The Hindu Business Line : Call to set up separate agricultural engineering department in States

WHILE the agricultural machinery industry has developed fairly well and indigenous products have met the entire machinery requirement, mechanisation of farm practices has not caught on in the country.

Some attribute the slow take-off to the poor infrastructure for the extension of agricultural engineering technologies.

"Even in Tamil Nadu, there's a lack of infrastructure and manpower in the State Directorate of Agriculture for guiding farmers in the purchase of agricultural machinery and for providing technological support," said Dr N. S. L. Srivastava, President, Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE). Dr Srivastava was presiding over the 40th Annual Convention of the ISAE at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here on Thursday. He pitched for a separate Directorate of Agricultural Engineering in each State to monitor mechanisation, post-harvest technology, agro processing, and soil and water management.

The annual investment in agricultural machinery (both production and post-harvest operations), he said, is not less than Rs 50,000 crore. The estimated post-harvest loss of agricultural produce has almost doubled to Rs 1 lakh crore. "Increasing production is not enough. It is equally important to save the produce from losses. The Centre and the State Government should focus more on promoting post-harvest technologies and encourage agro-food processing activities in rural areas."

The shortage of power and telecom facilities in rural areas is driving farmers and processing units to relocate from production catchments to bigger towns. He called for an integrated approach towards energy management, resource conservation technologies and alternative energy sources for sustainable rural development.

Agricultural engineers must shoulder responsibility and demonstrate rural planning to bring about a complete change in villages, Dr Srivastava added.

The Vice-Chancellor of TNAU, Dr C. Ramasamy, suggested a multi-pronged approach towards energy demand.