Barriers to farm mechanization: eliciting farmer constraints and policy suggestions of Madhya Pradesh

Introduction

Agriculture and its allied sector are the heart of social development of India since it provides livelihood and employment for majority of Indian population and plays a vital role in national income. (Sayana et al., 2022) [15] . Promoting an agricultural mechanization program is a critical step to strengthen Madhya Pradesh's economy. As a result, the state's farm power availability increased from 0.85 KW per hectare in 2007-08 to 2.33 KW in 2019-20, which is greater than India's average of 2.08 KW per hectare. Through a variety of initiatives, such as the agricultural equipment promotion action plan, which includes demonstrations of sowing, weeding, threshing, and harvesting equipment, and the skill development and training program, the state hopes to further increase farm power availability to 3.25 KW per hectare in the next four years. Additionally, the program will train unemployed youth in rural areas to improve their skills in repairing and maintaining agricultural machinery and equipment. (MP Economic Survey 2022-23) The Madhya Pradesh government launched the Kisan Yantra Anudan Yojana for farmers in the state in order to achieve the SMAM mission objectives regarding the reach of farm mechanization in low mechanized regions. Prior to its introduction (in 2017-18) as a part of SMAM (Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization) at the state level, this program operated primarily offline. The Kisan Yantra Anudan Yojana offers subsidies for farm implements through direct benefit transfers to the bank account number provided by farmers during registration, following the completion of the transaction between listed dealers, i.e., on the website. Farmers who applied for machines on the www.extensionjournal.com website can obtain the machinery listed on the website by the Agriculture Engineering department, and the deal receipt must be uploaded on the website for authentication. A computer lottery is used to create the list of farmers by#M.Sc. (Ag).

Authors' contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. District farmers are given agricultural tools based on this. MP farmers receive grants from the government ranging from 30 percent to 50 percent under this program. Additionally, the farmers received subsidies between Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 60,000. More accommodations are made for women who work as farmers. In the above context study was focussed on farm implements /machinery provided under scheme Kisan Yantra Anudan Yojana. The government would be able to strengthen the services provided by the Kisan Yantra Anudan Yojana and implement the necessary reforms.

Statement of the problem

The primary concern is that the scheme's top-down policy frameworks are not in line with the socioeconomic, organizational, and individual reality of the local farmers. Empirically, farmers are hampered by a lack of technical expertise and specialized training, severe operating time constraints that prevent the purchase of a variety of tools, and insufficient financial capacity to meet the non-subsidy costs of machinery. Small, marginal, and tribal farmers are further isolated by logistical gaps like far training locations and a lack of official information on subsidy payments.

Materials and methods

The study was conducted in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The district is located in the Mahakoshal region of State. Jabalpur district comprises of seven blocks out of which two blocks were selected i.e. Majhouli and kundam were selected because former block has highest number of beneficiaries under the scheme and later has one of the smaller number of beneficiaries and has higher number of tribal populations respectively. [7] .

Fig 1:

Distribution of respondents based on the constraints perceived by them

Suggestions to overcome the constraints faced by respondents

In Table 2 some of the suggestions were given by respondents to overcome constraints were presented. The data in the above table 2 shows the suggestions given by respondents to overcome constraints. On the basis of frequency and percentage statements such as there is need for more financial support provided by the government (59.32%), the condition of time duration to reapply is need to be more flexible in terms of the number of implements given to each farmers (58.47%), there is a need to increase the number of beneficiaries under KYAY (53.38%), ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd respectively. Whereas there is need to increase the number of training programmes and duration of training programmes, need to conduct trainings nearby small villages so that it becomes accessible to everyone, need to increase contact by extension personnel and do more publicity of the scheme and need to improve various infrastructural facilities ranked from 4thto 7th respectively on basis of frequency and percentage. Supportive study of (Madhukar et al. 2021; & Kisku and Singh 2022) [7,13] .

Conclusion

Current study reveals that majority of farmers highlighted they face financial constraints to avail the scheme as subsidy was not sufficient for farmers, also constraints regarding policy framework which is not according to need of farmers and farmers were not competent enough to avail benefits of new technology hence they feel lack of proper training. Therefore, the study concludes that large-scale-agricultural farm mechanisation for sustainable food production in the area must be anchored on a coherent strategy based on the actual needs and priorities of the farmers. Organize frequent awareness campaigns and demonstrations at the village level regarding the advantages of the scheme and the use of farm equipment. Increase communication between extension staff and farmers by conducting regular field visits and providing advice services. To increase farmers' technical expertise, set up need-based training programs in neighbouring areas.

To acquaint farmers with new farm technologies and to impart required skill for its usage is primitive but yet useful and very effective method for better adoption of mechanization. Farmers are extended with financial assistance under the scheme in the form of subsidy for the purchase of agricultural equipment but policy framework should have the discretion to select the quality and different machinery to be purchased with subsidy rather than it being predecided norms. Expand the scheme's beneficiaries and boost subsidy support. Give the qualifying requirements and time frame for obtaining farm implements more flexibility.

To ensure more accessibility, enhance the distribution of genuine information and streamline the application process. Encourage the purchase of specialized farm equipment that is appropriate for small and marginal farmers. To promote the use of farm machinery in the farming practices there is a need to develop customized farm machines and equipment with special focus on providing subsidy according to need of small and marginal land holders.

Disclaimer (artificial Intelligence)

Author(s) hereby declares that NO generative AI technologies such as Large Language Models (ChatGPT, COPILOT, etc) and text-to-image generators have been used during writing or editing of this manuscript.

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