Farm mechanization

Farm Mechanization

Meaning : 

Mechanization of farms indicates the use of machines for conducting agricultural operations placing the traditional methods which involve human and animal labour.Thus mechanization is a process of replacing biological sources of energy involving animal and human labour to mechanized sources of energy which includes various machines like tractors, threshers, harvesters, impetus etc.It does not only includes the use of machines for tillage operations,harvesting and threshing of the farm produce but also includes power lifts for irigation,trucks for transporting of farm produce, processing machinery, dairy appliances, oil cessing, cotton ginning, rice handling etc.

Benefits of Mechanisation of Agriculture

The important benefits of farm mechanization are as follow:

a.Mechanization and Farm Productivity:

A number of field studies conducted to establish the relationship between mechanization and productivity have revealed that mechanization increase to greater productivity. It helps in the proper mix of new farm inputs to the advantage inputs. Tractors can dig deeper and bring to the surface more fertile soils and contribute productivity to a great extent. New farm technology works better with mechanical inputs . Tractors can dig deeper and bring to surface more fertile soils and contribute to greater productivity. It helps in proper mix of new farm inputs to the advantage of a farmer.

b.Farm Mechanisation and Food Production:

With the help of machinery, farm operations can be completed in much less time than if they are to be performed manually. This increases intensity of cropping. As argued by N.S. Jodha, the introduction of tractor in sandy areas of deficient rainfall can reduce the period of sowing operations immediately after a rainfall. This would naturally increase food production. In those areas where water supply is assured farmers are making efforts to raise three to four crops from their piece of land in a year .

c .Farm Mechanisation and Labour Productivity:

Mechanisation increases the efficiency of labour in agriculture and raises the agriculture productivity per worker. With the introduction of machines, the quantum of labour required to produce a unit of output is greatly reduced. Increasing mechanization has helped achieve miracles in the West. Mechanization not only reduces the volume of labour requirement but also reduces the working hours of those who stay to work with machines and thus saves them from drudgery and provides them leisure time to relax and replenish their energies.

d.Mechanization and Reduction in Costs:

Mechanization as it increases productivity of land and labour results in reducing cost of production. Further, since mechanization and large-scale farming go side by side, economies of large-scale production and higher yield per hectare help in reducing the cost. The experience of many developed countries shows that with development,human and animal labour becomes costlier vis-a-vis the machines.

e.Coping with Labour Shortage:

Since farming is a seasonal industry, it involves a peak requirement of labour during certain operations of farm husbandry. For instance, when the crop is ripe for harvesting, there is greater demand for labour so that the whole crop may be harvested in time. Sometimes, non-availability of labour may lead to the destruction of the Crop. Mechanization may help in overcoming this bottleneck for example, harvester combines have been pushed into operation in some parts of Punjab where labour shortage is felt at the time of harvest.

f.Mechanization Leads to Commercial Agriculture:

Mechanization leads to commercialization of agriculture. If along with the mechanization of agriculture, the industrial base of the country also widens so that off-the-farm jobs multiply agriculture tends to greater commercialization and speeds up the pace of prosperity in the countryside. Less number of workers producing more agricultural production is an index of the changing face of things in an agrarian economy. More affluence among the farm sections helps in diversification of the rural economic activities which creates more avenues of employment and this checks urban-ward migration which has already started becoming a serious problem in the less developed countries. With developed agriculture, farmers take decisions regarding production and investment on the basis of price trends.

g.Mechanisation Modifies Social Structure in Rural Areas:

Traditional agriculture involves hard work and drudgery. Mechanization helps in freeing the farmers from this drudgery and allows them to enjoy more leisure and work under agreeable conditions, According to Prof. Hanumantha Rao, It may even  raise the participation rate among those who could afford to abstain from drudgerous manual work." The whole outlook of the farmer is changed with the introduction of Farm mechanization. 

Merits of mechanization of agriculture 

The basic arguments in favour of mechanization on which agreement are discussed below:

1. Power and equipment facilitate an increase in yields through more time varieties depend or correct seed-bed preparation, proper seeding dates, precise and effective farm operations. Optimum yields of the new high-yield fertilizer placement, and the uniform and timely distribution of water chemicals. All of these can be better provided through mechanization.

2. The possibilities for multiple cropping put a premium on speedy harvesting and land preparation so that the next crop may be planted. This gives rise to peak season labour shortage when the demand for human labour exceeds the supply. Mechanization helps output by supplementing labour during peak periods and so getting the next crop planted more quickly.

3. Mechanization reduces the dependence on draught animals, which have low productivity and high costs. These animals also require fodder which utilize land that would otherwise be available for growing food for human consumption .

4. Mechanization increases the appallingly low productivity of labour in the agricultural sectors of the economy. If standards of living are to rise, this must be the ultimate concern of developing countries.

5. Mechanization lowers the cost of production by allowing more efficient utilization of land, labour, irrigation and other inputs. This is important in  terms of the overall growth of the economy because it permits the generation of savings for investment. It is also important for those countries hoping to lower costs in order to export in the world markets.

The expert Working Group constituted by the ICAR in September 1984 made the following observations in respect of productivity as influenced by mechanization.The panel said it was possible to achieve:

i. Five to ten per cent improvement in yields by proper and timely seed-bed preparations;

ii. Ten to twenty per cent improvement in yield by using seed-cum-fertilizer drill;

iii. Five to thirty percent improvement in yield through control of weeds by use of intercultural tools, sprayers and dusters;

iv. Four to five per cent saving through timely and efficient harvesting and threshing operations;

V.During the post-harvesting operations, the current eight to ten per cent loss of stored food grains can be saved by improved storage practices; and

vi. Lining of water courses and use of sprinklers can improve the availability of water.

Demerits Of Farm Mechanisation

a.Mechanization and Unemployment:

Mechanization has very limited scope in these countries which are suffering from the acute problem of unemployment. Machines are always labour-saving. Any Attempt to rationalize agricultural production by the introduction of labour-saving devices would throw out of employment in large number of present agricultural population. In the farm sector , labour is displaced by machines whole non farm sector does not grow fast enough to absorb this displace labour.This results in the aggravation of the already acute  employment problem.In addition to this economic effect, this in itself has serious social implications,mechanization results in a lot of tenant farmers being converted into landless labourers .This implies that the very structure of the agricultural sector is likely to be changed in none too desirable directions.

b.Existence of Small Farms:

Mechanization of agriculture operations has limited scope in these countries of the world that have small and tiny size and irregular shape holdings. It is for this reason that, in some such countries, mechanization has crept into the stationary type of farm work and transportation but has limited application to field operations. India is known to be a country of small holding extent mechanization will have only limited application in Indian agriculture. In the event of introducing mechanization in Indian agriculture, land reforms such as would provide scope for it, shall have t to be adopted at a higher scale.

c.Lack of Trained Personnel:

Application of mechanization to farm operations would also be restricted in most underdeveloped countries as they lack trained personnel to handle machines. A poor, illiterate farmer of a backward village in India will find it extremely difficult to adopt large-scale mechanization. There is also dearth of trained mechanics who can provide repair facilities for such machines.

d.Rapidly increasing Fuel Prices:

Mechanization presupposes the availability of electric energy or mineral fuels.The supply of mineral fuels is very deficient in most under-developed countries so that it will be too costly to make use of petrol or diesel oil tractors or other machines.Unless cheap hydro electricity is made available on the farm, mechanization is out of question.

Necessary Conditions For Farm Mechanization 

 The following conditions are necessary for the effective development of farm mechanization in developing countries:

1) Availability of proper farm machinery. Individual farm operations are complicated, and the same machine cannot be adapted to perform all tasks.The production of different crops requires different specialized machines. If The appropriate farm machines are available, farm mechanization should be encouraged.

2) Proper environment for farm mechanization. The farm land, climate and cropping patterns must be suitable for machine operation.

3) Technological capability and confidence on the part of farmers to adopt mechanical farming. Farmers have to know how to operate, maintain and manage farm machinery. Hence the government must be willing to train extension workers and farmers in the use of farm machinery.

4) Machine farming must be cheap them labour. If the cost of labour remains less than that of mechanical substitutes, labour intensive technology will prevail.

5) Sufficient capital for farmers to invest in farm machines which require capital investment as well as cash resources to operate them. For a farm in a developing country, capital constraints may effectively farmers from purchasing their own machines.

If all these five conditions can be met, small farms can successfully mechanize To increase the efficient use of farm machines, some forms of farmers. organization such as group farming or custom farming have to be established. Such an organization provides the opportunity to increase machine use and thereby reduce, per unit cost of mechanical operations.

Problems Encountered in Farm Mechanization

Problems which arise in the course of farm mechanization frequently occur because the above five conditions cannot be met. The following are some of the common problems encountered:

1) Lack of suitable farm machines. While some power-tillers,water pumps ,power sprayers and dryers in use are manufactured domestically, the more complex machines (for example, tractors, repairs and combines) are imported and they are not completely suited to local conditions. While machines for most operations of rice production are available, this does not apply for many other crops.

2) Dilemma faced by many developing countries on whether to import or to locally manufacture farm machines. The farm machine industry in Taiwan cannot supply sufficient machines at reasonable prices to meet its domestic needs because it still suffers from low quality and high prices.

3) Small farm size and fragmented holdings. The average size of farms in Taiwan is approximately one hectare and they usually consist of several Scattered plots. The physical structure and size of operations often make it uneconomical for each farmer to purchase his own machinery.

4) Mechanical knowledge of farmers. Generally, the average farmer in Taiwan Lacks mechanical knowledge and does not possess the skills to manage complicated farm machinery. This-discourages farmers from employing machines in their farm operations.

5) High prices of machines and low purchasing power. From an economic view-point, the prices of machines must be relatively low before farmers find it attractive to substitute machines for labour. Also, farmers normally required credit sources to enable them to invest in machines, and small farms do not have sufficient capital for them.

Scope of Mechanisation In India

a.India still is a developing country with a rapid rate of population, small and marginal holdings, illiterate and backward farmer with a low per capital income,huge cattle population and deficient in electric energy or mineral fuels. 

b.Large-scale mechanization in India would lead to displacement of agricultural labourers and thus it would aggravate rather than solve our unemployment problem. As agricultural labour is quite cheap in India, the use of labour-saving devicesis rather not desirable.

c.Further, our farmers with small and tiny holdings are still living hand-to-mouth existence with very little savings which they can spend to purchase farm machines. The capital resources necessary for mechanization are not available in India.

d.Non-availability of sufficient electric energy and frequent price hikes of petrol and diesel by OPEC countries are another big constraint in the use of mechanization in the agricultural sector. 

e.These are some farm operations where the introduction of mechanization is highly desirable whereas the rest of the operations could well be performed with the help of men and animal power.

Mechanization can well be recommended for the following fields activities:

i. Reclamation of lands infested with deep rooted weeds and grasses by deep ploughing with the help of tractor driven implements.

ii. Land improvement by land leveling with the help of bulldozers and other machinery.

iii. Construction of dams and water and soil conservation Works.

iv. For irigation purposes.

V. For constructing roads in the rural areas, hauling farm produce, for processing farm produce and for plant protection practices.

vi. For large and cooperative farms.

There is scope for reclamation of lands in the country and mechanization can be of immense use in this regard. In the areas of rugged topography, mechanization helps in leveling the lands and making them suitable for cultivation purposes.