Farmer drapes saris over pomegranate plants to protect them from blazing sun

HUBBALLI: People travelling between Mundargi and Gadag are stopping to take selfies with pomegranate plants covered with colourful saris in farmer Venkatesh Bandennavar field. It’s his way to protect the crop from the fierce sunlight.

Venkatesh grows pomegranates on his 10-acre land taken on lease for ten years by using drip irrigation after sinking two borewells. When the temperature started soaring, he decided to cover each plant with a sari and also cover each fruit with newspaper. The plan worked well as the plants are now growing well under the sari cover.

Venkatesh said, “I planted 4,500 pomegranate plants. The cloth nets available in the market to cover plants are very costly. With a net, I can over just 30-40 plants and to cover my entire 10 acres, I need to spend at least Rs 1.2 lakh to buy nets. These nets are useful only for one crop and I cannot use them again. After checking with other growers, I decided to cover my plants with saris.”

He went to neighbouring villages and dealers to buy old saris. “I paid Rs 16 for each old sari and bought around 4,500. I also stitched each sari to cover each plant properly. I also covered fruits with newspaper stapled to the plant. If fruits are exposed to sunlight, the quality of fruits is affected and the colour fades away. Such fruits don’t get a good price in the market. I’ve spent Rs 10 to Rs 12 lakh to grow pomegranate and I expect a yield of 45-50 tonnes in the next two months. I hope to make a profit of Rs 55,000 to Rs 60,000 per tonne,” he added.

Interestingly, many people who travel on this road stop their vehicles and take selfies with the sari-covered plants. “As my plants are covered with different coloured saris, they look like small huts from afar. Curious people come here to see them,” Venkatesh said.

Mahalingaiah Hiremath, a shopkeeper in Mundargi, said, “On my way to Gadag, I saw this field and thought some tents had been put up by mendicants. I was curious and went there and found plants are covered with saris. I was happy to see the farmer’s innovative idea to protect his pomegranate crop.”