Bihar to launch app to offer farm equipments on rent

Under this system, farmers not having farm equipment for tilling their land or other cultivation needs would be able to book the same through the app and based on availability, the machines would be delivered at their doorstep.

Bihar’s co-operative department will launch an app-based system for providing farm equipments like harvesters and tractors on hire to small and marginal farmers in around 3,000 primary agricultural credit societies (PACS) next week, officials said.

Farmers via the app can rent equipments such as harvesters and tractors. (Picture for representation)

“We are going to launch this system through an app in 2,927 PACS next week. The service will be introduced in rest of the PACs in second phase, based on the success of the new service,” said Bandana Preyashi, secretary, co-operative department.

Under this system, farmers not having farm equipment for tilling their land or other cultivation needs would be able to book the same through the app and based on availability, the machines would be delivered at their doorstep. The rentals would be on hourly basis, sources said. “The concept is similar to app based service of booking cabs,”said an official.

Farm equipments to be covered under the new service have already been mapped so that the machines could be available on demand easily. “Even farmers who are not members of PACs could avail the service as the objective is to provide easy access of farm equipment to agriculturists. Our target is to cover 300 farmers in each PACS in the first phase,” said Preyashi.

PACS are co-operative societies working at the gram panchayat level , which enable farmers to get credit and also help in procurement of foodgrains after harvesting in rabi and kharif seasons.

Officials in the co-operative department said a call centre with a helpline number would also be made available for farmers to avail the service of hiring farm equipment. The system is an alternative since the coverage of smart phones is not as high in rural areas as in urban areas.

“Farmers not having smart phones or facing any difficulty in downloading the app could easily use the helpline numbers to avail the service,” said an official.

Farm equipments like tractors and harvesters have witnessed a high demand in the recent years in agricultural areas of south and north Bihar. While many farmers buy the machines, a large section of farmers keen on using machines have to hire it from locals at high rentals. “The new service would offer competitive rates,” said the official.

The second phase of the service, which intends to cover around 4,000 PACS, will also map all farm equipments purchased by farmers through subsidy under Mukhya Mantri Krishi Yantrikaran Yojana, officials said.