Farm Mechanisation

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FARM MECHANISATION
Agricultural Mechanization

Farm mechanization refers to the development and use of machines that can take the place of
human and animal power in agricultural processes.

“ Agricultural Mechanization removes the drudgery associated with agricultural labour,
overcomes time and labour bottlenecks to perform tasks within optimum time windows and
can influence the environmental footprint of agriculture leading to sustainable outcomes.”
Agricultural mechanization implies the use of various power sources and improved farm tools and equipment,
with a view to reduce the drudgery of the human beings and draught animals, enhance the cropping intensity,
precision in metering and placement of inputs and timelines of efficiency of utilization of various crop inputs
(seed, chemical, fertilizer, irrigation, water etc.) and reduce the losses at different stages of crop production.
The end objective of farm mechanization is to enhance the overall productivity and production with the lowest
cost of production.
It also helps in the conservation of the produce and byproducts from qualitative and quantitative damages;
enables value addition and establishment of agro processing enterprises for additional income and employment
generation from farm produce. It is one of the important inputs to user in all round development in the rural
India.
In Andhra Pradesh, though, there has been a considerable progress of mechanization in agriculture; its
spread has, however, been most uneven. Some of the initial problems in farm mechanization had been the small
and scattered size of farm holdings, financially challenged farmers, lack of awareness among the marginal
farmers, and the issue of dry land agriculture. Majority of these problems have been addressed in our State
with sustained focus on farm mechanization by the successive governments by way of extending financial aid by
providing subsidy to the farmers in procuring farm implements suitable to their needs.
The problems like small holdings and rain fed agriculture still remain, but there is a general air of
concern regarding the further progress in this sector. What is really amiss is that we are still very much behind
in respect of overall farm mechanization which calls for employment of contemporary highly mechanized farm
machinery.
Status of mechanisation in the State:Status of mechanisation in the State:
In Andhra Pradesh at present the Farm power availability is below 2.00Kw / Ha which is low and there is
lot of scope for improvement. This can be improved by providing adequate subsidies to procure high cost
machinery and by concentrating more on the financially challenged regions in addition to the developed regions
which already have a sound farm mechanization infrastructure.

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The farming system continues to utilize manual power, animal power and tractor Power. In order to
bring more land under cultivation and to improve productivity per unit area it is necessary to introduce other
sources of power like tractors, power tillers, oil engines, electric motors and renewable energy.
Agricultural mechanization has made significant contribution in enhancing cropping intensity. Furthermore,
the percent gross cropped area irrigated is positively related to cropping intensity. The facilities of tubewell
irrigation and mechanical power helped the farmers in raising the cropping intensity of their farms. Cropping
intensity was mainly dependent on annual water availability and the farm power available.
Factors emphasizing the need for Farm Mechanization:
* Increased migration of rural workers to urban areas, increase in cost of farm labour.
* Sustainable agricultural productivity.
* Over dependence on monsoons.
* Need for High Cost Machinery for better turnout in shorter time.
* The use of tractors enhanced agricultural productivity due to better seed-bed preparation, timeliness
of operations and precision in distribution and placement of seed and fertilizer owing to the use of the
seed-cum-fertilizer drills.
Funding :
* State Development Plan (SDP)-
Aims in supply of individual implement / equipment to individual farmers. This equipment performs a
single operation or part of various operations in a crop. This normally being funded by the State
Government through SDP (State Development Plan). The budget allocation in BE 2017-18 is Rs.146.63
crores.
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) –
Central Sector Scheme with funding pattern of 60:40 (Central : State). Aims in supply of Crop based
group (set) of machinery / equipment to a group (Rythu Mithra Groups / Joint Liability Groups etc.,) of farmers.
These set of equipment aims in performing all /majority of feasible farm operations of a particular crop. This is
being funded by the Govt. of India through RKVY (Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana). The budget allocation in BE
2017-18 is Rs.113.16 crores.

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* Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM): Central Sector Scheme with funding pattern
of 60:40 (Central : State) for supply of farm machinery. Training and demonstrations have 100%
central funding. The budget allocation in BE 2017-18 is Rs.155.765 crores.
The total budget allocation towards Farm mechanization scheme during 2017-18 is Rs. 415.555
crores. As huge amounts are involved transparency in implementation of the scheme is given utmost
importance. To ensure quick and transparent transaction right from receipt of application to the delivery of the
equipment and payments to the firms. Online application system through Meeseva is followed since last two
years and is a big success.

Establishment of Custom Hiring Service Centres (CHSC) on PPP

Mode in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh State is typically an agrarian State with 100.00 lakh ha of geographical area with
80.96 lakh ha of net sown area and has about 65.39 lakh ha operational holdings & 34.35 lakh ha are small
and marginal holdings.

Diversified agriculture and horticulture crops grown in varied Agro-climatic regions of the state. The
challenge is to get higher yields, in spite of vagaries of nature besides other problems such as decrease in the
availability of agriculture labourers and migration of farmers from rural area to cities etc. Mechanization of farm
activities is the need of our to increase production and productivity. Though subsidy is being provided for farm
machinery, due to prohibitive cost of farm machinery all farmers may not come forward to own them. Hence,
establishment of Custom Hiring Service Centre (CHSC) is a boon for farmers especially for the small and
marginal farmers.
The Applicant selected at District level will have to establish custom hire service centres at Mandal
level in the selected District. One Applicant can apply for more than one District.
To participate in the process minimum selection unit is District. Criteria will be given to the applicants
whose firm had experience in manufacturing crop specific equipment. For each district 10% allocation will be
given to NGO’s/PACS/FPO’s provided they must possess appropriate credentials.

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Government assistance for each centre:

The Department of Agriculture proposes to establish 200 CHSCs (Rs.50.00 lakhs to one crore per
centre) during the year 2017-18. Government assistance is 50% subsidy. The total cost is expected to
be about 150 to 170 crores.
Fixing of the Hiring Charges:
The hiring and service charges for tractor and other equipments shall be fixed by the Districts Implementation
Committee headed by the District Collector.
The committee will comprise of the
1. Committee headed by the District Collector.
2. District Joint Director of Agriculture,
3. Two Progressive Farmer (awardees),
4. Leading farm machinery manufacturer in the District,
5. ADA (FM)
6. CHSC representative,
7. University of Agriculture representative and
8. DM, APAGROS as members.
The committee shall take into account the fuel prices, interest payable to bank on loan and return on
investment, salary of drivers, repairs, both preventive and breakdown, distance from Service Centre to fields,
wear and tear, life of the machinery and other incidental expenses including establishment expenses while
determining the hiring charges. Separate hiring charges should be fixed for Small & Marginal Farmers as a
category and other category farmers, wherein hiring charges for Small and Marginal category farmers
will be lower than the other category farmers. Rates should be reasonable and realistic and should
be in reference to market rates as obtaining from time to time.
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
The short listed applicant is expected to create appropriate facility for manual and automatic
order booking, real time order status tracking, real time tractor location tracking, break down and
delay management, driver management, implement management either by phone to a toll free call
number or through a mobile app or through a website.

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The equipment that is required and to be supplied under Farm Mechanization subsidy
schemes 2017-18 were finalized in consultation with the scientists of Agricultural
University, CRIDA ( Central research Institute for Dry land Agriculture, CIPET (Central
Institute of Plastic & Engineering Technology), FMTTI (Farm Machinery training &
Testing Institute), Farmers and Mandal & District level Officers from the Department of
Agriculture.
The equipment finalized for supply under various Farm Mechanization subsidy
schemes during 2017-18 useful to farmers right from land preparation to harvesting and
post harvest are as follows:
Land Preparatory & Sowing –Planting Equipment:
1. 2 &3 MB Plough normal & reversible
2. 5, 7, 9 & 11 tyne cultivator, Duck foot cultivators
3. Guntaka blades
4. Bund Former,
5. Spike tooth Harrow
6. SubSoiler

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7. Disc Harrow, Power Harrow, Rice Harrow

8. Disc Puddler
9. Vishnu puddler
10. Levelling blade Reversible
11. Power Tiller
12. Rotavator 24, 36 &42 blades, multi gear
13. Laser Guided Land Leveller
14. Transplanters 6 & 8 row Riding & 4 & 6 rowWalking type
15. Mobile Shredder 1 or 2 row
16. Mulcher cum Shredder
17. Animal Drawn Seed Drills
18. Ananta Model Seed Drills
19. Automatic Multi Crop Seed drill
20. Drum Seeder
21. Seed cum fertilizer drill
22. Rows Adjustable Channel type Seed Drills (Vikas & Vijay model)
23. Pneumatic Seed Drill
24. Green Manure Trampler
Irrigation & Inter cultivation Equipment
1. Diesel Engine with accessories (pump and suction pipe, Foot valve, Delivery pipe, trolly)
2. Tractor PTO Generator
3. Power weeder – Double Row
4. Roto Weeders
5. Paddy Multiple Row Weeder
Plant Protection Equipment
1. High Pressure Knapsack Sprayers
2. Hand Sprayers
3. Foot Sprayers
4. Rocker Sprayers
5. Tractor Mounted Boom Sprayers etc.

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Harvest Equipment.
1. All Existing Harvesters during 15-16
2. Paddy reaper
3. Paddy Reaper cum binder
4. Tractor front mounted reaper ( Compatible to all HP Tractors)
Post Harvest Equipment.
1. Paddy Threshers
2. Straw Ballers
3. Winnowing Fans
4. Mini Dal Mill
5. Multi Crop Threshers
6. Turmeric Boilers
7. Maize Shellers
8. Tarpaulins
Others
1. Bullock carts
CUSTOM HIRING CENTERS (CHC): These are packages of Crop Specific Machinery designed
with machinery required for land preparation to harvesting.
During 2017-18 CHC’s for Paddy (SMSRI, Mini SMSRI & Harvesting), Maize
and Groundnut are supplied to Group of farmers / RMG’s / JLG’s/ SHG’s with
50% subsidy on total cost of package.

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Scheme wise District wise Budget Allocations during 2017-18:

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