The Hindu Business Line : Most farmers prefer animals for ploughing

A MAJORITY of the farmers in the country still use animals for ploughing. Even developed States such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are depending on animals for the job.

As per the 59th round of National Sample Survey on Aspects of Farming, conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation, 52 per cent of the farmers in the country still plough their fields with animals. Diesel tractors are used by 47 per cent of the farmers.

According to an official press release, an interesting find of the study was that ratio of animal-tractors use did not change with increase in the size of landholdings by the households.

However, among farmers having over 10 hectares of land, at least 70 per cent used diesel as main source of energy for ploughing.

Electricity use for ploughing was 1-2 per cent, as per the study.

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana were found to be more in favour of using diesel tractors. While 96 per cent of the farmers in Punjab used tractors, in Haryana 89 per cent used it. Other States where farmers tended to use tractors are Uttar Pradesh (81 per cent), Kerala (71 per cent), Rajasthan (70 per cent), Tamil Nadu (68 per cent) and Bihar (64 per cent).

In contrast, 97 per cent farmers in Assam and 98 per cent farmers in Jharkhand preferred animals for ploughing. In Karnataka, 85 per cent of the farmers used animals for ploughing and in Maharashtra 78 per cent of the farmers preferred animals. In Chattisgarh, 90 per cent of the farmers used animals for ploughing. Over 60 per cent of the farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh did the same for farming.

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