The Centre has released Rs 553 crore to states under a scheme to promote mechanisation in the agriculture sector.
The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) was launched in April 2014 with an aim to have inclusive growth of farm mechanisation to boost productivity.
In the year 2020-21, a budget of Rs 1,033 crore has been provided for the scheme, out of which Rs 553 crore has been released to state governments.
The agricultural mechanisation helps in increasing production through timely farm operations and cut in operations by ensuring better management of inputs.
The mechanisation also enhances productivity of natural resources and reduces drudgery associated with various farm operations.
With an objective to stop the practice of crop residue burning by farmers, the scheme of Crop Residue Management (CRM) was initiated in 2018 wherein farmers are provided machinery for in-situ management of crop residue through establishment of Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs).
Individual farmers are also provided subsidy for procurement of machinery. Total funds of Rs 11,78.47 crore were provided in the year 2018-19 and 2019-20 to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT.
In 2020-21, Rs 600 crore have been provided in the Union budget for the scheme and Rs 548.20 crore have been released to the states well before time to ensure they can take up the activities in advance.
The Ministry of Agriculture has also developed a Multilingual Mobile App, 'CHC- Farm Machinery' which connects farmers with Custom Hiring Service Centres situated in their locality.