TIRUCHY: The agricultural engineering department, in the month of October, handed out as many as 31 tractors to Tiruchy, which is the district's share of the total of 185 tractors allotted to the delta districts by the state government.
The high inrush of tractors spelled relief to farmers who were left a worried lot over a lack of equipment. Six of the tractors received have already been put into use, sources said. Until the previous year, the farmers of the 14 blocks in Tiruchy ploughed the fields with the 11 tractors available under the tractor hiring scheme.
However, the farmers now anticipate ease of work as each of the blocks have been allotted three new tractors. Usually, the farmers used to plough around 2,000 acres every month. However, the new additions is expected to lift the units to 8,000 acres, officials said. S Kumaraganesh, the Executive Engineer of the department, said,
"The state government allotted these many tractors after reviewing the demands of the farmers here. More tractors were allocated to wetland intensive districts. In total, around 185 tractors have been allotted to the delta district - which includes Tiruchy too - this year." Kumaraganesh further said that farmers need to adopt mechanised agriculture practices.
"Mechanisation has become the order of the day. From labour efficiency to cost saving, mechanisation is a necessity." P Vishwanathan, the state president of Tamil Nadu Tank and River Irrigation Farmer's Association, told TNIE,
"We appreciate the steps taken by the department; we have been pressurising the government and the authorities. However, this alone would not suffice; we are still in need of more tractors as Tiruchy has more than 1.50 lakh hectares of samba cultivation. The rental charges of the tractors need to be revised too as the rate has been raised from Rs 340 per hour to Rs 500."