Karnataka   

Device to climb areca palms

PUTTUR: A device to climb arecanut palms for spraying and harvesting is likely to hit the market by January.

A common grouse among arecanut growers is the acute shortage of workers to climb the palms for spraying and harvesting.

The growers have to spray bordeaux mixture twice or thrice during monsoon to check “kole roga” (fruit rot disease). However, even workers find it difficult to climb the palms during the rainy season as they become wet and slippery.

According to K. Vishwanath Kuntuvalli, an inventor near Tirthahalli, such a device would be a reality soon. Mr. Kuntuvalli, a diploma holder in mechanical engineering and arecanut grower, told The Hindu that the device developed by him could be controlled from the ground and it could climb arecanut palms.

It could spray the bordeaux mixture in a radius of 10 to 15 metres from atop the palm and harvest arecanut. “The device can be controlled from a distance of 100 metres, he said.

“I will demonstrate the device in January before launching it,” he said.

Mr. Kuntuvalli has sold 700 arecanut husking machines to growers. “I have indents for 1,000 machines,” he said.

He was here to participate in the three-day “Areca machinery fair” organised by the Arecanut Development and Research Foundation, which concluded on Sunday.

Twenty-two husking machines, six sprayers and a polisher were among the items displayed at the fair. The price of husking machines ranges between Rs. 4,500 and Rs. 1.2 lakh.

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