Farming in Punjab is going back to the old days of manual harvesting. And that is not by compulsion, but as a matter of choice.
As fodder prices have almost doubled in the last few months, more and more farmers in the state are opting for the traditional manual method of harvesting the standing wheat crop as the fodder output through this method is almost 130-140 per cent more than the mechanized harvesters. This has also been one of the main causes for delay in arrival of wheat in major mandis (wholesale markets) of Punjab.
According to officials, wheat procurement in Punjab mandis till last week was estimated to be around 83,219 tonnes, down from 313,000 tonnes procured during the same time last year. With government agencies purchasing almost 97 per cent of the total arrivals, figures of procurement also show the extent of delayed arrivals.
Price of dry fodder, which was around Rs 150-200 a quintal six-seven months back, has jumped to almost Rs 400-500 a quintal. Harvesting through mechanized harvester produce around 8-10 quintals of dry fodder from an acre of land under wheat, while the same goes up to almost 20-23 quintals when harvesting is done manually.
“Demand for dry fodder has gone up significantly in the last one –year largely from Rajasthan, due to which farmers are opting to harvest wheat manually,” said Darchan Singh, a farmer from Bhatinda district of Punjab told Business Standard. He said though cost of manual harvesting is much more for farmers, but the benefits far outstrip the cost.
“A mechanized harvester usually charges around Rs 700 for an acre of land, which for manual harvesting goes up to almost Rs 2,000-Rs 2,500 per acre, but it is still affordable given the high rate of fodder,” he said.
Hartej Singh, another farmer from Mehta village said though labour charges have risen manifold in Punjab in the last few years, but still many farmers are favouring manual harvesting as it is gives better returns and is environment friendly.