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The Kerala Agro Industries Corporation (KAIC) has launched a ‘mechanised labour bank' (Agro Labour Force) to address the dwindling number of work force in the State's farm sector.
The State has been witnessing a crippling problem on the farm front with the youth being increasingly reluctant to enter the field due mainly to occupational risk and arduous labour associated, for instance, with coconut palm climbing.
REGISTER WITH KAIC
Those needing the service of trained hands made available by the new service need to register with the KAIC at ‘Kisan Jyothi', Fort, in the capital city between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on all working days or through telephone 0471-2466674.
On getting the call, a supervisor will visit the spot, assess the extent of the work, prepare an estimate and deploy trained hands to execute the work at affordable rates fixed by the corporation.
The KAIC is of the view that there will be a great demand for coconut climbers in the capital district. Of the 25 trained in the first batch for the district, 15 have been given training in mechanised coconut climbing.
FEE STRUCTURE
Those hiring the service of coconut climbers will have to pay at the rate of Rs 40 a coconut tree if the number of trees to be harvested is in the range of 1-10; Rs 30 a tree for 11-25 trees; and Rs 25 a coconut tree if the number of trees is above 25, says Mr Praveen C. Mathen, Manager, KAIC.
Those hiring a tractor will have to pay at the rate of Rs 1,000 for six hours plus cost of diesel and wages of the operator. The corporation has estimated that the work pertaining to a plot of 80 cents would come to around Rs 1,800.
Each unit of the mechanised labour bank will have 20-30 persons with proper training in handling tractors, power tillers, garden tillers, bush cutters, pumps sets, lawn mowers and sprayers, apart from coconut-climbing machines.
APTITUDE TEST
The persons who would man the machines have been selected based on the basis of previous work experience and an aptitude test. This was followed by a 10-day, on-hand training.
Formulated under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna of the Central Government, the scheme would be introduced in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kannur during the first phase, says Mr N. K. Manoj, Managing Director, KAIC.
WOMEN LABOUR
Training for the unit has commenced in Thrissur as well, and will be extended to all districts in the second phase depending on public response. The KAIC has also plans to recruit women to the labour bank.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr K. P. Mohanan, launched the programme as part of the Government's 100-day action-plan. He said that the Centrally-funded project would help bring back the youth to the agriculture sector.
He hoped that awareness among students on mechanised farming methods would help overcome the reluctance of the youth to enter the field.
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