High-Tech Harvest Hubs tackle labour crisis, boost crop yield

Bengaluru: Minister for Agriculture N Chaluvarayaswamy on Monday showcased the successful field impact of the state’s first-of-its-kind Rs 173-crore mechanisation initiative.

The project, which has seen the distribution of 524 ‘High-Tech Harvest Hubs’ over the last three years, has significantly alleviated the state’s reliance on erratic migrant labour by giving farmers affordable access to advanced machinery like heavy combine harvesters and mechanical sugarcane cutters.

The scheme offers financial assistance, providing up to a 50% subsidy for an enterprise unit valued at Rs 1 crore. Under the operational guidelines, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) beneficiaries receive a Rs 50 lakh subsidy, while general category entrepreneurs are eligible for Rs 40 lakh.

“Since Independence, no state in the country has ever extended a Rs 50 lakh subsidy to an individual farmer or farm entrepreneur,” the minister said.

He added that smaller doles of Rs 10,000–20,000 are no longer sufficient to solve structural agricultural crises.

Over the last three years, these high-tech hubs have been steadily rolled out across the state, primarily to aid in highly efficient sugarcane harvesting, he said.  Highlighting the severe migrant labour crisis that historically plagued the state’s agricultural belts, Swamy detailed how farmers are routinely exploited.

“Migrant labourers from other states will demand high upfront advances. Sometimes reaching up to Rs 10 lakh, only to abandon the fields after a few days. Farmers were then threatened with police complaints from other districts if they tried to forcefully retain them. This scheme has completely transformed that reliance on manual labour and secured the farmers’ investments,” the minister said.

According to technical data compiled by state agricultural universities, transitioning from manual practices to mechanised high-tech harvesting has helped increase sugarcane yields by 5 to 10 tonnes per acre. Also, adopting mechanical transplanting methods has augmented yields by an additional 10 tonnes.

New app soon

Along with this, the minister announced that a new application (app) will soon be introduced in the first week of June to provide instant solutions and information to farmers regarding market prices, situation and agriculture-related problems.