Mangalore, Mar 23: To increase the yield out of paddy cultivation without increasing the cost of productivity is a major concern and challenge for paddy farmers across the state. In the coastal belt, it is a greater challenge to get more productivity with diminishing area for paddy cultivation.
For most farmers, shortage of labour for agriculture is yet another concern. To overcome this problem, a farmer on the outskirts of Mangalore has welcomed mechanised cultivation of paddy, which also help in reducing the cost of production.
Ramanath Athar, a 60-year-old farmer in Moodushedde, cultivates paddy in the land owned by him. Although he had been growing paddy on a large scale since the past 40 years, he stopped cultivating it after 2004 due to shortage of labour and high costs incurred in paddy cultivation. Paddy farming in the district had suffered due to labour problem since the past 54 years. Several farmers in the district were not opting for cultivation of paddy crop since it was turning labour intensive, he said.
In a programme to promote mechanised cultivation of crops on Saturday, Mr Ramanath explained the concept and demonstrated the process to others farmers and mediapersons.
Mr Ramanath decided to use the concept of mechanisation of paddy cultivation with the help of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and used rented machines for the cultivation in 5 acres of his land on a trial basis. Mechanised cultivation turned out exceptionally well and came as a feasible solution for Mr Ramanath by saving labour and costs during the cultivation.
He said that farmers should welcome modern agriculture practices such as mechanisation not only to boost agriculture production but also to get better yield and ease financial burdens. The use of mechanised farming for sowing and reaping of paddy cuts the entire production cost by two-thirds, he told the farmers.
The programme was organised by Krishi Vigyan Kendra and Department of Agriculture.
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