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Farm mechanisation picks up as labourers shun field work
Farmers are preferring to adopt farm mechanisation in the district when the farm operations were picking up with the shortage of agricultural labourers. The daily workers are interested to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
Kadapa: Farmers are preferring to adopt farm mechanisation in the district when the farm operations were picking up with the shortage of agricultural labourers. The daily workers are interested to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
According to the sources, around 5 lakh farmers in the district have taken up paddy and commercial, horticulture crops in 5 lakh acres in the monsoon season. Many of the famers have opined that thousands of labourers are migrated to the other states as house construction workers.
The farmers efforts to engage labourers from far off places like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, and Godavari districts in the peak cropping season has also went in vain.
In view of encouraging the farmers towards the farm mechanisation, the state government has proposed to sanction instruments like rotators, cultivators, mould board plugs, seed-cum-fertiliser drillers, mini-tractors, inter cultivators, plant protectors and other varieties of instruments.
According to the sources, following the directions of the state government, the Agriculture department has prepared proposals Rs 65 crore under Modern Agriculture Mechanisation (MAM). These instruments would be provided under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) at 70 per cent rates in which 50 per cent would be provided by central government while 20 per cent will be borne by the state government.
A farmer B Venkataramana Reddy of Vempalle mandal said a farmer has to invest Rs 1 lakh for purchasing machines despite adopting farm mechanisation. “But, it will ease the burden of labourers in peak agriculture season. Moreover, maximum subsidy given by the government turned to be a boon for farmers,” he stated.
Joint Director of Agriculture (JDA) Tagore Naik said that farmers can form groups and purchase heavy machines like paddy harvesters, power-operated weeders and brush cutters under various schemes.
The JDA stated that there is no cultivation without farmers adopting farm mechanisation process. Several farmers are showing interest to adopt farm mechanisation, the state government is keen on providing the instruments to the farmers at low cost, he explained. The JDA said aim of the government is to select 30,275 farmers under the various schemes.
Among them, 20,275 were already selected. “I am sure more farmers would have brought under the farm mechanisation to ease the shortage of labour,” he said.
By Srinivasa Rao
