Driving down the streets in Chandigarh is a singular pleasure. The widest, smoothest, and almost traffic free roads in the Country.
Last week I saw a very unusual vehicle on the
street. It was a tiller with a small trolly behind.
What is a tiller and why did a get riled up?
This tiller should have been in the farmers hand
half a century ago. But no! Everyone was hell bent on buying tractors to usher
in the Green Revolution at an exorbitant expense to man and the environment.
No two opinions on the success of Green Revolution.
It shows the world what Punjab could do, given the right tools and pointed in
the right direction.
The direction was correct, the tools were not.
Which takes us back to the tiller. The tiller is a
motorised plough. Small, light weight, very effective and ideal for farmers
with small holdings. Also works very well in the hills where cultivation is on
a terraced hill side. Great for your orchard and even home garden.
Imagine the old fashion plough. It had a single
blade that was pulled by a pair of sturdy oxen. It was not very efficient, the furrow
dug was shallow. It could not remove debris like stones, twigs and other
undesirables from the farm land to completely clean and ready the soil.
The unhappiest part was that it was necessary for a
man to walk behind the plough with one hand on the plough and a whip in the
other hand to move the oxen.
Along came the tiller! Great leap forward. The oxen
were replaced with a small motorised machine. Immediately behind the motor was
the plough. Instead of the single blade plough, this plough had 4-6-8 tines,
making it very effective. It dug deeper and 4-6-8 furrows at a time.
All this machinery was supported on a light weight
tubular frame/chassis and two wheels.
This contraption, tiller, was worked by a driver who
had a handle bar to control the tiller’s functioning. He walked behind the
contraption, just like his Grandpa had done for centuries. One very big change,
he had a motorised plough!
One of the problems the agricultural sector has been
facing is the farmers committing suicide.
Has anybody stopped to analysis the root cause of
this problem? Of course not! It was easy to put it down as “Being in debt!’’ Matter
closed.
Lets backup to sometimes in the 70s. The Ford tractor
was available courtesy the World Bank. Everyone and his Chacha went and bought
one.
It made no difference whether the farmer owned a
hundred acres of land or 10 acres.
The Ford 3000 was 47 hp and 3100 cc. This size
tractor was good for a 100 acre farm.
The farmer owning 10 acres and using a 47 hp tractor
was a classic case of over kill.
Both farmers had incurred the same cost but their
incomes were vastly different. You don’t have to be an accountant to figure out
that the small holding farmers had problems from day one. Every millimetre of
his land was mortgaged to the bank. Any additional implements like trolley,
plough, disc harrow cost more. The financial burden increased. The other farmer
was breezing through life. No financial stress!
This problem started at World Bank level.
The size of the tractor, the engine capacity, should
have been directly proportionate to the land holding.
They gave a sledge hammer to the small farmers to
crack open a peanut!
The government, the ministry, the tractor dealer all
went along with, “Oh what a great idea’’.
Yes! It was. Afterall, it was this project that
brought about the Green Revolution.
The farmers suicide was collateral damage!
Everyone noticed that terrible epidemic but no one
looked into the cause. Life is cheap in India. So what if a few farmers
suicide. They are at the lower end of the social ladder and serve only to be
statistic.
The 48 hp tractor plus all its additional fitments
would come close to Rs. 10 Lacs.
The tiller with all its additional fitments would be
worth around Rs. 2 Lacs.
There was another reason. The Ego! Punjabi’s have
massive Egos. If the Singh at the next farm has a 48 hp tractor, by Santa I am
going to have the same!
However if the tiller had been made available to the
small holding farmers, his mechanical needs would have cost around Rs. 2.00
Lacs. This amount is directly proportionate, to say, about 10 acres. The
smaller hp tiller will have far less running costs and maintenance cost than
the larger tractor.
This would save
money to the farmer and to the country.
If financial
reason were a contributing factor to the suicides, the tiller may offer some
balm.
A truly win-win
situation.
The initial outlay, the loan, would be a result of
economic efficiency. However that word or concept doesn’t exist in our
vocabulary.
We have something called the Research in Rural and Industrial Development. This should have been the responsibility of this organisation.
