Farmers in Jhapa have become happy after the arrival of combine harvesters in the village as a huge amount of paddy can be harvested and threshed in a short time by using the machine.
The machine is used to cut, thrash and harvest paddy from the field to the houses and transport it directly from the farm to the buyers. The farmers do not have to worry about lack of farm workers after the availability of the machine.
Parshuram Dahal, a farmer of Gauradaha-1, Sitapuri, has harvested early paddy grown in four bighas of his land this time by using a combine harvester.
He said that the harvest cost has been reduced due the use of the machine.
“It was difficult to find farm labourers in this time of restriction, but I managed to harvest paddy and make hay in a short time by using the machine,” he said.
However, he said that the cost of using the combine harvester this year was higher than last year’s.
“Last year, I had paid Rs. 5,000 per hour but this year it was Rs. 6,500,” he said.
Another farmer, Shanti Ram Niraula, said that there was no problem in harvesting and threshing paddy after the harvester machines arrived in the village.
“No matter how much money is charged, we have no other option but to hire them,” he said.
He said that a big amount of paddy can be harvested in a short period of time, however, it would take a bit longer time if the fields were congested.
Ward chairman of Gauradaha Municipality-1 Nagendra Bhandari said that he saw three or four combine harvesters busy harvesting paddy in his ward recently.
He said that the use of modern machines and technology-friendly farming system was being developed.
“We have emphasised on consolidating farming to attract the farmers to use the technology,” he said.
The cost of using machinery from planting to harvesting of paddy will be less in consolidating farming system, he added.
Farmers will benefit when the production cost is reduced, he said.
The farmers also said that it would be better to fix the charges for using the combine harvesters and other agricultural machineries.
The farmers have been complaining that there was no uniformity in the fare charged for using such commercially imported machinery.
According to an officer of the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernisation Project, Implementation Unit, Jhapa, they have provided five combine harvesters to the farmers’ groups under the project.
Source : THE RISING NEPAL,
