Date:10/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/10/stories/2008101059990800.htm

Tamil Nadu

More farmers in Tiruchi district opt for mechanised harvesting

S. Ganesan

There has been a sharp rise in demand for combined harvesters

— Photo: R. Ashok

A BOON TO FARMERS: A Korean-made harvesting machine at work near Lalgudi in Tiruchi district.

TIRUCHI: Faced with shortage of labour and rising wages, more and more farmers in Tiruchi district are opting for mechanised harvesting of the kuruvai paddy crop.

There has been a sharp rise in demand for combined harvesters in the district this season and farmers say that the use of the machines help them save money and time, apart from sparing them of problems in finding labourers to do the job.

Demand has been very high this season that the few private operators and the Agriculture Engineering Department, which rents a few machines, have been finding it difficult to cater for the farmers’ requirements. Private companies charge about Rs.1,500 an hour for the machines.

A recently introduced Korean-made Kukje combined harvester, given its compact size and swift operation, has been in very high demand in Lalgudi and Manachanallur areas in recent days. The demonstrations conducted by a private firm, which has been importing reconditioned and new machines for sale, have become so popular among farmers in the Lalgudi area that the company has been forced to extend the campaign. “We are not into the business of renting out the machines. But we have been flooded by enquiries and demand that we have been doing the demonstrations on farmers fields charging the standard fee,” says S. Loganathan, one of the partners of the firm, Annai Agro Farms.

The imported machines come with different capacity and farmers find it attractive as it could operate in slushy conditions too. The heavier machines (of rented out by the Agriculture Engineering Department and a few other firms) often get stuck on slushy fields, says A. Sukumar, a farmer of Esanakorai near Lalgudi. Mr. Sukumar claims to have made a savings of over Rs.1,000 by renting out the machine to harvest the paddy crop on about an acre and half. The smaller machines take about one-and-a-half hours to harvest an acre of paddy and machines with higher capacity can do the job in one hour, says Mr. Loganathan.

A senior official of the Agriculture Department concedes that a large number of farmers have gone in for harvesters this season. Some big farmers have even decided to buy the smaller capacity machines, costing about Rs.9 lakh.

But most farmers say that they cannot afford to buy the machines and seek government support in making more such machines available on rental basis at the village level.