Farmers need soft loan for mechanised farming

Concerned quarters feel that soft loan facilities for farmers are needed for buying equipment like tractors and power tillers, as currently they have to rely on rental equipment which erodes their profit.
Sources said cultivation in the country is getting more mechanised as tractors, power tillers, combined harvesters and other equipment are being used in increasing numbers.
The mechanical equipments can dig lands deeper than traditional ploughs and increases fertility that helps seeds and plants get more light, oxygen and fertilizer and nutrients concealed in the soil.
Currently every year demand for tractors is approximately 4000 units and for power tillers is 90,000 units.
According to tractor companies' data, demand for tractors and power tillers is increasing despite higher prices as tractors require less time to plough with few manpower.
The data shows among the agri-equipment most of the power tillers are imported from China and the tractors from India.
The tractor brands are India's Tafe, Mahindra and Sonalika while the brands for power tillers, drum seeders and combined harvesters' are many.
The Metal (Pvt) Limited Chairman Aminul Islam said mechanisation is increasing agricultural output and is helping meet the increased demand for food.
He said use of equipment is changing the trend of local cultivation and the farmers can now grow more crops giving less effort.
Mr. Islam said, "We import Tafe brand tractors that can dig the soils up to seven inch deep from the surface level."
He said despite positive aspects of using tractors, it is beyond capacity of the farmers as a tractor costs Tk7.0 to Tk8.0 lakhs. Tafe holds forty per cent of the total tractor market share, he said.
Though power tillers are cheaper than tractors, after a few days of use the power tillers become scraps, he said.
He said currently a particular section of people do business purchasing tractors and power tillers and rent those out to the farmers.
The Metal Private Limited itself provides soft loan facilities to the consumers on instalment basis for making tractors affordable among the users.
A Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) source said adopting technology in farming is helping country meet increased food demand.
He said technology is entering agriculture at a time when farmlands are shrinking. It is helping extract maximum soil fertility during cultivation.
He said the overall production of rice, vegetables and others are increasing by 10 per cent every year on an average as per BADC data, he said.
"Farmers now fully rely on drum seeders, power tillers, tractors, combined harvesters and some other innovations in mechanised farming, though these are new to our cultivation system," he said.
But it is still beyond the affordability of the most of the farmers due to high prices.
The farmers are not getting bank loan facilities due to their collateral problems despite various government initiatives being there.
To grow more crops, soft loan facilities for the farmers are needed as currently they rely on rental basis equipment for farming which eats up their profitability, he added.