Kolhapur: Taking a cue from the last crushing season, the sugarcane farmers have started enquiry for mechanized cane harvesters to avoid the issue of labour shortage, report Agrowan.
Currently, the government is not providing any kind of subsidy to purchase cane harvesters, but the farmers are trying to buy machines in groups to bear the cost.
It is expected that the harvester-producing companies are likely to sell more machines this season and the number may go up if the government grants subsidies for purchasing it.
At present, there are more than 600 cane harvesters associated with various sugar mills in the state. During the last crushing season, crushing in the Marathwada region was delayed due to an increase in area under cane cultivation and shortage of cane harvesters. Most of the enquiries for the purchase of mechanized harvesters are from this region.
