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Labour Pangs
Punjab to indigenise dragon machines
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 12
Punjab is on course to follow a two-pronged approach to tackle the issue of labour shortage during the paddy transplantation season — indigenise the Chinese mechanised transplanters, which have been successfully tested in the state this season, as well as import more of them, as many as 500.

The Punjab State Farmers Commission imported seven Chinese transplanters this year. The transplanters have been elaborately tested in Amritsar with more than 100 acres of paddy being transplanted by the machines, even as 20 acres have been transplanted by the machines in Sangrur and demonstrations done in many parts of the state, including Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Nawanshahr districts.

The Chinese machine, which costs Rs 1.68 lakh each, seems to be the answer to the woes of the state farmers, who paid as much as Rs 1,500 per acre to get their paddy crop transplanted manually this season, according to Amritsar deputy commissioner K.S. Pannu. The officer, who is also an agriculture economist, says he volunteered to handle five of the seven transplanters during the current paddy season.

“We received a phenomenal response,” Pannu avers, saying at a demonstration in Majitha more than 2,000 farmers gathered to watch the demonstration. He says the machine has its benefits. While a labourer plants an average of 25 tillers, it is possible to transplant the recommended 32 tillers through the machine with two seedlings being planted simultaneously at one spot.

Pannu says the machine is likely to be indigenised soon with mechanics from Karnal evincing interest in it. Similarly, Dr P. S. Rangi, a consultant with the State Farmers Commission, says the commission has given the go-ahead to two machine fabricators, Ms Class of Morinda and Ms Preet of Nabha, to indigenise the machine. “Our Nabha fabricators have earlier successfully indigenised harvest combines and this job should be an easy one for them,” he claims. The cost of the machine is likely to be reduced by as much as 30 per cent through indigenisation, besides ensuring easy availability.

The commission has also recommended the import of 500 more of the Chinese machines for the next paddy season, which has already been approved by the government. “We hope to get a more competitive price for the machine considering the bulk order”, Dr Rangi said, adding that the government had also decided to subsidise the purchase of the machine by as much as 50 per cent. “Cooperative societies, small farmers, village artisans and agricultural graduates can buy the machine and run them on a contract basis”, he said, adding that banks had agreed to charge 2.5 per cent less interest than the prevailing rate on loan taken to purchase the machines.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) is also upbeat about the move to import mechanised transformers. “Importing more machines as well as ensuring indigenous copies is the only way to cope with the shortage of farm labour,” says BKU leader Balbir Singh Rajewal. “Running the machines on contract as well as preparing the seedlings needed by the machines could be a good source of livelihood for the unemployed rural youth,” he added.

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