PALAKKAD: The paddy farmers who have been facing perennial labour problem need no longer worry about its availability. The Chittur taluk, which already has a food security army (Thozhil Sena), has been supplemented by an Agro Service Centre equipped with the most modern machinery, which will be provided on rent to the farmers. The centre will be inaugurated by Agricultural Scientist M S Swaminathan on May 27. Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan will be present at the function.The Agro Service Centre has been set up with the assistance of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) which has provided a sum of `1 crore for the initiative. The cluster of precision farmers under which the centre has been registered has been provided a loan of `20 lakh from the Perumatty Service Co-operative Bank.“There are 24 types of machinery at the centre that could be utilised by paddy, coconut and vegetable farmers. It will be the largest one in the state,” Chittur Agriculture Assistant Director Dr Asha said.The machineries available at the Agro Centre are ride-on transplanters which could transplant 10 to 15 acres, farm digger which functions as a mini JCB, bund plastering machine and laser leveller to control the water level thereby reducing its consumption. The other equipment include tractors, mini tractors (24 HP), paddy bailer, power tiller, mud trucks and fork lifters, Asha said.She said there are two food security armies in Perumatty panchayat, one each in Pattancherry, Nalleppilly and Kozhinjampara panchayats and Thattamangalam Municipality, with a total of 125 personnel. The Nalleppilly food security army is an all-woman army. A green carpet force has also been registered under the Chittur taluk. These personnel have been provided training for one month at the Agriculture Research Station at Mannuthy.“There is also an ethylene chamber with a capacity of 10 tonnes, where vegetables, bananas and mangoes could be stored for short periods. The paddy bailer can be used for the first crop which has been transplanted late and for the Mundakan crop,” Perumatty Krishi Bhavan Agriculture Officer Joseph John said.“A cluster of farmers has been engaged in precision farming on a large scale in Perumatty panchayat. The Agro Service Centre will fix the rates of labour force and the equipment. The farmers can utilise the services as and when required. It will also ensure that the labourers are paid well,” Perumatty Service Co-operative bank president and former MLA K Krishnankutty said.The centre will advise the farmers on seed selection, the inputs needed for enriching the soil and the fertilisers and pesticides to be used, he added.
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