Shingara Singh owns around six acres in a village in Kapurthala district. Over the years,he had seen the productivity of his field decrease drastically. He knew he had to buy a new tractor,but that meant an additional investment of at least Rs 2 lakh. Even if I took a loan and bought a tractor,it wouldnt be useful unless I also got other implements like a leveller,drill,etc., he says. Two years ago,he found his solution when over 200 farmers of his village decided to pool their resources and start a cooperative to buy new farm implements,which were then made available to farmers for a small rent. I used a laser leveller to loosen my field and then I used a tractor. The productivity has gone up by 40 per cent, he says. Punjabs highly fragmented agriculture land holdings have made it difficult for farmers to invest in technologically advanced implements. With over two-thirds of the fields in the state measuring less than four acres,the farmers who dared to buy new tractors and expensive implements found themselves trapped in a vicious debt cycle. But that is changing,at least in some parts of Punjab,where farmers are coming together to set up cooperatives that help them use German harvester combines,Israeli sowing machines,Floridian levellerssomething even the big landowners could not afford. Such cooperatives have also helped farmers venture into crop diversification. Unlike wheat and paddy,horticulture and floriculture involve a greater use of technology. These cooperatives have allowed farmers to start growing pulses and vegetables, says G. Vajra Lingam,Registrar,Cooperative Societies of Punjab. KS Sangha,Joint Registrar Cooperatives,Jalandhar division,says,The cooperative movement isnt new for Punjab. In fact,there are close to 3,500 cooperatives in the state. But this scheme of procuring advanced agricultural implements was introduced barely 2 to 3 years ago by a few societies and has since caught on. As of now,there are close to 600 societies that purchase agricultural instruments and make them available to their members. These societies arent big cooperatives like those in Gujarat and other parts of Western India. In fact most of them are small and restricted to their own villages. But they are thriving. Many of these societies have 65-70 agricultural implements. It also helps that the Punjab government gives a subsidy of 33 per cent towards the purchase of these implements, says Vajra Lingam. It has helped the farmer overcome other problems too. Last summer,Harbaksh Singh of Jalandhar faced acute labour shortage when it was time to sow paddy in his fields. There simply werent enough people to work. We were told that most of the labourers had gone back home to work on NREGA projects or to work for construction companies. It was a hopeless situation until our cooperative purchased a rice transplanter from Israel. The machine not only saves time but is also more effective when it comes to sowing, says Harbaksh who claims his fields productivity has doubled and sowing cost has halved. In fact,many farmers have realised that getting a tractor from the society is cheaper than owning one and so,are selling off their tractors. Maintaining a tractor isnt easy. There are regular expenses. Sixteen farmers in our village have sold their tractors ever since a new cooperative came up, says Nahar Singh from a village near Ludhiana.
