Farm mechanisation gets a huge push from govt
The federal government yesterday approved a Tk 3,020 crore project -- the largest ever scheme for farm sector -- to supply price support to farmers in purchasing agricultural machinery.
The aim is to allow them to timely plant and harvest crops by getting rid of worries over the option of farm workers.
Farmers through the entire country will get subsidies to get agricultural machinery, namely incorporate harvester, rice transplanter, power thresher, drier, power weeder, power sprayer, potato digger and maize sheller, to reduce production cost and post-harvest losses.
Food producers in haors in the northeastern and southern coastal regions can buy the farm machinery by paying only 30 per cent of the costs of the items. The government will pay the others 70 % from the state coffer.
Growers in the remaining areas must pay half the cost of the farm equipment and the government will bear the remaining cost.
The target is to speed up mechanised planting and harvesting, 99 per cent of which remain done manually due to the sluggish pace of mechanisation in both of these major operations.
"We are giving importance to expand mechanisation through the entire country," said Planning Minister MA Mannan following the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) at the look ministry yesterday.
The government aims to lessen post-harvest losses of crops, including the main crop rice, by up to 15 per cent, save 50 % amount of time in cultivation time and spend less by 20 %, according to a brief of the Ecnec meeting.
Mannan quoted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as saying at the meeting that local entrepreneurs were making agricultural equipment and quality product makers ought to be encouraged to facilitate domestic industrialisation and job creation.
This can be the third project that the federal government has undertaken since 2009 to supply subsidy to farmers to get agricultural machinery to facilitate mechanised cultivation.
You start with Tk 150 crore for a three-year project to finance the purchase of equipment, namely power tillers, the federal government spent Tk 339 crore in a second project that ended in June 2019.
The federal government also provided Tk 200 crore last fiscal year as subsidy in order that farmers can buy combine harvesters and reapers to harvest their crops timely.
Farmers got the subsidy to get 1,240 incorporate harvesters, 500 reapers and 13 rice transplanters beneath the initiative, said agricultural officials.
And beneath the new project, the federal government will offer you purchase support to farmers in order that they can buy 51,300 units of machinery until June 2025 when the five-year project will end.
The initiative comes as farms have trouble planting and harvesting their crops timely for want of personnel in the peak seasons for harvest and plantation.
The delay in plantation and harvest causes a loss in the yield of rice, said agriculturists.
Paddy is cultivated on 71 per cent of the full total croplands of just one 1.54 crore hectares in the united states, according to official data.
The common daily agricultural labour wage remains high during harvesting seasons of aman and boro rice crops, which take into account more than 90 % of the total gross annual production, showed data by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Farmers harvest almost all of their aman paddy during November and December and the main crop boro during May and June.
The expense of production of farmers would reduce for the application of machines for harvesting and transplanting, said Agriculture Secretary Md Nasiruzzaman.
Farmers incur relatively high post-harvest losses for manual harvesting of potato and onion, which the utilization of potato digger and combine harvester would look after.
"Thus, the overall production of crops increase. The famers' profitability will also increase."
Locally-manufactured agricultural machinery will be bought.
"We will sit with machine tools factory to see if they can make and supply quality farm machinery," Nasiruzzaman said.
Under the project, the government also really wants to train 9,000 mechanics and agricultural extension officials to provide support to farmers.
Aside from giving a boost to farm mechanisation, the federal government also gave the nod to a Tk 278 crore project to expand cultivation of improved varieties of oilseeds such as for example mustard, sunflower, soybeans and peanut and sesame.
This will be to increase coverage and production of oilseeds by up to 20 % from 7.20 lakh hectares and reduce import dependence.
Bangladesh spent Tk 5,500 crore to import oilseeds in fiscal 2018-19, that was 31 % higher year-on-year, showed Bangladesh Bank data.
The Ecnec brief said 40,000 demonstration plots will be set up aside from production and distribution of improved varieties of seeds of various crops including rice, jute and maize.
