The modern harvester 'Combine Harvester' machine is becoming popular among the farmers of Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna. This machine for quick threshing of paddy in a short time and at low cost has now become a symbol of farmers' reliance. Farmers say that the combined harvester is an indispensable machine for the development of farmers and agriculture.
According to the Upazila Agriculture Extension Department, 12 combined harvesters have been given to 12 farmers in Ishwardi on 50% subsidy so far. They are threshing paddy and wheat of farmers in different areas of the upazila at affordable prices. The farmers are benefiting from this overall.
Going around the remote areas of the upazila and talking to the farmers, it is known that the farmers did not get much benefit from the traditional method of producing and cutting paddy. They had to face losses at the expense of others. The reason, they said, was that the profit was calculated by calculating the weather, the amount of paddy produced, the labor cost of the workers and the market price. In the end, it was seen that there was no profit, but the loss was due to high cost. The country's agriculture now has a touch of modernity. Power tillers and tractors are being used in Ishwardi's land cultivation. Combined harvesters are being used to cut rice and wheat and take it home when it is ripe. The farmers here are benefiting from the use of this machine as they feel comfortable. They say that workers had to face crisis while harvesting paddy. Even if workers were found, paddy would be harvested with higher wages. It had to be at a loss. Now with the advent of this modern machine there is no labor crisis. It takes less time and labor. According to the farmers, the harvester can not only cut the paddy with the machine, but also thresh, clean and collect it in sacks.
Joynal Pramanik, a farmer from Ista village in Ishwardi municipal area, has cultivated boro paddy on his 14 bighas of land. He is harvesting most of the 14 bighas of paddy with combine harvester machine. He said that earlier paddy had to be harvested by hiring workers. But he is harvesting paddy with this machine as it is economical to harvest paddy in harvester. He said that it takes 15 to 20 minutes to cut one bigha of paddy in this machine. Not only that, at the same time threshing, cleaning and collecting in sacks. Asked about the cost, he said it used to cost Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 to harvest one bigha of paddy by hiring workers, now it costs only Rs 2,000 to harvest paddy with this machine.
Sujan Biswas of Laxmikunda Union of the upazila. He bought this combined harvester machine in 2020 with the help of the project and Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Extension Department at half price of Tk 21 lakh and Tk 10 lakh 50 thousand. Since the purchase, he has been renting paddy and wheat from the farmers. He said it takes 15 to 20 minutes to thresh one bigha of paddy with a harvester machine. He took 2 thousand rupees as price. He said that if there is water or mud, it is not difficult to thresh paddy with this machine. This time he has earned Rs 1.5 lakh by threshing paddy with a machine in Boro season, he said. He said that he has benefited from threshing paddy in the last two years and this machine is becoming popular among the farmers. Ajibar Rahman, the owner of the harvester machine of Muladuli Union said the same. He said that the farmers are saving a lot with this machine. This machine is becoming a symbol of trust for them. However, if there is any defect in the machine, they complain that they do not get any local craftsman without the company's expert to fix it.
Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Officer Krishibid Mita Sarkar said in this regard, so far 12 combine harvesters have been provided in Ishwardi at 50% subsidy. Day by day the interest of farmers in this combined harvester machine is increasing. Because it is giving them benefits. It takes less time and money to use this machine. He said increasing the use of the machine in all areas would benefit the farmers overall. The farmers here will be able to turn around.