Agricultural engineering department is offering machinery and implements for individual farmers under the agriculture mechanisation programme.
In a statement, Virudhunagar Collector R. Kannan said the programme of providing the machinery with subsidy is aimed at overcoming the shortfall in farm hands and to enhance the income of farmers by taking up agricultural operations on time.
Under the scheme, the farmers are offered tractors, power tiller, power weeder, threshing machinery, straw baler, among other things.
The government is offering 50% subsidy on the price of the machinery or the fixed maximum subsidy, whichever is less, to the small, marginal, scheduled castes and tribes and women farmers.
Other farmers will get a maximum of 40% subsidy.
The farmers seeking machinery need to download Uzhavan App on their mobile phone. They should make their online application on www.agrimachinery.nic.in
The farmers can choose one among the different dealers who are selling the machinery or implement they want to buy. The application of the farmers who do not select the dealer of their choice within 5 days of submitting the application will be automatically rejected.
The statement added that the farmers can negotiate with the dealer on the price of the machinery.
If the target of any particular variety of machinery is achieved, the farmers, who have opted for the same machinery, would be kept in the waiting list.
The application made for 2019-20 would not be accepted for 2020-21. Farmers have to make fresh application for the current year.
Each farmer can buy any two machinery or implement under the subsidy programme.
Such farmers would not be eligible for buying machinery under the programme for next 10 years, the Collector said.
Officials of the department of agricultural engineering will make field visit to inspect the machinery/implement bought by the farmers under the scheme.
After verifying the documents, the officials would release the subsidy within 10 days and deposit them in the farmer’s bank account.
The department has allocated ₹17.49 crore for buying 43 tractors, eight rotovator, 10 power tillers, one harvesting machinery for Virudhunagar district.
The details of block-level allocation of machinery would be made available on www.agrimachinery.nic.in at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Farmers can obtain further details from the assistant executive engineers - Virudhunagar, 80981-67615 and Srivilliputtur 73385-47452, the statement added.