MP: Mangrola Farmers Employ Armed Guards, CCTVs To Protect Garlic Crops Amid Soaring Prices

New Delhi: The soaring prices of garlic in Madhya Pradesh have prompted farmers to take extraordinary measures to protect their valuable produce from theft. With garlic prices surpassing the Rs 400 per kilogram mark in the retail market and hovering between Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per quintal in wholesale markets, farmers are resorting to unconventional security measures. In a bid to safeguard their precious crops, farmers have installed CCTV cameras and hired armed guards to ward off potential thieves, several farmers said, as per news agency PTI. 

In Mangrola village, located 12 kilometers from Ujjain’s Chintaman Road, a scene of heightened security unfolds amidst lush fields of garlic crops. Security guards and armed farmers vigilantly patrol the fields, while others, equipped with CCTV surveillance systems, monitor their land remotely from the comfort of their homes.

“Thieves have taken away the produce of several farmers. So I am guarding my 13 bigas of land on which I have sown garlic with our licensed firearm”, PTI quoted farmer Bharat Singh Bais as saying.

#WATCH | 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. pic.twitter.com/CwaJbEPsh3

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2024

“After suffering significant losses over the past two years while cultivating garlic, luck seems to have finally turned in our favor this year,” remarked Bais. He also alluded to farmers getting Rs 200 per kilogram for the crop. “Our garlic crop will ripen in the next 15 days so we are guarding our farm this way”, Bais added, as per PTI.

Mohammad Saleem, a vegetable trader operating AKS Company in Bhopal, expressed astonishment at the unprecedented surge in garlic prices. “I have never witnessed garlic prices soaring to such heights before,” he remarked. Saleem revealed that the wholesale price of premium-grade garlic has soared to Rs 200 per kilogram in the market. He further noted that wholesale prices are experiencing daily fluctuations across various regions of Madhya Pradesh.

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According to an estimate, some 30,000 farmers grow 91,000 tonnes of garlic in Mandsaur district. Garlic is also grown in Ratlam, Chhindwara, Agar Malwa, Indore, Dewas, and Shajapur districts in the state.