Karnataka to hire out farm equipment

BENGALURU: For the first time, the city-based company, VST Tillers and Tractors Ltd, has entered into an agreement with the state Government for establishment of 92 Custom Hire Service Centres (CHSC) in nine districts to enable farmers to hire the farm equipment.
BCS Iyengar, Director corporate strategy of the company said the scheme which is the brain child of Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda will be a boon to small farmers and will revolutionise farm mechanization in Karnataka.
In its bid to reach out to the farmers of the state, many of whom can ill-afford farm machinery, VST Tillers and Tractors has come out with a novel scheme which has features that will help the small and marginal farmers to have sustainable agriculture production. This novel scheme can be scaled up to the entire state and also to the whole of the country as it needs effective planning, based on local farming needs.
Iyengar said, “In India, small and marginal farmers, who account for over 70 per cent of the farming community cannot afford to buy costly machines and farming equipment. In order to reach the benefits of farm mechanisation to the small and marginal farmers, the backbone of Indian agriculture, the government in association with the company is setting up 92 CHSC which will provide farm machinery at affordable rental rates.”
Agriculture minister Gowda said that the state is giving priority to mechanisation as it is the only way to increase agricultural production and efficiencies in agriculture. “With farm labour becoming scarce, it is imperative to have farm mechanisation for quick returns. The State, along with the Centre, has been pursuing the objective of farm mechanisation through various schemes of providing subsidy to farmers for purchase of agricultural machinery. But this is a novel scheme that should benefit the large section of farming community.”
During 2014-15 the State Government gave 75 per cent subsidy to Societies and NGO’S for the establishment of 175 CHSCs. This year it has planned to establish over 300 centres and for that purpose the government has extended to organizations and farm machinery manufacturers. Each centre will have a cap of Rs 50 lakhs that should be used to shelf various agriculture machinery and equipment that are required by the farmers in that region .The hiring and service charges will be determined by the committee constituted for the purpose after taking into consideration farmer’s affordability and economic feasibility of the CHSC. In the first year of operation, the subsidy will be 75 per cent and will be reduced to 50 per cent in the second year.