Equipment on offer too costly: Farmers

 Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 24

The agriculture equipment manufacturing industry knows the problems faced by the farmers, and have thus come up with technologically advanced solutions to deal with these. But most of the equipment on offer are meant for farmers with large holdings. 

The CII Agro Tech 2014, being organised here, has come up with perfect solutions to some of the raging problems faced by farmers in the state. Balers and hydraulic ploughs on offer at the agri fair, which can solve one of the biggest problems of paddy straw disposal, are attracting huge crowds. But experts and farmers pointed out that the industry has come up with solutions, but these are too expensive for them to adopt. 

The balers on display, which can cut and roll the paddy residue in the fields, after the paddy is harvested, cost Rs 11 lakh each. The hydraulic reversible plough, which uproots and digs the paddy residue 12 inch deep into the earth, costs Rs 2.07 lakh. Farmers from the region, who were impressed with these machines say they would not be able to adopt these methods of paddy straw disposal as these were too expensive. 

“Why would I buy such an expensive machine, when its use is limited to 10 days in a year. I would rather pay Rs 250 per acre for getting a reaper on lease to shred the straw, spread it in the fields to dry and then just burn it. If the industry wants farmers to adopt these, then it will have to bring more cost-effective solutions,” said Amarjit Singh of Sadraur village near Patiala. 

Gurmeet Singh, a farmer from Panjgraian Kalan in Faridkot, said the small and marginal farmers, with less than 25 acres of land, could not afford these machines. “The concept of cooperative societies owning these machines and then leasing them to all members is unviable as the cost of operating these machines is high. The industry must come up with cost effective machinery,” he said. 

Another farmer from his village, Hari Singh, while agreeing that digging the paddy straw was environment friendly and also improved soil health and in turn productivity of the next crop, said though the state government was giving subsidy to farmers for these machines, these were still too expensive. 

“In this era of rising input costs and declining farm incomes, we cannot afford to invest in machinery, which will remain unused for 350 days of a year,” he said. Punjab government gives a Rs 35,000 subsidy on hydraulic reversible ploughs and a Rs 4.5 lakh subsidy on balers. 

Earlier, the Secretary Irrigation, Punjab, KS Pannu, while chairing a session on Innovations in Agriculture, too, pointed out that practical and localised innovations in farm mechanisation could maximise farm income by increasing productivity and lowering input costs.