Chandigarh, June 25: With labour shortage affecting farming operations in the kharif season, the mechanisation of paddy transplantation seems to be a viable option for the farmers.
Paddy transplanters were introduced in Punjab in 2007-08, but couldn’t find many takers due to high cost. Manual labour was a cheaper option than the new fangled contraption in the eyes of the farmer at that time. The wheel has come full circle as progressive farmer Surinder Singh of Qadianwali explains, while giving a demonstration at his farm. “I never gave up on transplanters and today, I own two machines worth Rs 20 lakh (with subsidy of Rs 2.5 lakh each), which are used to transplant paddy on over my 400-acre fields,” he says.
“I knew that technology and moving with the times never lets one down. Today, farmers come to me to with their queries as they sense that labour shortage will become acute in the coming years,” he says. “I have recovered the cost of both machines in just two years and recommend it to big farmers and for custom hiring by cooperative societies,” he adds. Chief Agriculture Officer BS Chhina, who is overseeing transplantation operations, told The Tribune that under the Tandarust Punjab Mission, they were also promoting direct seeding of paddy. “It requires no standing water and can be a game changer in saving groundwater,” he said.
Labour shortage is such that farmers have been camping at major railway stations and are even willing to pay huge sums, besides agreeing to unreasonable demands of the migrants. And things are not going to improve in the coming days, he warned.
Labourers are demanding over Rs 3,500 per acre, besides meals as against the cost of Rs 1,200-1,500 per acre by a transplanter. Similarly, farmers opting for this method have reported a yield of around 34-35 quintals per acre, he claimed.
Studies by the PAU and KVKs have shown that mechanisation of paddy transplantation is need of the hour in view of labour shortage and shortened time for transplanting. The high cost of machines can be overcome if such machines are bought by cooperatives for custom hiring.
Source Tribune India
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