THANJAVUR
Mechanisation of farm activities has been fast catching up in the delta districts with the measures initiated by the State government receiving a favourable response from farmers.
Ironically, it was the delta districts that witnessed vehement protests against farm mechanisation two decades ago when the combined harvesting machines were not even allowed to pass through the core delta region.
At that time, movements were organised in every nook and corner of the Delta districts demanding that farmhands should only be deployed for agricultural operations. However, the organisers of such movements subsequently backed the 100-days job work scheme implementation with vigour and continue to support the job work scheme even now despite the fact that the implementation of the scheme is widely seen to cause shortage of labour for farming activities.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme scheme which was promoted as an effort to provide income-earning opportunity for rural masses during non-employment days in a year has gradually become a year-long activity resulting in a situation where the farmers found it difficult to engage required number of farmhands to carry out agricultural works during the crop seasons.
Thus, a paradigm shift was witnessed in the agricultural operations in the delta districts where the farmers have slowly moved towards mechanization of the farming activities such as sowing, transplantation, weeding, and harvesting.
While large seed sowing machines made their entry into the rain-fed cultivation areas, small machines were used for sowing of seeds in filter-point and surface water irrigation areas in the Delta districts.
A small farmer having landholding of around five acres in Kannathangudi Kizhaiyur in Orathanadu taluk, Thanjavur district, S.Rajendran said till a few years ago he would be struggling to complete the tilling, nursery raising and transplantation activities in view of the problems he faced in finding farmhands for these works.
“But once I decided to deploy machines for tilling and sowing of seeds I was able to do these works on time with fewer employees during the last two years. I have invested just ₹5000 to procure the manually operated direct seeding machine which helped me to complete sowing of seeds in an acre of land within 6 hours. Since the deployment of direct seeding machine result in sowing of seeds like in the systematic rice intensification method, the weeding operation can also be carried out using machines,” said Mr.Rajendran.
Advocating that it was high time that farmers move towards mechanisation of farming activities, G.Srinivasan of Ganapathi Agraharam near Iyyampettai in Thanjavur district, a progressive farmer said such machines were available at the cost affordable for small and marginal farmers also. If not the farmers could avail the machines offered on rent through the farming machines lending centres (FMLC) being set up by the State government involving farmers groups or women self-help groups in every taluk.
Expressing similar view, S.Sundaram of Maharajapuram near Thirukattupalli in Thanjavur district, a progressive farmer, has suggested that the FMLCs should be encouraged to purchase small machines instead of investing in large-sized machines requiring huge investment such as combined harvester or tractor-driven tillers and land levelling equipment. Small-sized machines would be of most use for the small and marginal farmers.
Lending of hand-operated harvesters or mini-combined harvesters would be much helpful for the harvesting of crop cultivated in the fields where large combined harvester machines could not be deployed, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Tiruvarur Collector T.Anand on June 18 inspected the field demonstration of a mini-harvester at an agricultural field at Anumanthapuram in Needamangalam taluk and the Food Minister, R.Kamaraj inaugurated a FMLC at Prathamaramapuram village panchayat in Kudavasal taluk recently.
While inaugurating the FMLC operated by the Prathamaramapuram women self-help group, the Minister said that machines such as power tiller, weeder, hand-operated and motor-operated insecticide sprayer and straw baler would be available on nominal rent at the FMLCs.
A total of 9 FMLCs – three in Kudavasal taluk and two each in Koradachery, Nannilam and Valangaiman taluks – would be set up during this current financial year, the Minister added.