This Farmer Hired An Army Of Guards To Protect A Fruit Worth More Than Your Car
In the Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, Sankalp Parihar and his wife Rani are not your average farmers. While their neighbors are worrying about the monsoon, the Parihars are busy managing a private security force. Their mission? To protect two very special trees bearing the Miyazaki Mango—a ruby-red Japanese variety known as the “Egg of the Sun.”
In the international market, these mangoes can fetch up to ₹2.7 Lakh ($3,300) per kilogram. To put that in perspective, a single mango could pay for a high-end smartphone or a decent down payment on a car.
Why the High Stakes?
The security isn’t just for show. After word got out a few years ago that the Parihars were growing this rare fruit, local thieves struck their orchard under the cover of night and made off with several precious mangoes. Determined not to let it happen again, the couple scaled up their defenses.
The current security detail includes:
- 9 Security Guards: Patrolling the perimeter 24/7.
- 12 Guard Dogs: A mix of fierce German Shepherds and local breeds trained to alert the guards at the slightest rustle of leaves.
A “Gift from a Stranger”
The origin of these trees sounds like something out of a movie. Years ago, while traveling to Chennai to buy coconut seeds, Sankalp met a man on a train who offered him a mango sapling for just ₹2,500. He planted it without knowing what it was, only to find it grew beautiful, deep-red fruit.
“I didn’t know the breed at the time,” Sankalp says. “But when they ripened, people started offering me thousands of rupees for just one fruit. That’s when I knew I needed to hire protection.”
Will They Ever Be Sold?
Despite receiving offers of ₹21,000 for a single mango from wealthy businessmen in Mumbai, the Parihars have a different plan. They have decided to keep the seeds to plant more trees, hoping to eventually make this “luxury fruit” more accessible to the common Indian farmer.
Until then, if you’re planning on getting a taste, you’ll have to get past the most elite security team in the world of horticulture.
