Custom Hiring Centre Launched To Aid Small Farmers
Speaking on the occasion, the collector said the initiative would help improve farm productivity and reduce cultivation costs by providing farmers access to tractors, rotavators, tillers and other equipment on a rental basis.
Nellore: In a major boost to farm mechanisation and rural women's empowerment, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday launched a Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) at Veligandla mandal headquarters in Markapuram district, enabling small and marginal farmers to hire modern agricultural machinery at affordable rates.
District collector M. Vijaya Sunitha, along with Kanigiri MLA Mukku Ugra Narasimha Reddy and DRDA project director Shivannarayana, inaugurated the facility.
Speaking on the occasion, the collector said the initiative would help improve farm productivity and reduce cultivation costs by providing farmers access to tractors, rotavators, tillers and other equipment on a rental basis. She said the facility had become more significant in view of erratic rainfall and climate change affecting agriculture.
Describing it as a landmark initiative, she said the CHC was the first of its kind in the Kanigiri Assembly constituency and the second in the state after Tirupati.
The centre has been equipped with a 35 HP tractor, rotavator, tiller, cultivator, cage wheel, disc drill, puddling wheels, and power and manual sprayers. The machinery will be hired out on a first-come, first-served basis at affordable, market-linked rates.
The collector said the centre would be managed by Self-Help Group (SHG) women through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Village Organisations (VOs), creating livelihood opportunities while ensuring transparent operations through proper maintenance of records and registers.
Farmers, SHG members, FPO representatives, public representatives and officials attended the inaugural programme.