Farmer from Dakshina Kannada develops this unique bike to climb arecanut trees

June 12: A farmer-turned-inventor has developed a manned machine on the model of a bike, through which one can scale the trees up and down with ease. Farmer K Ganapathi Bhat of Komali near Panolibail in Sajipamunnur has invented the manned machine in order to overcome the acute shortage of farmhands in arecanut plantations. This machine can be used to climb the tree and to spray pesticides or pluck bunches of arecanut.
The video of the farmer’s daughter trying her hand at climbing the areca tree with the help of the machine went viral on social media.
Ganapathi Bhat said that he has been receiving calls even from Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of the country and placing orders for the supply of machine. The use of this machine was tested on his farm land on a trial basis recently, which was shot by his daughter Supriya Bhat. The video also shows Supriya using the machine to climb the tree without any problem.
The machine weighs 28 kg and has two-stroke engine. Wearing safety belt, any person weighing up to 80 kg can climb the tree within 30 seconds just by the press of a button. Similarly, he can alight from the tree by switching off the engine with ease. The use of hydraulic drum with shock absorber in the engine ensures that there is no harm to life, even if the engine suddenly slips to the ground. The engine runs on petrol. For one litre petrol, one need to use 40 ml engine oil. With one litre petrol, can be used to climb 80 trees. On an average, a labourer had to be paid Rs 2,000 per day, for climbing and spraying pesticides. On an average, he climbs 35 to 40 trees manually. The machine has hydraulic drum disk break. There is a handle on the model of scooter and a brake as well. Along with it, it has indicator to show petrol and oil content. By sitting on one arecanut tree, one can spray pesticides to several trees nearby.
After the video went viral, over 2,000 people had visited Ganapathi Bhat’s farmland and witnessed the demonstration of the machine.