Ingenious 'bike' for climbing Areca nut tree to make farmers' lives easier in Karnataka’s Mangaluru

Jun 17, 2019

Mangaluru (Karnataka), June 17 (ANI): In wake of the fact that there is a shortage of traditional Areca nut tree climbers, farmers here are finding it difficult to sustain the Areca nut plantation. However, a 48-year-old farmer, Ganapathi, took it as a challenge and invented ingenious bike like equipment (driven by a motor) seated on which a person can easily climb upto the top of vertical Areca nut tree for spraying pesticides and plucking. Climbing Areca nut tree is considered essential for spraying pesticides in the rainy season and for plucking (harvesting crop) at the end of the year. The farmers in the area are taking a keen interest in knowing about the ingenious tree climbing bike developed by Ganapathi and are visiting his house in Sajeepamuda in Bantwal taluk to inquire about it. Also, videos of Ganapathi climbing the tree on his 'bike' are making rounds on social media and are shared, liked and tweeted. The ingenious bike made by Ganapathi is not only safer but also increases the work output. While it takes 8 minutes for a man to climb up an Areca nut tree, bike reduces the time to 30 seconds to 1 minute. As a result, a person can climb more trees to do his job.