(a) whether the Government is contemplating to set up agriculture
machinery service centers in the country to make available latest agriculture
machinery to the farmers on custom hiring basis;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the extent to which these centres would benefit the farmers?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF
STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI ARUN YADAV)
(a) & (b): The Ministry of Agriculture has launched a special initiative in
2010-2011 for establishing 6000 (six thousand) ‘Mechanization Hubs’ in the identified
6000 clusters covering 60,000 villages for providing farm mechanization services
on custom hiring basis. This initiative that envisages ‘Organizing 60,000 Pulses
and Oilseeds Villages in Rainfed areas’ is being operationalised under the aegis of
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY).
Under this initiative, respective State Governments are establishing the
custom hiring centres for providing farm mechanization services to beneficiaries in
adjoining areas in a hub and spoke model.
(c): These custom hiring centres, besides supplementing developmental efforts of
other programmes, would primarily benefit the farmers to enhance their farm
productivity, improve economic returns and reduce dependency on agricultural
labour.