COIMBATORE:
Soon, women farmers in hills in
Erode and Salem will get compact,
hand-operated agricultural equipment, thanks to a project undertaken by researchers at the ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Coimbatore.
A project to provide farm equipment to tribal women living in Thalavadi in Erode and Klavarayan Hills in Salem has got a grant of Rs 34.8lakh from the ministry of science and technology, said researchers from the institute. It is based on the study of agricultural practices and marketing prospects of women farmers in the areas.
Sugarcane,
maize, millets and
cassava are cultivated in Thalavadi and all kinds of crops are cultivated in Klavarayan Hills as it is in a low-altitude area, the researchers said. “Getting remunerative price for the produce and finding labour for farming were the main hurdles we had identified in the areas. Mechanical intervention in farming has not reached the hilly areas yet. Even if it has, it is expensive. For example, a rotavator, which would be hired out for Rs 1,000 in plains would be hired out for Rs 1,500 in the hilly areas,” said agricultural extension scientist from the institute R Senthil Kumar, who submitted the project proposal.
The project aims to address these issues. Compact and hand-operated farm equipment, which can be easily used by women farmers, would be given to farmer federations in the two areas. The federations would then give them to self-help groups, said Kumar.
The equipment consist of farming equipment such as rotary dibblers, manual transplanters, direct paddy seeders, battery-operated sprayers, wheel hoes and weeders. Processing equipment such as sugarcane detrashers, groundnut decorticators and maize shellers will also be distributed. The equipment consist those designed by the institute and also those sourced from other institutes.
“The equipment would be given to women farmers in these areas as free grant. They would have to make value-added products from the produce. We would also help them in marketing the products. We would study this for three years and prepare a report,” said Kumar.
An initial fund of Rs 10lakh would be given with which the researchers would purchase the equipment. “The rest of the fund will be used for developing trading options for the farmers and also for conducting capacity pooling programmes,” added Kumar.