MAPUSA: The sudden hike in the rates of the harvesting machines has upset farmers in Aldona who have now demanded that the government immediately reduce the charges as the steep hike is uneconomical and has hit them hard.
“The hourly rates have been hiked from Rs 1,200 per acre last year to Rs 1,400 this year and if the harvester exceeds the time limit, then the farmer is told to pay double the amount which is just ridiculous,” they stated.
Irate ryots from Quitla Postar Aldona on Wednesday gathered in their fields and requested the officials from the Agriculture Department and local MLA to address their grievances but sadly none of them turned up at the site.
“Ever since the government provided harvesting machines, we used to pay the service provider on an hourly basis but this year, the contractor has hiked the amount from Rs 1,200 to 1,400. They are supposed to harvest an acre within an hour but the drivers go tortoise-slow with their machines, waste time and force us to pay double the amount. Earlier this never happened and they would harvest an acre within 45 minutes. Today the harvester takes almost double the time to harvest the same area, forcing us to double the amount which is ridiculous,” said the affected farmers.
“Looks like the government is more concerned about the service provider than the farmer,” said president of the Nachinola Farmers Club Vithal Naik.
Farmers further alleged that the contractor manipulates the receipts. “We are forced to pay Rs 2,000 for 75 minutes however only Rs 700 is shown on the receipt. This is nothing but daylight robbery,” said the farmers.
They have now called on the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and agriculture minister to intervene into the matter and resolve the issue.
“If service providers are facing loss then the government should give them subsidy but not at the cost of the farmer,” they said.
“The government officials cannot take arbitrary decisions by sitting in air conditioned chambers. They should come to the field to see how we toil laboriously and get nothing in return,” the farmers charged and pointed out that while the government had increased harvesting charges, the procurement rate of rice has not changed for the last 20 years.
“If this continues, then such decisions will spell doom for agriculture and people will have no option but to abandon farming,” said the farmers.