The State Government’s proposed input investment assistance scheme to farmers, beginning from the kharif season of 2018, has come as a shot in the arm for farmhands in that it has led to an increase of labour charges and prices of farm components involved in agricultural operations.
Wages increased
On the pretext of government providing a financial assistance of ₹4,000 per acre for a crop season to each farmer to take up farm operations, agricultural labourers have increased their wages steeply. With increase in the labour charges for farm operations, farmers have urged the government to increase minimum support price or bonus to all the crops by ₹1,000 per quintal, instead of providing input investment assistance.
The men farm labourers have increased their wages from the existing ₹400 per day to ₹ 500 while women have hiked it from ₹ 175 per day to ₹ 250.
The tractor charges used to plough one acre of land have been increased from ₹ 2,500 to ₹ 4,000 while the harvester charges for cutting paddy crop have also increased from ₹ 1,500 to ₹ 2,000 per acre.
“We have not asked the government to provide financial assistance to take up agricultural operations. But, the announcement by the government has become a cause of concern for farmers as labourers involved in the farm operations have doubled their wages”, said a farmer, N. Sadasiva Reddy from Peddapalli district.
Labourers say that the government will provide financial assistance to farmers so there is no loss if they increase the wages, he added.
Leave about the government assistance of ₹ 4,000 per acre from next kharif season, farmers are already shelling out ₹ 6,000 per acre only on labour charges from this kharif season onwards. Even if the government gives ₹ 4,000 per acre, farmers will incur a loss of ₹ 2,000 per acre, complained Rythu Sangham district president M. Venkat Reddy, who is also a farmer in Challur village of Manakondur mandal.
‘Increase MSP’
He suggested that the government should increase MSP on all the farmers’ produce by ₹ 1,000 per quintal or provide bonus of ₹ 1,000 per quintal instead of providing financial assistance of ₹ 4,000 per acre. “If the farmer gets remunerative price for his produce, he will be happy and there will be no need of any financial assistance from the government,” he pointed out.
