NREGS fuels labour shortage,farm mechanisation

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency NREGA scheme meant to provide minimum employment of 100 days per year has had in many places a ripple effect labour shortage leading to farm mechanisation....

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency NREGA scheme meant to provide minimum employment of 100 days per year has had in many places a ripple effect labour shortage leading to farm mechanisation.

With the implementation of the scheme having reduced the inflow of seasonal migrant labourers from Bihar and UP to states like Haryana and Punjab during the crucial sowing and transplantation season,the demand for farm machines in these states has risen. This has also become a major factor contributing to a 7-10 per cent growth in farm implements manufacturing sector over the past two years.

With farm labourers being unavailable,we have reports from some parts of the country that farm owners are now increasingly banking on machines like rice transplanters and combined harvesters. Though nobody has quantified the shortage so far,reports are there that these machines are in more demand than ever, N M Pande,Deputy Director General Engineering,Indian Council of Agriculture Research,told The Indian Express. NREGA is offering good wages and work is available in UP and Bihar. Thats why workers are not migrating to Punjab and Haryana,leading to more use of machines.

Central Institute for Cotton research CICR Director Keshav Kranthi said,Cotton picking is the single largest employer farm operation in the country. We also have reports that NREGA is leading to a crunch of farm labourers in some states. So,we have now asked our engineers to design small need-based machines that will not displace labourers.

Preetam Chandra,Director of ICARs Central Institute for Agricultural Engineering,Bhopal,said,NREGA has definitely encouraged farm mechanisation. But the need to increase production and efficiency has also done their bit. We held a meeting last month with all stakeholders to discuss the situation. More state governments have realised the significant spin-off of NREGA on farm labourer availability and are now promoting more custom hiring of farm implements.

Chandra says rotavators and zero till drills used for soil preparation,weeders and threshers are selling more briskly nowadays.

President,All India Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association,Baldev Singh,said: Over the past two years,the industry has grown by over 7-10 per cent. While NREGA is definitely contributing to it,other schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and National Food Security Mission,too,have raised demand for farm machines. Now many states give subsidy on these machines.

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Asked if increased farm mechanisation would lead to displacement of labourers,Pande said,It actually leads to timely operations,higher production,thereby creating demand for more labour engagement. Also,labourers can be hired for post-harvest processes like value-addition.

Ashwini Kulkarni,policy analyst and employment guarantee scheme expert,says,Nobody has studied if farm labourers have indeed shifted to NREGA. We,however,know for sure that migrant labourers from Andhra Pradesh no more move out as AP has implemented NREGA well.