An analysis of mechanised Farm cotton cultivation in Thoothukudi District of Tamilnadu
* P. Aravind Perumal
*Department of Economics, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli – 627012 India
ABSTRACT
The role of mechanisation is crucial in the context of the growing commercialisation of agriculture. Increased output owing to more precise input application and more timely operations has led to a rise in the use of farm machinery in India’s agricultural sector. There are more issues associated with growing cotton than with other agricultural commodities. In general, rainfall, high-yielding seed varieties, climatic conditions, and soil fertility are the most important factors in cotton cultivation. When it comes to growing cotton, the farmers are having a tough time. Mechanisation plays a crucial role in the increasingly commercialised agricultural sector. On its own, mechanisation would allow for a multiple cropping programme, which would eventually lead to more job opportunities in the servicing, repair, and maintenance of tractors and other farm machinery. The use of farm machinery has grown in India’s agricultural sector. This is because these machines help farmers be more efficient and precise with their inputs, which in turn increases their output. Due to inefficient crop production technologies, late field operations, insufficient inputs, and a lack of irrigation (70 percent of the area is under rainfed conditions), cotton yields are low. Conventional cotton farming tools are still in use, and they’re inefficient and wasteful. Whenever workers are scarce, it’s usually because of labour-intensive tasks like planting, weeding, and picking. Yield is lost when operations are not finished in a timely manner. Tractors’ intercultural machinery is underutilised. It is necessary to evaluate the potential of mechanical picking. Equally important in rural areas is the promotion of the custom hiring system for farm implements. To determine the kind of income inequality between large and small farmers in Thoothukudi District who use mechanised and non-mechanised cotton farms and to describe the machinery that is available for mechanising cotton cultivation in Thoothukudi District, this study uses a quantitative approach.