Madhya Pradesh farmer grows Red Ladyfinger in garden worth 5-7x more than regular variety

Misrilal Rajput, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal district, grows red okra (ladyfinger). In an interview with ANI on Sunday, he emphasised the advantages of his ladyfinger variety. Rajput is from the Khajuri Kalan area in Madhya Pradesh.

Rajput said he bought 1 kg seeds from an agricultural research facility in Varanasi for the cultivation process. In the first week of July, he sowed them. It began to grow after around 40 days. He further stated that throughout the growing of red ladyfinger, no pesticides were applied. As per Rajput, a minimum of 40-50 quintals could be grown on an acre of land. The maximum would be 70-80 quintals. He states that this type of ladyfinger is 5-7 times more expensive than regular ladyfingers when it comes to sales and price. Some malls sell it for Rs 75-80 per 250 gram/500 gram, while others sell it for Rs 300-400 per 250 gram/500 gram, as per the farmer. 

Bhopal farmer grows unique Red Ladyfinger variety in farm

"The ladyfinger that I grow is red in colour instead of its usual green colour. It is more beneficial and nutritious than green ladyfinger. It is extremely beneficial for people who are facing heart and blood pressure issues, diabetes, high cholesterol," he said.

Farmer protest still ongoing after months of agitation over Farm laws 

Farmers from Madhya Pradesh are still protesting against the farm laws, along with farmers from multiple different states. A large protest, called Kisan Mahapanchayat was organised on Sunday by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. It was held at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Farmers from various states were present. Farmers have been demanding for the three farm laws to be repealed, fearing that they will eliminate the MSP system, leaving them at the whim of large corporations.

Farmers have been rallying on Delhi borders and other locations since November last year in protest of three recently enacted farm laws. The 3 protested Farm laws are the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Several rounds of negotiations between farmer leaders and the Centre have failed to break the deadlock between the Central government and the farmers. 

With inputs from ANI

(IMAGE: ANI)