Belagavi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday launched Krishi Yantra Dhare scheme aimed at enabling the farmers rent agriculture equipment.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has launched the scheme by flagging off a sugarcane harvesting machine in Belagavi. The objective of the scheme is to rent out agriculture and farm equipment at cheaper price. “We have opened a service centre here to supply farm and agriculture equipment to the farmers on a rental basis. The state government plans to open Krishi Yantra Dhare centres at hobli level in the state,’’ the chief minister said.
Speaking on the occasion, Krishna Byregowda, Minister for Agriculture said Krishi Yantra Dhare centres were opened at 175 hoblis in the state during the year 2014-15. “The government has issued orders to open Krishi Yantra Dhare centres at 315 hoblis in the year 2015-16 and 87 of such centres were already functioning. The government will keep Rs 50 lakh to Rs 60 lakh worth agriculture and farm equipment at each centre,’’ Byregowda said.
The minister said the government has sanctioned Rs 147.58 crore for this purpose. “Charitable Trusts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and farm equipment manufacturing companies can set up Krishi Yantra Dhare centres at hobli level,’’ the minister said. He said sugarcane is the major crop, which is cultivated 4.2 lakh hectares in the state. “The government has been providing 90 per cent subsidy to sugarcane farmers who opt drip irrigation method. There are 65 sugar factories in the state. It is important to harvest sugarcane at the right time than cultivating this crop,’’ he said.
On elaborating the salient features of sugarcane harvesting machine, the minister said the machine could harvest 110 to 125 metric tonnes of sugarcane as against 40 labourers harvesting 40 metric tonnes of sugarcane. “This machine could complete the work, which requires two to three days to complete manually, in eight to 12 hours. The sugarcane harvesting machines will be available on rent to the farmers this year and the government has allocated Rs 390 crore for this purpose,’’ he said.
