Madikeri: Mechanised sowing and transplantation is gaining popularity in the small district and farmers can reap huge profits, opined Zilla Panchayat President B A Harish.
Setting in motion the mechanised paddy transplantation operations in the puddle fields owned by progressive farmers Podanolanda K Bopanna and Kodnada B Devaiah of Kaggodlu village, farmer friendly ZP President B A Harish observed the live demonstration and took active part in the transplantation process.
During times when labour is dear, paddy growers can reap extra benefits to the extent of 40 percent by adopting mechanised transplantation technique and also can use effectively the waste land for paddy cultivation, he said. It is time to move ahead with agriculture by employing new scientific methods, he added.
Youth migration to cities has resulted in more consumption of food items than production, opined Taluk Panchayat President Tekakde Shobha Mohan. Farmers should come forward and avail the financial benefits given by the government towards mechanised sowing and transplantation, she said.
Agricultural Department Assistant Director Manjunath said a balance could be established with scientific methods by producing more with cheap labour cost.
Technical officer from agriculture department C A Girish explained about the benefits of scientific farming.
Agriculture expansion unit officer Kencha Reddy stressed on usage of waste land for paddy cultivation and said it would also help to increase the ground water levels.
Progressive farmer Podanolanda K Bopanna said, with mechanised transplantation machine, he was able to transplant 4 acres with the help of 3-4 labourers in a day.
TP members, agricultural experts, farmers, teachers, students keenly observed the functioning of the transplantation machine and the transplantation procedure on the occasion.
The technique saves time, labour and cuts input costs by nearly Rs 2,500 per acre compared to the traditional method.
Under this technique, a nursery is raised either in plastic trays of 1×2 feet or on polythene sheets, each 20 feet long and 22 inches wide with a soil layer of one inch thickness. After proper watering, nursery gets ready in 25 days and is transplanted in puddle fields with the paddy transplanter machine. The ready nursery is fed into the machine like cakes and machine transplants the same ensuring appropriate space between the plants. It takes just a few hours to sow one acre of field. Besides, using this method, 65,000 to 70,000 plants can be planted per acre against 35,000 to 40,000 plants if done manually. It costs a farmer around Rs 4,500 to 5,000 per acre.
In the traditional method, the nursery is grown in the field itself 40 days before cultivation and then 5-6 labourers are required to transplant it in one acre of field, which takes a whole day and costs the farmer Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 towards labour alone. Under the traditional method, one requires to shell out around Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 for raising and transplanting nursery in an acre.
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