The threat of stray cattle, which was a major campaign issue in the 2022 assembly elections, continues to worry farmers in Uttar Pradesh. After making ineffective attempts to solve the issue, and with the Lok Sabha elections approaching, the Uttar Pradesh government is now considering solar-powered fencing surrounding farms to keep stray animals at bay. Similarly, in order to reduce the number of man-animal confrontations in buffer zones near tiger reserves, the UP forest department plans to erect a solar-powered fence along the buffer zone’s outer edge.
According to well-placed sources, the state government intends to subsidise roughly half of cluster-based fence, with farmers bearing the remainder. The plan appears to be beneficial in rescuing standing crops from stray cattle, while other techniques, such as barbed and electric wires, have been banned following reports of animal injuries.
The solar fencing will have a low power output of 10-12 watts. “With the ban on other alternatives, solar-charged fencing has been successfully implemented in other states such as Rajasthan. In Uttar Pradesh, community fence or cluster-based fencing is being considered. This will necessitate farmers banding together to install solar-powered fencing,” stated Devesh Chaturvedi, Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture).
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