UP govt working on solar fencing scheme to protect farmers’ fields from animals

Lucknow, Jul 30 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government is working on a scheme to install solar fencing around the fields of farmers to protect their crops from stray cattle.

A team of agriculture department would be visiting Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where solar fencing is working as an effective defence against stray cattle.

Stray cattle menace was one of important issues in UP state polls last year following which the ruling party had promised to find a solution to it.

The specialty of this scheme will be that both animals and crops will be safe.

Solar fencing keeps away animals without harming them by using 12 volts current which is neither harmful to them nor humans. Its shock will just have a psychological effect on animals.

Apart from this, a siren goes off as soon as an animal touches the fence.

Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture Devesh Chaturvedi in a special conversation with PTI said, “Farmers of the state are very worried due to stray animals, especially Nilgai. They cause harm to crops. To save farmers’ fields from stray animals, the UP government has brought in ‘Mukhyamantri Khet Suraksha Yojana’.”

Nilgai is a big and powerful animal. Male nilgai is as tall as a horse. It causes a lot of damage to crops.

Chaturvedi said, “Farmers of Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh are benefiting from such scheme. Our officials are examining this ongoing scheme in these states. A team of our officials will visit these states in the first week of September. “

Efforts are being made under the initial project (Pilot Project), said the official adding that in some districts, the scheme will be implemented during the rabi season.

Rabi crops are sown between October and December and harvested between April and May.

According to officials of the agriculture department, farmers are badly affected due to stray cattle menace.

The government is taking all measures to mitigate the problem. An official of the department said that to save crops from stray animals, farmers started putting barbed wire around the fields, and animals, especially cows were getting injured, forcing the government to ban such wire.

But, farmers are still secretly installing wires.

Ram Bilas Verma, a farmer from Gothia village of Zaidpur in Barabanki, said , “From planting to harvesting, a member of our family has to spend the whole night on the farm. Despite this, animals destroy the whole crop.”

When he was told about the farm protection scheme (solar fencing), Verma said, “If something like this happens, we farmers can at least stay home at night comfortably.”

Ram Swaroop Maurya, a farmer of Behta village on Kursi road, said, “Earlier, we used to protect our crops from stray animals around the fields. There used to be barbed wire around, but now the government has stopped selling these barbed wires. That’s why we farmers have to take care of the fields ourselves.”

Additional Chief Secretary Chaturvedi said this is why the government is now working on solar fencing scheme.

The agriculture department has prepared its complete proposal which will soon be presented before the cabinet.

“Farmers will have to spend more money to install the solar fence but the cost will go down for a group of farmers whose fields are nearby and install it together,” he said.

For installing the fence, the government will provide a subsidy of 60 per cent or a maximum of Rs 1.43 lakh per hectare.

According to Chaturvedi, all the details of this farm security scheme are being finalised, and efforts are on to implement this scheme as a pilot project for the rabi season.