Drought, Excess rainfall
Average operational land holding size in the country is estimated at 1.16 ha. About 80% of the land holdings are operated by small and marginal farmers owning <1 and 1-2 ha holdings, respectively. These farmers cannot invest in costly farm machinery and depend on hiring of implements to carryout agricultural operations in their fields. In rainfed areas, the window for taking up of timely land preparation, sowing and inter-culture operations is narrow especially in the low rainfall zones. Failing to exploit this limited window often leads to a compromise on productivity and efficiency in crop production. In high rainfall areas dominated by heavy soils, drainage is more crucial to prevent damage to crop from excess soil moisture in the root zone especially in pulses, oilseeds and cotton. Labour shortage at peak times of demand is a serious problem faced by farmers. Adoption of climate resilient practices such as soil incorporation of legume catch crops and crop residues to improve soil health and resource conservation technologies are linked to timely access to appropriate farm machinery at reasonable cost. Several options are now available to increase the efficiency and timeliness of agricultural operations even on small farms by using farm machinery.
Mechanization brings in timeliness and precision to agricultural operations, greater field coverage over a short period, cost-effectiveness, efficiency in use of resources and applied inputs, conservation of available soil moisture under stress conditions and provision of adequate drainage of excess rain and floodwaters. Custom hiring centres (CHCs) for farm implements were established in 100 NICRA villages which could successfully empower farmers to tide over the shortage of labour and improve efficiency of agricultural operations. A committee of farmers' nominated by the gram sabha manages the custom hiring centre. The rates for hiring the machines/ implements are decided by the Village Climate Risk Management Committee (VCRMC). This committee also uses the revenue generated from hiring charges for repair and maintenance of the implements and remaining amount goes into the revolving fund. There are 27 different types of farm machinery stocked in 100 CHCs, the most popular are rotavator, zero till drill, drum seeder, multi-crop planter, power weeder and chaff cutter. Each centre was established at a capital cost of Rs 6.25 lakhs funded by the NICRA project.
Custom hiring centres for farm machinery enabled farmers to access implements to take up several climate resilient practices and technologies in NICRA villages.
An innovative institutional mechanism was put in place at the village level for management of the custom hiring centre for farm machinery. Village Climate Risk Management Committee (VCRMC) was constituted comprising of 12-20 villagers with nominated members as President, Secretary and Treasurer. A bank account is opened in the name of VCRMC and is operated by any two signatories. The committee fixes the charges for hiring for different implements and hiring rates are to be displayed prominently. Farmers' contributory share towards inputs like seeds, fertilizer, animals etc., is also deposited in the bank account. The revenue and expenditure details must be shared with the general body periodically.
Zone | KVKs (number) | Revenue (Rs.) |
---|---|---|
I | 12 | 164540 |
II | 15 | 284822 |
III | 17 | 341955 |
IV | 13 | 94158 |
V | 13 | 332124 |
VI | 7 | 519605 |
VII | 14 | 437986 |
VIII | 9 | 422648 |
Total | 100 | 2597838 |
Over 1000 demonstrations with energy efficient implements were successfully conducted in the NICRA villages by hiring from CHCs covering 22000 ha and 30000 farmers. Cumulative revenue generated from CHCs is 26 lakhs with an average revenue generated per centre ranging from Rs. 7000 to 74000.
Source: Smart Practices and Technologies for Climate Resilient Agriculture
Last Modified : 3/1/2020
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