Agartala: Nov 24: Towards reducing the input cost in farming sector through mechanising the farming sector and thus overcome the shortage and higher costs of manual labor Tripura Horticulture Corporation Limited (THCL) signed an agreement and became a Clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents of Kerela Agro Machinery Corporation Ltd (KAMCO) on Thursday.
The step is expected to largely cater the needs of small and marginal farmers of Tripura who will be able to afford small farm machineries at highly subsidised rates and shall be available across the state along with service centres. During a program at Pragna Bhawan, Tripura’s Agriculture Minister Pranajit Singha Roy along with MLA Sudhangshu Das who is also the chairman of THCL, Apurba Roy, secretary of Agriculture department, V. Sivaramakrishnan, Managing Director, KAMCO and other officials of the agriculture and horticulture department attended the formal launching ceremony of agreement.
During their address the Agriculture Minister emphasised on the need for mechanisation of agriculture sector and which according to him is an essential input in modern agriculture as it not only enhances productivity but also reduces human drudgery and cost of cultivation leading the farming community towards increasing their income and which is the primary focus of the government.
Meantime, the MD of KAMCO viewed that they are working on resolving the issue of the farmers having marginal, small and semi-medium operational holdings and special care are being given to design customise farm machinery and equipment so that small individual ownership of agricultural holdings can be transformed into economic and profitable by improvement of farm productivity beside timely agricultural inputs and specific interventions with a special emphasis on reaching the unreached. According to experts use of proper equipment which are highly subsidised can increase the farm productivity by up-to 30 percent and reduce the input cost thus transform agriculture sector into attractive and a way of life by becoming commercial instead of subsistence.
