Cheap solution to labour
In a typical case of technology coming to the aid of small paddy cultivators, the Kerala Agro Industries Corp (KAIC) has developed a paddy thresher that comes in handy for farmers who face problems in getting labour to harvest and thresh their crop. The mini-thresher is a simple mechanism, does not require much maintenance and can easily be shifted from one farm to another.
The development of the mini-thresher has also reaped in marginal profits for KAIC, which has incurred losses for nearly a decade. KAIC managing director N K Gopalakrishnan said more than 1,000 threshers were sold at about Rs 7,000 each in 1993 and sales are expected to rise by at least 50 per cent in 1994.
The Palakkad unit of KAIC is also developing winnowers for paddy farmers. The low-cost equipment is in the final stages of development and will be launched before the next harvest season. R&D projects for mini-harvesters and paddy transplanters are also on the anvil