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| Opt for mechanised farming in J&K | | | Opt for mechanised farming in J&K
Syed Ali Shah Geelani's call to people not
to give their houses on rent to non-Kash
mir laboures may affect foodgrain and fruit production.To resolve this handicap far mers need to take to mechanised farming.Though labourers from Bihar,Odisha,Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are being engaged by big farmers in Punjab and Haryana for tilling,sowing and harvesting kharif and Rabi crops,their number continues to swell in Jammu and Kashmir,particularly the valley,on account of paucity of labourers in the state.Since the area under agriculture in the valley has witnessed decrease during the last 30 years because of the emphasis people in the rur al areas have laid on horticulture.In addition to this vast chunks of agricultural land have been converted into residential colonies and in various places these farms have been converted into industrial estates.With majority of youth having opted for education they evince least interest in adopting agriculture as their profession or means for their livelihood.They either explore the possibility of security jobs in Government departments or set up their small business ventures.The result has been total dependence on labour force from outside the state as far as carrying out various farming practices are concerned.Prior to the rise of militancy in the Kashmir valley people used to bank on carpenters and masons from areas outside the state and most of these carpenters belonged to Punjab.
Though militancy related violence has forced labourers from Bihar and other states to search for work in Punjab,Haryana and UP,some of them have shifted from the valley to the Jammu region.And one finds a lot of labour force working in the fields at the time of tilling land,at the time of sowing paddy saplings and at the time of harvesting.The scene is similar during the Rabi season when these labourers from Bihar,Odisha,Jharkhand and other states are seen preparing land for sowing seed,engagd in providing irrigation and busy in harvesting in the Jammu region.Reports have revealed that big farmers in the Kashmir valley have started paying hefty sums of money to the nonstate subject labourers for helping them in tilling,sowing and harvesting Kharif and Rabi crops.And whenever militancy related violence prevents nonstate subject labourers from working in the agricultural farms in Kashmir foodgrain production in the valley drops.This is what the Government has witnessed between 1990 and 1996-97 when militancy related violence was at its peak in Kashmir.The dependence on the non-state subject labourers in the st ate has been increasing year after year with the result land owners have been ready to pay Rs.2000 to Rs.2400 for per acre for sowing and Rs.1500 per kanal for sowing and harvesting in the Jammu region.The rates are higher in the Kashmir valley.
The Government is fully aware of the labour shortage problem which has the potential of affecting the overall foodgrain production and peer acre yield.In order to tackle this problem the Department of Agriculture has been campaigning in favour of adopting machanised farming practices.According to the Minister for Agriculture,G.H.Mir, if farmers shift to mechanised paddy transplantation, the problem of labour shortage can be solved. "People do not want to put in physical labour so we are promoting mechanisation and providing 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers for the same," he has said. Director Agriculture, Ajay Khajuria, confirms that there is a labour crunch in the agriculture sector because farming is a tough job and people earn more by working in construction and other sectors. Now we are taking the farmers towards mechanisation, and those who are using these machines like reaper and binders, they not only complete work on their own, but also rent out the machines and make good money out of ii.Compared to the Jammu region the need for adopting machanised farming practices is more in the Kashmir valley where the problem of non-state subject labour force is linked with the security scenario. If it is peace in Kashmir,which is a rare commodity,one finds a lot of non-state subject labourers engaged in tilling,sowing and harvesting and if it is violence the non-state subject labourers either refuse to work in Kashmir or if they are in the valley they cut short their stay like tourists and flee to safer places in the plains.And it is this context that Mir and others in the Department of Agriculture have been motivating farmers for adopting mechanized farming practices which are durable,dependable and can ensure speedy sowing and harvesting and better yield. |
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