Despite labour crunch, no takers for paddy transplant machines

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 26

Despite acute shortage of farm labourers and high charges they ask for paddy transplantation, there are no takers for the three paddy transplanting machines in this district.

Officials of the Agriculture Department confirmed that the three paddy transplanters were presently not in use.

“The transplanters belong to farmers, but they are not using it this season. Transplantation through this technique is a cumbersome process, needs extra care as farmers have to grow paddy seedlings in trays or mats. Some farmers had tried this technique in 2015. But since their input costs increased and they did not even get the desired results, they left this practice,” said Beant Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Muktsar. He added, “However, a number of farmers in our district opt for direct sowing of paddy. This is also done through the machines and is popular among farmers.”

Notably, per-acre labour charges for manual transplantation of paddy was Rs 1,800 last year, which has jumped to Rs 2,200-2,400 this year.

“Finding labourers for transplantation work is no easy task these days. A number of farmers from our village are daily visiting railway stations in the neighbouring towns to hire migrant labourers. Though local labourers are available, they are slow in transplantation work vis-a-vis migrants,” said Jagsir Singh from Midda village.

Ranjit Singh of Doda village said, “It takes six-seven labourers nearly one day to transplant paddy in one acre.”

The district has cultivable land of 2.1 lakh hectare. While cotton has been sown in nearly 65,000 hectare this year, the remaining land would be under paddy.