Amid rising shortage of farm labourers, the government has revised norms to give financial assistance of up to 50 per cent to farmers for buying post- harvesting and other equipments used for horticultural crops.
The financial assistance is being provided under a sub- mission, launched in 2014-15 fiscal, for promoting farm mechanisation.
"In India, horticulture mechanization is almost at an infant stage. For the growth of this sector, there is immediate need for intervention," Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
A financial assistance up to 50 per cent of the cost of the horticulture equipment will be given to women, small and marginal farmers, scheduled caste/ scheduled tribes and farmers belonging to north east.
"With increasing agricultural labour Shortage in India, a calculated shift to mechanization is imperative. Not only does mechanization provide for optimal utilization of factor resources, it also helps farmers to save valuable time and effort," the Ministry said.
Judicious use of time, labour and resources helps facilitate sustainable intensification (multi-cropping) and timely planting of crops and towards giving crops more time to mature, leading to improved productivity, it added.
