Growers feel pinch as farm wages go up

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 19

Thousands of Punjab paddy growers are feeling labour pangs for a large number of migrant labourers have not returned to Punjab  from their native places in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The labour scarcity has triggered the per acre paddy transplantation charges to go up from Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,800-3,000.

Farmers were apprehending if the labour shortage continues, they might face a critical situation and forced to pay a 100 percent rate hike. 

"The rates are set to cross Rs 3,000-mark as marginal farmers are in a huff to get their fields transplanted ahead of the flock," said Raj Mohan Singh Kaleka, a progressive farmer of Bishanpur Chhanna village in Patiala.

"Just about 40 per cent of migrant labour has turned up. The shortage has forced farmers to resort to the direct paddy sowing method," said Daljit Singh Gakhlan of Gakhal village in Jalandhar. He said migrant labourers preferred to stay in their native places due to fast industrialisation and success of MNREGA scheme. "Why should they come here when they are getting an assured minimum daily wage of Rs 250 near their homes?" said Gakhlan.

The ongoing fast mechanisation of agriculture is also forcing labourers to stay away from Punjab.

"They know that Punjab farmers are not going to depend upon them for a long time. So, they have started looking for work near their homes. Farmers, particularly those having big farms in Malwa, have already started switching to cost-effective mechanised paddy transplanters," said Balwinder Singh, a farmer based at Makhowal village in Amritsar.

Costly affair

Paddy transplantation charges have gone up from Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,800-3,000 per acre.

Dialogue key to solving agri problems: Capt

• Welcoming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to hold a direct dialogue on Wednesday with farmers across the country, CM Capt Amarinder Singh has expressed hope it would lead to the announcement of key initiatives for the welfare of the farming community.
• The CM urged Modi to use the forum for initiating the much-needed reforms in the beleaguered agriculture 
• sector, which was crying for assistance from the Centre.
•  Reiterating his demand for a national debt waiver scheme for farmers, as well as the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report in totality, Capt Amarinder Singh said the farmers were in dire need of the Prime Minister's intervention.