Punjab farmers rave about rent

“I sold my tractor because it wasn’t as feasible as the one offered on rent by the society,” says Makhan Singh, another farmer from Jeeda. “Now I don’t need to hire a driver or pay for the escalating cost of diesel,” he adds, claiming that the cost of cultivation has come down from Rs 250 per acre to Rs 100.

A farmer is usually charged Rs 500 per hour for using the tractor. In an hour, four acres are ploughed. As a majority of farmers have small land holdings, most use tractors for two hours at the most. There is, however, no ceiling as far as time is concerned.

There are 150 cooperative societies in Punjab, and in various cities in the Malwa belt, nearly 90 tractors are available on rent. The societies in Ludhiana lead the chart, with more than 30 tractors, followed by Moga district societies that boast 25 tractors.

Encouraged by the success of this venture, the Punjab Government, in consultation with the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission, has added another dimension to the programme by deciding to open agro-service centres in all the 143 blocks of the state. Each centre will offer on rent a tractor, a laser land leveller machine, a rotavator and a seed sowing machine, besides other implements necessary for farming.

The idea to open agro sub-centres, where government will rope in private players by offering 33 per cent subsidy, is the brainchild of eminent agricultural scientist and chairman of the state farmers commission Dr. G.S. Kalkat. “The project is likely to get the government’s formal approval this month,” said Kalkat.

The agro-service centres will cost Rs 10 lakh each in all the blocks, according to P.S. Rangi, adviser to the commission, “It would significantly reduce the capital investment and cost of cultivation, resulting in more profits for the farmers. It would also go a long way in addressing issues like rural indebtedness, economic stress and subsequent suicides by farmers,” says Rangi.

Notably, Punjab has around 10 lakh farmers and almost every second farmer owns a tractor, making for more than 4.5 lakh tactors in the state. The catch here is that more than 60 per cent of the farmers have less than 10 acres of land and they fail to use the tractor to its optimum capacity due to lesser land holdings, according to experts.

“The initiative promises to deliver a lot for Punjab’s farmers,” says Dr. Tehal Singh Sidhu, a retired farm management specialist from the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. “It will not only help the farmers cut down on capital investment, but also prove beneficial for the marginal farmers, who have to shell out considerably high sums to use other farmers’ tractors,” adds Sidhu.