For ensuring food security to the rising population, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recommended increase in farm mechanisation due to limited availability of agricultural land.
It has also suggested a range of measures such as accelerated depreciation, tax exemptions, zero duties, etc to accelerate purchase of machinery.
The industry body has also urged the government to shift the policy from ?Rupees per kilo? to ?Rupees per acre?. ?The policy framework should encourage farmers to move towards greater use of farm equipment which will lead to higher agricultural productivity and thus higher farm incomes and crop yields,? CII said in a statement.
?Identification of farm mechanization needs and development of need based farm implements are of prime importance? Rakesh Bharti Mittal, chairman, CII National Council on Agriculture said.
The key industry association has proposed an action agenda covering policy framework, availability of farming machinery and equipment, and financial measures for promoting farm mechanisation.
To begin with, it has suggested that a joint government and private sector working group be established to suggest a roadmap. ?A National mission on farm mechanisation should undertake activities in an intensive manner,? the statement noted.
Availability of farm implements and machinery would hinge on maintaining a stock of such equipment at state agro corporations or agricultural universities for deployment on farms when needed.
?This could be done on a hire-purchase or lease basis so that small and medium farmers as well as large farms could access them as required,? the chamber said. Technology transfer from foreign firms could be promoted through joint ventures.
Research and development facilities could also be established, while learning for farmers could be carried out through tailored distance programs leveraging on Information Technology and telecom.
CII also suggests a complete finance mechanism for facilitating leasing of farm machinery by small, medium and large farmers. Loans should be offered on agricultural interest rates and lending norms should be liberal, flexible and transparent.
The participation of private industry in farm mechanization would be critical. ?Dedicated extension programs in public-private partnership mode would be needed. Suitable solutions taking into account crop types, seasons, and soil types must be developed which would be facilitated through industry,? the statement noted.