J&K villagers cultivate lemongrass to drive away monkeys, utilise barren land
Residents of Sirha village in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district who are used to grow maize, rice and wheat but often suffered losses due to the monkey menace, are cultivating lemongrass to utilise barren land and drive away monkeys.Set up under the centrally sponsored scheme 'Aroma Mission’, the initiative titled ‘Lemongrass Cultivation to Counter Monkey Menace’ was started under the flagship ‘Back to Village’ programme. Four to five farmers from village Sirha shifted to lemongrass cultivation."Earlier we had to go to Jammu for oil distillation and sale purposes but now as the machine has been set up here in this village, it saves the additional expenses. It adds to our profit. In one year, income goes up to Rs 60,000", said Tilakraj, 67, a farmer.However, now the farmers have demanded tw...