[condor]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

At the same time, employment as farm labor is not guaranteed full time and is seasonal at best, so no guarantee for workers to get regular income if they want to work as farm labor. .

Even if someone wants to engage labour on a full-time basis (with accommodation on the farm), it is difficult. Have seen this at fairly close range here down south. Trustable, dependable labour is hard to find, for the reasons you have mentioned.

Btw, have even heard of labour from Bihar etc being employed here, but it's rare. (Such people are through agents who bring people from there)

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Were you able to get any state level subsidies on this purchase?

Nope! No state subsidies. You can get subsidy, but it is only for < 20HP small tractor and too many formalities. So didn't even bother.

Buying a 4 wheel drive tractor today is a sensible decision as the unpredicatable rainfall can cause the soil to become too mucky and difficult for a 2 wheel drive tractor to plough a field without getting stuck.

In small size tractor segment, 4x4 is essential if it is to be used for farming purpose (and not haulage)

Kubota is slowly picking up especially in the owner driver segment.

Kubota is the undisputed leader in small tractors, in self-use/drive segment and their small tractors are REALLY good for sugarcane / intercrop cultivation / orchard use case.

But the one tractor brand i am seeing more frequent is Sonalika! The founders story is inspiring to say the least and he has close to 7% market share..

Sonalika is very popular in Western North India in the bigger tractor segment. In small tractor range they are not so successful as Kubota/Mahindra for actual farming use. I also see lots of small tractors being used for small distance haulage uses for carrying sand/cement etc in villages (think of these as Tata ACE in cities) and here the single cylinder Mahindra Yuvraj/Swaraj 717 are widely used.

[vikas8890]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

In villages of Western UP, the workers/labor is local to the area and not from other parts of the state/country.

Now, with various govt schemes, the worker population (family) gets free ration/other schemes that gives them free food without doing anything. The outlook of workers is that if you have food to eat today, then why think long term or for future. The same person will not work as farm labor but will work as construction worker (just an example) in a city and slog. A recent trend seen, courtesy cheap mobile data, is youth who could be working wasting time making reels/seeing reels/social media/Youtube etc.

Lame Government Schemes/policies are the biggest reasons for many issues the people of India face. Mnrega schemes are amongst the worst one's. The local political class and their ilk are the biggest beneficiaries of these schemes. Sadly such schemes continue to exist and people suffer.

[PGA]

Agriculture is undergoing a transformation atleast in Punjab and Haryana, thanks to both State and Centre schemes. There is a very rapid mechanisation of the farms taking place. New machines are coming in a very big way. The size of farms is also changing, with farmers employed elsewhere or abroad or ones with small land holding moving out of farming and their land being aggregated by enterprising local youth and farming it as one unit and paying the owners good rentals. It is not uncommon to see only few families in a village farming over tracts of 50-150 acres plus.

Farming over these large tracts and paucity of labour, makes use of specialised machines a necessity. Above all these machines are getting heavier with each passing year necessitating larger and larger tractors. Till about year 2005, majority of farmers in my area were happy with a 35 HP general purpose tractor. That level moved to 50 HP for next 15-18 years. Nowadays the norm is 60+ HP and low, medium and high gear ratio and a 4X4. Even the combine harvesters have now moved to 4X4 variants, as maize harvest is changing over to combines.

Further, agriculture atleast in Punjab and Haryana is now systems driven, the sowing times are set across the region, inputs of fertilisers, pesticides etc is programmed and so is the harvest and procurement. Last year, herbicide spraying of wheat, which is an extremely essential activity was managed almost entirely by specialised tractors in our area. A year ago it was a manual activity. The change is happening at an extremely fast pace.

Another factor that plays while deciding about tractor is, who is going to be driving it, farm hand or the owner. For farm hands it is generally Sonalika, Mahindra and Swaraj as they are maintenance friendly while self-ridden once are John Deere, Holland etc. Farmtrac is very good general purpose tractor for basic field use, falls short during haulage and with specialised equipment. VST is good one ranging from 15 to 27 HP, Kubota, Indo Farm, Preet, Belarus and Solis etc are small players and yet to prove their mettle.

Some photographs culled from the net of these machines


Favourite these days


Only one with TBHP sticker


Hauls 30-35 ton of sugarcane


Almost 40% of all wheat sowing in the state

A video to give an idea of the scale, it happens once every three four days at my friend's outlet

https://1drv.ms/v/c/31aefa3adca8ad71...x2UdQ?e=YcFAc0

Originally Posted by vikas8890

Lame Government Schemes/policies are the biggest reasons for many issues the people of India face. Mnrega schemes are amongst the worst one's. The local political class and their ilk are the biggest beneficiaries of these schemes. Sadly such schemes continue to exist and people suffer.

You are quite right but not entirely. The scheme has provided succor to many mainly those past their prime in the lowest economic strata and has improved village infra, I don't deny that it could be made more efficient. Atleast in our area, there is not much pilferage from this scheme.

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Surprising that there are labor shortages considering we get news reports all the time that India has record un-employment. It is because people are getting freebies or work under MNERGA/equivalent in their villages hence do not want to venture out ?

A reason for labour paucity at farms is that farm work is not well paying at all, any road side vendor makes more than a farm hand plus the work requires intense physical effort often not in best environments. So the new gen has walked away from farms.

[condor]

Originally Posted by PGA

Attachment 2651671
Only one with TBHP sticker

Not really. Have posted a pic on the TeamBHP stickers thread with one on a MF .. The tractor belongs to my cousin.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by PGA

Attachment 2651674
Almost 40% of all wheat sowing in the state

A video to give an idea of the scale, it happens once every three four days at my friend's outlet

https://1drv.ms/v/c/31aefa3adca8ad71...x2UdQ?e=YcFAc0

I have been on a lookout for something similar for Paddy and came across this product - Direct seeder by National and a couple of other companies. Do you happen to
Have any review or feedback on the same as I intend to use it for the upcoming season as we currently use a Drum seeder which has given us average results. It saves time but crop output can depend on the seeds used and we have a massive bird problem which eats the seeds in the field eliminating any germination.

I am on the fence right now between DSR and ASR which is just an added step of running a roller after the seeding.

Direct seeder machine paddy

https://youtu.be/4IdB-6S2hd8?si=WgGn6JlC6sEYY2v7

https://youtu.be/iIE6evKphH0?si=ii-6Iqc0CvKPeq_6

Drum seeder.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lIpsfqyH...VRqmSHGBcABuQx

A reason for labour paucity at farms is that farm work is not well paying at all, any road side vendor makes more than a farm hand plus the work requires intense physical effort often not in best environments. So the new gen has walked away from farms.

Fact. Agri has to compete with other urban jobs for labour.

[Flyingdutchman]

Originally Posted by maddy42

What tractor to buy?

Agree. Big tractors are more suitable if you have large land parcels with relatively flat land with grain,pulses, potato, onion as major crops.

For Horticulture or small land parcels with not so flat terrains, small tractors comes in handy. Maneuverability in such fruit crops is key requirement due to structures erects to support hanging fruits such as Mango, orange plantations where in between distance is small. Big tractors cannot be used in Tomato, or Grapes farms as well due to steel foundation structure erect to support the plant and fruits. Plus mini tractor have multiple use cases such as carrying fruit produce directly from tree due to its small size. It's very handy to transport crates of Mangos, Oranges, grapes, Pomegranate and tomatoes from farm lines to sorting facility. You can attach a tractor mounted sprayer which will save manual labour.

We have a small Kubota A211N with a 3 cylinder 1000cc, 21hp diesel engine at my farm. We have attached a small sprayer motor on the tractor itself and tank is attached seperately. It's not possible or rather labour intensive to do manual spraying for 4 Acre Pomegranate or Grapes farms. Using this mini tractor and Machine sprayer with tank capacity of 300 litres , one can cover entire 5 acres within 3-4 Hrs. This tractor has multiple roles, spraying, weeding the grass in between the plants, occasional tilting of soil for better oxygen, carrying crates of fruits from farm to sorting etc.

[PGA]

Originally Posted by maddy42

I have been on a lookout for something similar for Paddy and came across this product - Direct seeder by National and a couple of other companies. Do you happen to
Have any review or feedback on the same as I intend to use it for the upcoming season as we currently use a Drum seeder which has given us average results.

Over the last 8 years I have tried number of methods of paddy sowing, including DSR for last four years.There are few issues with DSR first being improper germination unless one can maintain soil moisture for 12 days.Secondly weeds, especially if irrigation is used for germination or if it rains. Thirdly inadequate special weedicides, fourthly necessity of moisture maintenance during critical phases of crop growth for e.g. during vegetative phase and flowering, means assurance of on demand irrigation and lastly non availability of DSR variety seeds. Puddled paddy does not have any of these.

I understand Bayer India has started trials to overcome all these issues and have brought in special seeds and weedicides as well. Would recommend that you contact them and see if they can start some trials at your place. Any other queries you have, you may DM me.

My DSR machine with tank to spray pre emergent weedicide at the sowing time.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Flyingdutchman

Using this mini tractor and Machine sprayer with tank capacity of 300 litres , one can cover entire 5 acres within 3-4 Hrs. .

Are you able to do this with just you driving the tractor, or do you need at least one person to help you with directing the spray ?

Btw, I wonder if a Swaraj code can do this work (though for smaller areas and not what you have mentioned), though that is not really a tractor.

[Flyingdutchman]

Originally Posted by condor

Are you able to do this with just you driving the tractor, or do you need at least one person to help you with directing the spray ?

Yes, It's an automated setup. It is attached to tractor with wheels. Once tank is filled with solution, you just need to drive the tractor in between crop lines. Some sprayers have compressor in-built or in my case as you can see, I have installed it on the tractor itself so that I can use it as power washer as well when not using the sprayer.

As far as directions of spray is concerned, the design of sprayer is moduler, you can set the direction as you want. But it is useful only for fruit plants such as Pomegranate, Grapes, Mangos, Oranges etc.

I have attached one video for reference.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1plG_5gpNXM

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by Flyingdutchman

between crop lines. Some sprayers have compressor in-built or in my case as you can see, I have installed it on the tractor itself so that I can use it as power washer as well when not using the sprayer.

A lot of small and medium enterprises have come up to cater to the growing market of machinery while the big guys making the tractor don’t even launch their best products in India.

Just one advice - please wear like a mask or face protection while spraying. The after effects of these sprays will be felt a decade down the line.

What all can a tractor mechanise?

It can haul goods using a trailer and unload it by tipping.

https://youtu.be/Bxb9Pi1yifU?si=9NgMrxq-GyilXdWU

You need to decide what kind of hook you will go with. A pin type or a military hook or hydraulic T hook.

https://youtu.be/FF3fd1NOXPw?si=OZw9FDGAHVYaXrIA

You can plough or use a rotavator

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_UCft-K...xoTPhgQ-iHS-yx

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4VJpfeXR...-6VjxYgIXtbm5k

Can make raised beds - horticulture crops usually

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n2t-rWDp...SUMKx0bdj9pG-m

You can cut the crop

https://youtu.be/AV8y8voQnXg?si=gge-aMms8aahbcPW

You can spray your fields:

https://youtu.be/q4LkT_sMLNc?si=gugzGRCnNDLAFS3P

https://youtu.be/qtwrX6arM50?si=io3eYbzoUOEv6v1j

You can pulverize waste which can be composted.

https://youtu.be/MYePXkxSaQE?si=K9P0DBGAOu0dvLhE

Some use it as a digger or a dozer.

https://youtu.be/FXRSApfiK_g?si=82m-s7wTT2Knggsr

https://youtu.be/okdD8ocxiSs?si=CECAJQ248GX2NE9g

Now you can rotovate and seed too.

https://youtu.be/Aqr7aUW4oYM?si=DZStfPycn9PiwdFl

Just note: the list is endless, so buy only what is needed and do a cost benefit analysis between a buy vs a rent. I know farmers who have gone into financial mess due to tractor purchases for the wrong reasons.

[ferrarirules]

I recently attend ICCT's India Clean Transport Summit (ICTS), there was a talk on electric tractors. CEO of AutoNxt which manufactures electric tractors was present for the talk. The electric tractors are becoming a reality as well

The site for AutoNXT - link. They have currently one 45hp model - X45H2. Video of tractor in use and specifications are on the site.

A friend of mine has farms so he is looking into getting one as he has solar pump for his fields and can charge the tractor from the solar output - zero running cost.



Disclaimer: I am not associated to AutoNXT in anyway.