Technicians for farm mechanisation

The government is trying to mechanise the agriculture sector to help boost crop production and make harvesting easier and comfortable. Accordingly, an amount of Tk 30 billion has been allocated as subsidy on farm machinery in the budget of the current fiscal (2019-20) year. However, farm machinery including transplanter, reaper and combined harvester, would require repairing and maintenance when farmers would be widely using them.

So, the government has to develop thousands of skilled mechanics throughout the country to support farmers. At the initial stage, we recommend, five people having passed Secondary School Certificate (SSC) from each upazila (sub-district) may be chosen for training as mechanics and such training can be provided at the government's polytechnic institutes. Later on, two of such persons may be selected from each Union to be trained as mechanics. These mechanics will be responsible for repairing and maintenance of the agro-machinery in the coming days.

Md Ashraf Hossain

Central Bashabo, Dhaka