Telangana: Class 8 student, teacher invent machine to scare away locusts

HYDERABAD: With the threat of locusts looming large, a Class 8 student of Zilla Parishad High School, Chandanapur, Ramagiri mandal in Peddapalli district, along with her science teacher, has invented what they have called a ‘locusts menace prevention machine’. Their invention was one among the three entries submitted by the Peddapalli district administration for competitions organised by the Telangana innovation cell for rural innovators.
“With the device, monkeys and wild boars which destroy crops can also be kept at bay,” said science teacher T Sampath Kumar. Locusts also are driven away traditionally with sounds that are made. The idea for the device sprouted when the student, M Raajanjali, came with a problem to her teacher. Her parents sell vegetables and monkeys coming in their fields were destroying the crops.“We downloaded various noises, including those of animals, onto a chip from the internet. The chip has been inserted in a device to which is connected a sensor. If there is a movement of any animal within a range of seven meters, the sensor will detect and the sounds will start blaring,” Sampath Kumar told TOI, adding that loudspeakers will have to be fixed to the device.
The invention was ‘field tested’ in the fields of the student and the marauding monkeys were too scared to enter the field when the device started making loud noises. Collector Bharathi Hollikeri said the device can be useful during the nights to prevent animals from entering the fields. It was made at a cost of Rs 1,200.