Fifty women self-help groups (SHGs) have been formed in Vellore district to provide modern agricultural machinery on rent to farmers to enable them to overcome the problem of labour shortage.
Giving this information to newspersons during a press tour to see the agricultural activities in Kaveripakkam block on Tuesday, R. Nanthagopal, Collector of Vellore district said that a sum of Rs.four crores has been given to these SHGs for the purchase of modern farm equipments.
Rs. 4 Cr. given
One such equipment which is now being popularised by the agriculture department among farmers is the paddy transplanter which saves considerable labour. A visit to a paddy field in Thirupparkadal in Kaveripakkam block where the transplanter was used revealed that the equipment helps in speedy transplantation in rows with uniform spacing.
R. Jayasundar, Joint Director of Agriculture (JDA), Vellore said that the government was encouraging farmers to use the machinery for cultivation of paddy under the system of rice intensification (SRI) in the Arcot, Walajapet, Sholinghur, Thimiri, Kaveripakkam, Nemili and Arakkonam blocks where paddy is predominantly cultivated on an area of 31,700 hectares. Out of the total of rent of Rs.15,750 per hectare for hiring the machinery, the farmers using the machinery are given a back-handed subsidy of Rs.3000 per hectare under the National Agriculture Development Programme (NADP). A total target of 3000 hectares has been fixed for Vellore district, including 700 hectares in Kaveripakkam block alone.
The JDA said that 14-day young seedlings are transplanted by using the machinery.
The use of the transplanter enables the farmer to maintain the grain population and earn an additional income of Rs.5000 to Rs.7000 per acre. The use of the transplanter enables the farmer to obtain 45 tillers in each seedling, and 120 grains in each tiller, he said.
Source : The Hindu
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