 "Machines take over from farmhands in Punjab")
Faced with an acute labour shortage after migration from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh slowed, Noorpur Bet and scores of other farmers' cooperatives are helping Punjab's farmers adopt technology to stay afloat. "If I use the rotavator to grow wheat in an acre, I end up with a net saving of Rs 1,500, besides saving a lot of time," says Kuldeep Singh, a farmer in his late 60s, while sitting with the employees of the Noorpur Bet society.
A rotavator cultivates and tills at one go and makes farmland ready for seeding wheat. A happy seeder, another implement frequently used, is then used for seeding. And, at the time of harvesting, cooperative societies help farmers arrange harvester combines. "If the entire process is followed, a farmer can reduce labour requirement by at least 30 per cent. With labour costs soaring, farmers have started using most of the implements in the last three years," says PPS Pangli, president of Borlaug Farmers Association for South Asia.
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On the basis of average of prices given by a range of farmers in three villages, harvesting an acre of wheat with the help of manual labour costs nearly Rs 4,000. The cost of using a harvester combine is around Rs 1,100. In the case of paddy, farmers end up saving Rs 2,000 an acre if they use a harvester combine. "Five years ago, farmers would use the harvester combine sparingly, in not more than 25 per cent of the areas sown. Now the proportion has gone up to 80-90 per cent. Only in areas where they cannot be used, farmers go for manual harvesting," says Surinder Singh Sidhu, a farmer in Jaladiwal Village. Half a dozen farmers sitting next to him nod in agreement.
"Adoption of technology was slow to begin with. They would say: we have cultivators and tillers. Why should we use rotavators? There is no dearth of farm labour. Why should we use machines? Now, the tone has changed," observes Sukhdeep Singh, secretary of Ayali Kalan Farmer Cooperative Society, while writing a note on a computer in his air-conditioned office.
Ludhiana district alone has 363 farmers' cooperative societies. Banking executives and government officials this reporter spoke to estimated that 60 per cent of such societies had gone in for aggressive acquisition of farm equipment. "Most of these farm implements have been available for the last five years. But the older generation of farmers was reluctant to use them. The new generation is quick to adopt new technology and the use of machines has gone up dramatically in the last two to three years," says Nalin K Rai, Ludhiana-based assistant general manager of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural development. He reckons adoption of technology in key agricultural districts such as Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Moga, Pathankot, Ropar and Patiala has accelerated because of the proactive role being played by farmers' cooperatives.
Of all agricultural implements, the one that proved to be a boon for Punjab's farmers was the laser leveller. Its benefits were discovered by a group of farmers who went to Pakistan on a pilgrimage in 2008. In fact, the first laser leveller came to the country from Pakistan. Now, Punjab alone is estimated to have more than 2,000 laser levellers. Some of the benefits of the laser leveller are smoother soil surface, reduction in time and water needed to irrigate land and uniform distribution of water through the farm. Use of a laser leveller is estimated to reduce the water requirement for irrigation 30-50 per cent.
"It is one of the three most frequently used implements in Punjab. Others are the happy seeder and the zero-till drill," says Pangli. The cost of using a laser leveller comes to around Rs 1,000 an acre. The happy seeder, introduced in Punjab in 2010, helps sow wheat among standing rice stubble. And, the use of the zero-till drill ensures no ploughing in case of sowing wheat. Like most cooperative societies, Noorpur Bet owns these widely used implements. It purchased a laser leveller five years ago. But demand was so high that it purchased two more subsequently. "During peak season, we are on our toes servicing farmers' requests. Our work begins at 5 am and stretches to 9 pm," said an employee of the Noorpur Bet society.
The openness to machines, sourced mainly from cooperative societies, to tide over the labour shortage has brought in many positive changes, say observers. For one, it has brought down the cost of production. "Around 60 per cent of farmers in Punjab own less than five acres. For them, buying machines did not make sense. But they used to go for purchases of these items as they did not want to be left behind. High overhead costs made their operation unviable," says Rai.
The shift from private acquisition to sharing of assets has improved the creditworthiness of Punjab's farmers, especially small and marginal ones. Bankers say while these are early days of mechanisation of Punjab's farmland, the capacity of farmers to service short-term crop loans has improved dramatically. "The rate of recovery of short-term crop loans improved from 92.85 per cent in 2004 to 95.30 per cent in 2010. It stands at 97.38 per cent now," says Devinder Pal Singh, district manager of the Ludhiana Cooperative Bank. The bank has 54 branches in Ludhiana district.
Even public sector bank executives confirm farm loans are less risky now than a few years ago. And, farmers are still counting the productivity gains the new machines have brought in.