Promoting farm mechanisation
Sunday, 24 January 2010
THE Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) last Thursday approved a project, styled, Enhancement of Crop Production through Farm Mechanisation. Under the project, farmers of 237 upazilas in 25 districts would be given cash incentives for procurement and use of modern farm equipment and tools to help boost production and minimise wastage during post-harvest food grain processing. According to project specification, owners of small and medium farm holdings have to form three to four member groups to qualify for subsidy mainly for buying tractors, power tillers, thrasher for rice and wheat and transplanters. The groups will procure the machinery and equipment from dealers to be appointed by the agriculture ministry in upazilas. The government will pay for 25 per cent cost of the machines and equipment.
The mechanisation of farming in the country has been going on, albeit slowly, for the last two to three decades, mainly because of scarcity of draft animals and shortage of farm workers. However, mechanisation has remained confined mostly to areas of irrigation and ploughing, and the use of equipment in post-harvest food grain processing is highly insignificant. The business firms engaged in marketing of agricultural machinery and equipment have reported impressive growth in demand for tractors and power tillers in recent years. However, in most cases, their buyers are not farmers. Better-off individuals and returnee migrant workers buy farm machinery for rental use, which is now a common feature in rural Bangladesh. Small farmers, who cannot afford to buy the relatively expensive farm equipment and machinery, are their main clients. The return on investment in such rental business remains attractive. But the rents they charge in exchange for their service are rather prohibitive for small and marginal farmers.
Yet it is hard to ignore the contributions these new band of rural entrepreneurs have been making to the growth of agriculture sector. Had the primitive tools been still in use by the entire farming community, the country would have been in a deeper and almost insurmountable food crisis. However, there exist lots of scopes for expanded use of farm machinery and tools to help increase production and stop wastage at the harvesting stage at lower costs. And the project approved by the ECNEC late last week is implemented properly and with care, then it would help tap the potentials of the country's agriculture sector and increase productivity. But mechanisation is only one of the pre-requisites for boosting farm production. Other factors such as timely availability of farm inputs and credit, ensured supplies of power, fair prices to farmers for their produce have to be in place to achieve the desired objectives.
The Ministry of Agriculture would have to be particularly attentive to its task of helping the real farmers in owning farm machinery and equipment. Otherwise, the government might have to subsidize the ventures of the better-off people engaged in rental business in rural areas. Since the ministry will be dependent on the recommendations from its field-level officials as far as the distribution of subsidy is concerned, necessary guidelines for selection of farmers' groups need to be issued to see that government incentives reach their intended users. Such a precautionary measure has become all the more necessary because of the government's unpalatable experiences with a number of schemes taken up from time to time to benefit the farmers at the grassroots. The agriculture sector that still plays a dominant role in the national economy, despite inroads by industry and services sectors, does need a few more innovative projects such as the latest one approved by the ECNEC.
The mechanisation of farming in the country has been going on, albeit slowly, for the last two to three decades, mainly because of scarcity of draft animals and shortage of farm workers. However, mechanisation has remained confined mostly to areas of irrigation and ploughing, and the use of equipment in post-harvest food grain processing is highly insignificant. The business firms engaged in marketing of agricultural machinery and equipment have reported impressive growth in demand for tractors and power tillers in recent years. However, in most cases, their buyers are not farmers. Better-off individuals and returnee migrant workers buy farm machinery for rental use, which is now a common feature in rural Bangladesh. Small farmers, who cannot afford to buy the relatively expensive farm equipment and machinery, are their main clients. The return on investment in such rental business remains attractive. But the rents they charge in exchange for their service are rather prohibitive for small and marginal farmers.
Yet it is hard to ignore the contributions these new band of rural entrepreneurs have been making to the growth of agriculture sector. Had the primitive tools been still in use by the entire farming community, the country would have been in a deeper and almost insurmountable food crisis. However, there exist lots of scopes for expanded use of farm machinery and tools to help increase production and stop wastage at the harvesting stage at lower costs. And the project approved by the ECNEC late last week is implemented properly and with care, then it would help tap the potentials of the country's agriculture sector and increase productivity. But mechanisation is only one of the pre-requisites for boosting farm production. Other factors such as timely availability of farm inputs and credit, ensured supplies of power, fair prices to farmers for their produce have to be in place to achieve the desired objectives.
The Ministry of Agriculture would have to be particularly attentive to its task of helping the real farmers in owning farm machinery and equipment. Otherwise, the government might have to subsidize the ventures of the better-off people engaged in rental business in rural areas. Since the ministry will be dependent on the recommendations from its field-level officials as far as the distribution of subsidy is concerned, necessary guidelines for selection of farmers' groups need to be issued to see that government incentives reach their intended users. Such a precautionary measure has become all the more necessary because of the government's unpalatable experiences with a number of schemes taken up from time to time to benefit the farmers at the grassroots. The agriculture sector that still plays a dominant role in the national economy, despite inroads by industry and services sectors, does need a few more innovative projects such as the latest one approved by the ECNEC.