Ryots adopt farm mechanisation as labourers prefer MGNREGA works

Nellore : Demand for agricultural labourers at a time when the farm operations are picking up, coupled with shortage as most of them are taking up works under the National Rural Em-ployment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is forcing almost all farmers to adopt farm mechanisation in Nellore district.

According to the sources, farmers in the district have tak-en up cultivation of paddy, commercial and horticulture crops in about 5 lakh acres in the monsoon season in Nel-lore district.

Many of the famers opine that thousands of workers mi-grated to the other States as house construction workers.

Farmers are finding it difficult to hire agri-workers as a majority of them prefer to take up works under MGNREGA rather than in fields.

Hence, the farmers are making efforts to get labourers from far off places like Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and erstwhile twin Godavari districts. However, this was result-ing in financial burden for the farmers.

In view of encouraging the farmers towards the farm mechanisation, the State government has proposed to sanction instruments like rotators, cultivators, mold board plugs, seed-cum-fertiliser drillers, mini-tractors, inter-cultivators, plant protectors etc.

These instruments would be provided under Rashtreeya Vikas Yojana (RVY) scheme to the farmers. The Central government would bear 50 per cent of the cost for these implements while the State government would bear 20 per cent. The farmers will have to invest only 30 per cent.

A farmer B.Venkataramana Reddy from Kulavaya man-dal says, “Adoption of farm mechanisation is a costly af-fair as a farmer has to invest minimum Rs 1 lakh for pur-chasing machines but it will ease the burden of labourers in peak agriculture season.”

Increasing the subsidy provided to farmers will be a boon to them, he says.

When contacted by The Hans India, District Agriculture Officer (DAO) P Satyavani said that it will be mandatory for farmers to take up harvesting with machine (paddy harvester) due to severe shortage of manual labour in the district. Farmers can form into groups to purchase heavy instruments like harvesters, weeders, brush cutters etc.

“Now-a-days it will be highly impossible to take up cultiva-tion without adopting farm mechanisation procedures,” she says.

State and Central governments are keen on providing the agricultural implements to the farmers at low cost. “Really it will be a good opportunity for the farmers to utilise the government scheme as they need not worry about the burden of hiring labourers,” she said.