers have now come up with innovative measures to protect the produce by installing CCTV cameras in their fields.
The price of garlic has skyrocketed in the market, reaching an all-time high of 400 to 500 rupees per kilogram, leaving farmers in both joy and distress.
Faced with the surge in garlic prices, farmers in Badnoor are resorting to unconventional methods to protect their lucrative crops. Instances of theft prompted these farmers to install CCTV cameras in their fields.
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Rahul Deshmukh, a Garlic cultivator and resident of Badnoor village, Mohkhed, highlighted the importance of CCTV cameras.
“Earlier, a thief had stolen 8 to 10 kg of garlic from the field and was caught by the police later on, whereas, after this incident, I am protecting my field by installing CCTV cameras,” he said.
Rahul Deshmukh, who invested 25 lakh rupees in cultivating garlic across 13 acres has now received a huge return of nearly 1 crore rupees after selling garlic in the market.
“I had planted garlic on 13 acres of land in which I have spent a total of Rs25 lakh, till now I have sold the crop worth Rs1 crore and the crops are yet to be harvested. I have used solar power in his field and also installed moving CCTV cameras for the safety of crops,” Rahul Deshmukh said.
“3 cameras have been installed to monitor garlic crop grown in 4 acres,” he added.
Pawan Chaudhary, another Garlic cultivator in Badnoor, spent 4 lakh rupees on his 4-acre garlic crop and reaped a profit of 6 lakh rupees.
“I installed three CCTV cameras to monitor my field. Two cameras are mine, while one camera is rented. My garlic was being stolen from my fields due to which I had to install these cameras.
According to the farmers, while the annual price of garlic typically reaches up to Rs80 per kilogram, this season has seen a significant escalation, crossing Rs300 per kilogram. Consequently, they have reaped substantial profits, marking the first instance of such a substantial increase in garlic prices.
Never before has the price of garlic surpassed this unprecedented level.