Nabanita Sarkar, Rupam Roy, Progya Paromita Mondal, Moutushi Paul, Rudranil Dey and Aditi Biswas
Abstract
Farm mechanization is the application of engineering and technology in the field of agricultural operation to do a job in a better way to improve or increase the production of the crop and increase the profitability of farmers by a reduction in drudgery of labour and saving time cost of cultivation. This paper discusses the farm mechanization status in the Alipurduar district of the state of West Bengal in India based on a primary field survey. The study shows us the present situation of land holding, irrigation, Govt. support in the district and tries to identify and analyze the gap for major cropping patterns. At present, in Alipurduar the prevalence of marginal and small farmers in the agricultural scenario prevents them from exploiting the maximum benefits of the modern agricultural implements. There is a high need for the adaption of suitable machines of small capacity and low cost especially in intercultural operation tillage, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and threshing operations. There is a huge gap in access to institutional credit, govt. extension support service, irrigation, and experience of farmers on the level of farm mechanization. A massive awareness program needs to be carried out among the farmers in Alipurduar to popularize the need for crop-specific machinery.