VILLUPURAM: A few farmers in Kallakuruchi and Villupuram have hit upon an additional stream of revenue — renting out their harvesting and hay bundling machines (straw balers) to farmers of other States. And what has sweetened the experience this time around is that Railways agreed to transport their heavy machines in large numbers on trains.
According to a local source at Chinnasalem, farmers and individuals in Kallakuruchi and Villupuram districts used to send harvesting machines to Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Ballari, Soorakkal (Karnataka) and occasionally to Kerala during the paddy harvesting season between October to November. Usually, these machines would be sent by road through lorries, and in many places, it was a herculean task for drivers to navigate narrow roads and tight corners as the machines were wider than the lorry.
This year, as a large number of harvesting machines were required in AP, Karnataka and Telangana for harvesting, machine owners decided to send them by train. They discussed their plan with officials of Southern Railways and Trichy divisional manager Harikumar. After considering their demands, officials gave the green signal and a special goods train was booked.
“Till Sunday, nearly 500 harvesting machines and hay balers have been sent to AP, Karnataka and Telangana through trains on six different occasions from Chinnasalem station. On Sunday alone, 81 harvesting machines were sent. Since most of the machines from Kallakuruchi and Villupuram districts were already sent, we also arranged machines from nearby districts like Perambalur,Trichy and Ariyalur,” said Harvesting Machine Owners Association president Palanivel.
Members of the association added that usually, these machines are only needed in Tamil Nadu from the start of the year to mid-year, which are regular paddy harvest seasons. “Instead of keeping the machines idle, we sent them to other States for rent and we get good income. We were able to save some money by sending them through trains, as we do not have to pay toll fee or lorry rent for each machine separately,” they added.
Railway department officials added that there are plans to send these harvesting machines to Jharkhand and West Bengal in the future from Chinnasalem railway station.