The State government is encouraging farm mechanisation with a view to overcome the increasing shortage of farmhands, particularly during the peak periods of agricultural operations, Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy has said.
He along with Principal Secretary (Agriculture) C. Parthasarathi, Vice Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) V. Praveen Rao and others examined the functioning of mechanised paddy transplanters at a demonstration organised by several manufacturers at the Paddy Research Station on the university campus here on Thursday. The Minister himself had the first-hand experience with a machine by operating it for sometime.
The functioning of machines was also witnessed by farmers from Nalgonda, Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri, Warangal, Kamareddy, Vikarabad, Rangareddy, Nizamabad, Medak, Siddipet and Sangareddy districts, who were mobilised for the purpose. They were also shown raising of paddy nurseries on polythene sheets (mats) for utilising the nurseries in the transplanters.
Speaking to the farmers there, the Minister explained that the transplanters were available in two types — manually-pushed and tractor driven — and an experienced operator can transplant paddy in 5 acres to 10 acres in one day with the help of machine-operated transplanter. Use of transplanters would save both time and money to farmers since the shortage of farmhands would be high during the transplantation period.
Further, the Minister stated that use of transplanters would save paddy seed and early transplantation would help the plants grow stronger by maintaining proper distance between plants. It would also facilitate easy crop management such as weed removal with machines and entire crop of a farmer would reach the harvesting stage at once.
The farmers requested the government to give as much subsidy as possible for purchase of the machines. The Minister said the government would not recommend the farmers to go for the transplanters of any particular maker.
