Kanchanpur Municipality Distributes Subsidized Mini Power Tillers to Farmers to Boost Agricultural Mechanization

Kanchanpur. To promote the use of mechanization in agriculture, mini power tillers were distributed on subsidy to farmers in Shuklaphanta Municipality-10, Kanchanpur today. The ward provided mini power tillers to 32 farmers at a 50 percent subsidy in accordance with the approved program for the current fiscal year.

According to the ward office, Ward Chairman Lal Bahadur Aire said that the mini tillers were distributed to farmers with the goal of modernizing agricultural production and reducing both time and cost in farming. According to him, the ward office allocated a budget and operated the program to attract farmers towards agricultural mechanization.

“A budget of Rs 9 lakh was allocated by the ward for the mini tiller subsidy program,” he said, “Mini tillers were provided to 32 farmers at a 50 percent subsidy through that budget.”

According to him, the market price of one mini power tiller is Rs 56,250. The ward bore half of that amount, i.e., Rs 28,000, as a subsidy, while the remaining Rs 28,000 was invested by the farmers themselves.

“We selected and distributed the mini tillers by prioritizing farmers who are engaged in commercial agriculture and those interested in moving towards commercial farming in the future,” he said, “We expect this to help in modernizing farming and increasing production.” Karan Singh Budhaair, Chief of the Agriculture Development Branch of Shuklaphanta Municipality, stated that increased use of mechanization in the agricultural sector would reduce both labor and cost for farmers. “The mini tiller facilitates plowing, turning the soil, and preparing for transplantation,” he said, “This saves the farmers' time and makes the production process faster and more systematic.”

According to him, along with the distribution of mini tillers, technical information regarding their use and maintenance was also provided to the farmers. He stated that information regarding precautions to be taken before plowing, the method of plowing, and maintenance required after the work was provided with the objective that farmers can use the equipment correctly.

Farmer Buddhabahadur Chaudhary, who received a mini tiller, said that it would make farming work much easier. According to him, using oxen for plowing previously took a lot of time and effort. “It used to take a lot of time to plow with oxen before,” he said, “Now, after using the mini tiller, it will be possible to plow quickly and easily.”

According to him, the mini tiller will assist not only in plowing but also in preparing the field for transplantation. Farmers stated that since plowing can be done on time, it will also be easier to manage the time for sowing crops. Binayraj Joshi, an officer at the municipality's agriculture branch, said that the trend of farmers using modern equipment has been increasing since the operation of agricultural mechanization programs. He noted that this would have a positive impact towards making farming commercial and competitive.