Bihar government ends subsidy on 63 farm implements

A senior officer of the agriculture department, familiar with the matter, said that the state government has approved 17 farm implements, against 81 last year, on which farmers would be given subsidy.

Farmers in Bihar will have to refresh their list of farm implements to purchase under the government’s subsidy programme as the state government has delisted as many as 63 equipment for this fiscal.

The huge cut in subsidy was also attributed to the financial strain the state was suffering due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic. (AP file photo)

A senior officer of the agriculture department, familiar with the matter, said that the state government has approved 17 farm implements, against 81 last year, on which farmers would be given subsidy.

“This year’s farm mechanisation drive focuses on waste management to curtail the challenges of stubble or husk burning that often led to a prolonged air pollution in the state,” he said.

The stubble burning has been a major issue that Bihar has been grappling with for the past few years. The state government has initiated strict action against 900 farmers in the last three months post paddy harvesting season by blocking government incentives and subsidies paid through direct benefit transfer( DBT) for three years in 11 districts.

Bihar is the only state in India where such a system has been put in place since last year, linking government incentives for farmers with compliance to the ban on stubble burning – seen as a major contributor to air pollution.

The officer also said that the huge cut in subsidy was also attributed to the financial strain the state was suffering due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic.

“The state plan head size for subsidy on farm mechanisation has been reduced to Rs 23.69 crore in 2020-21 against Rs 163 crore in the last fiscal. While the state government is offering subsidy on 17 equipment, the central government is providing subsidy to farmers on 16 other implements under different schemes,” said the officer.

The state government has already discontinued subsidy on combine harvester, which left the straw on the field after cropping of wheat. Now, farmers would not be getting the financial support to purchase power tillers, power threshers, etc. However, subsidy would continue on purchases of brush cutter, super seeder, happy seeder, self-propelled ripper, straw ripper, straw management system and mini rice and oil mills.