It’s raining in lakhs for traffic constable who cultivated tomato

CHIKKAMAGALUR: At a time when tomato prices have gone through the roof, thieves stole over 100 crates of the fruit from the farm of a traffic police constable at Bastihalli village in Belur taluk recently.

Schocked by this, the constable Byresh arranged security on his farm at night and managed to save the remaining crop. So far, he has sold tomatoes worth Rs 20 lakh and says expects a harvest of at least another 1,000 crates of 26 kg each in the coming days.

Harvested tomatoes being sorted on Byresh’s farm land for sale.

Byresh managed to raise the crop on his one acre and six guntas of land of ancestral land in the village while also handling his job as a traffic policeman. He raised a bumper crop amid the threat of thieves, apart from plant diseases. He now has traders from as far as Udupi and Mangaluru lining up at his farm to buy the produce.

Byresh used organic manure and adopted drip irrigation and mulching.

Speaking to the media, Byresh said, “The record price rise has come as a blessing for farmers, though it pinches the consumers. For the first time, the price of tomato has reached this high”.

Byresh used organic manure, drip irrigation and adopted mulching. “Many youths, despite owning land, while away their time. I want to be a role model for them by performing my duties as a constable and also in farming”, he said.