Karuppusamy has sown cotton on three acres of his farmnear Udumalpet in Tamil Nadu. The farmer expects to start picking cotton in December. Two years ago, Karuppusamy would employ more than 40 workers an acre during harvest season, paying almost ₹250 per worker.
Last year, he purchased a “kapas plucking machine.” It cost him ₹4,250 with an equal sum coming in as subsidy.
The machine does the job of three workers, the cotton comes without trash (dry leaves, etc.), and only fully bloomed cotton flowers are picked, he said about the advantages of using the mechanical plucker.
Subsidy support
The Southern India Mills’ Association Cotton Development and Research Association (SIMA-CDRA) joined hands with Point Industries to develop the machine and unveiled it in June 2015. In 2016, the Tamil Nadu Government gave 50% subsidy for 150 machines. Last year, the Cotton Corporation of India gave 100% subsidy for 300 machines. It was distributed to farmers in Warangal, Ahmedabad, and Akola. The corporation plans to support the sale of 10,000 machines under the proposed Technology Mission on Cotton.
This year, the Tamil Nadu Government recently said it would provide 50% subsidy under the National Agriculture Development Programme of the Union government for the sale of 7,000 machines. It is expected to provide 50% subsidy for another 7,000 machines under its own schemes.
Cotton is grown on 124.44 lakh hectares in the country by almost 23 million farmers. Most of the farmers have one to five acres. However, mechanical plucking of cotton is done by less than 1% of them. This is just making a beginning, says K. Selvaraju, secretary general, SMA-CDRA.
A few Chinese machines were imported and used by farmers in the Gujarat belt. Plucking machines were made by a few private manufacturers too. However, their usage did not pick up mainly because of lack of user-friendly technology, he added.The government should support development and sale of these machines by providing GST exemption and subsidies for purchase of the implement. The state governments should also extend financial support, he said.
