Harvesting to peak soon, Thanjavur paddy farmers seek more harvesters

THANJAVUR: Farmers who have cultivated samba and thaladi paddy in the district, and are ready to harvest their crop complain that there is a dearth of harvester machines. There is also a days-long wait after booking to access machines of private operators, they add. According to the agriculture and farmers’ welfare department, harvesting is over in around 1.26 lakh acres of the 3,21,590 acres on which samba and thaladi paddy have been cultivated in the district during the current season.

It is against this backdrop that farmers complain of the lack of adequate number of harvester machines. NK Rajan, a farmer from Pasupathikoil who harvested paddy on three acres, said he had to wait for four days after booking before he could access the harvester machine of a private operator.

G Srinivasan, a farmer from Ganapathi Agraharam, said, “As the coverage of samba and thaladi paddy has increased in the district this year compared to the last, we urged the district administration to arrange for more harvesting machines, including from other districts. Harvesting activity will peak from this week and if an adequate number of machines are not arranged by then, its completion will be delayed by a month.”

It may be noted that samba and thaladi paddy coverage has increased by 25,000 acres compared to last year. If the paddy ready for harvest remains in the field beyond the right time, the grains will start falling down, resulting in heavy yield loss, Srinivasan added. AK Ravichander of Ammayagaram said that private operators and their agents are creating an artificial scarcity and are collecting rent more than the figure that was arrived at the tripartite meeting.

“Though the rent for belt-type harvester machines has been fixed as Rs 2,500/hour, the private operators and their agents are collecting up to Rs 3,000/hour,” he added. He also urged the district administration to instruct those from Thanjavur who had bought harvesting machines with government subsidy to deploy their machines within the district to meet the demand. When contacted, agricultural engineering department officials told TNIE that as per their enumeration at least one harvester machine has been operating in each of the 589 village panchayats.

“In some panchayats more than two machines are deployed,” an official said. As farmers had taken up cultivation around the same time many in each village seek to harvest the crop also at a common time, leading to higher demand for the machines, the official added.

Further, mentioning harvesting in districts like Mayiladuthurai and Ramanathapuram as nearing completion, the official said the harvesters deployed there by private operators will also come down to Thanjavur in a few days. Meanwhile, sources said that six machines owned by the department are aiding harvesting activity in the district.