NEWS OF ONLINEKHABAR
For ages, humans have been using their hands to plant saplings. They break a sweat, get tanned in the sun and tirelessly continue to work in the field. It seems the change was never easy for people.
But, thanks to Silwal, Timalsena had his first experience watching how modern machines could change the face of agriculture. Still impressed by the modern marvel, he says, “Traditional methods are precious and we should definitely respect them, but modernisation in agriculture is important to adopt new ways and result in efficient harvest.”
But, do the farmers really need mechanisation instead of following the old ways? PMAMP Programme Director Baikuntha Adhikari says yes. “The whole agricultural scenario has seen a decline in Nepal. There are physical risks involved, which drives people away naturally. Agriculture also requires more labour so people today refrain from that. And on top of all, people now have new, better, easier sources of income, driving them further away,” he justifies, “So, in this scenario, we need mechanisation not just to maximise the human resources we have but also to maximise the productivity and make it uniform.”
Sandesh Poudel, an agricultural engineer at the same office, seconds Adhikari. “The machines can decrease the labour input, making farmers more efficient and resulting in more harvest. This in return makes them independent.”
For example, the rice planter machine used today allows farmers six saplings at a time instead of one and decreases the labour by 40-50 per cent. According to Poudel, the saplings are treated and kept in a tray that then efficiently places them into the soil. The machine can cover one bigha (around 72,900 square feet) of land per hour, decreasing the time spent in the field.
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