Paddy harvester purchased in Morang. Photo: Hari Prasad Koirala

Farmers of Urlabari Municipality-9 in Morang have purchased a modern paddy harvesting machine with a 50 percent subsidy from the Koshi Province government.

Ward Chairman of the municipality, Nar Bahadur Moktan, said that a harvester companion, tractor, baler, and trolley were purchased for Rs. 6.276 million, with 50 per cent of the cost subsidised by the Koshi Province government.

Moktan said, "We aim to increase production by connecting farmers with technology. Farmers have been struggling to harvest paddy due to a lack of timely agricultural labour. Agricultural labourers who traditionally do this work have also gone to India in search of employment after losing their jobs.”

He added that if farming can be done fully with technology, there will be no need to wait for the availability of agricultural labourers.

Dikendra Basnet, a farmer from Urlabari Municipality-9, said, "Harvesters arrived in the village when we were facing a shortage of labourers to harvest rice. We can now harvest rice quickly and efficiently at a lower cost using modern technology."

He said that collecting straw during rice harvesting is difficult, and it would be better if there were a machine that could tie the straw into bundles and store them in the field.

"Having access to such machinery will bring great relief to us farmers," he added.

Wards No. 8 and 9 of Urlabari Municipality are areas where rice is intensively cultivated. The municipality is also running a pocket programme for maize cultivation in these wards.

According to Ambika Prasad Luitel, chief of the agriculture branch of the municipality, Ward No. 9 had allocated Rs. 1 million to install this technology.

Similarly, farmers have invested Rs. 746,000 in purchasing tractors.

Luitel said that this technology has been introduced through a partnership among farmers, ward offices, and the provincial government.

As it has been brought in with farmers' co-investment, farmers in the ward will have to pay Rs. 6,000 per hour for harvesting paddy.

However, other commercial harvester operators currently charge Rs. 7,500 per hour at the current fuel price.

By Hari Prasad Koirala