Kerala - Alappuzha   

Harvest begins at Marthandam

ALAPPUZHA: In a significant step towards realising the State government’s goal of harmonising man and machine on the paddy fields of Kuttanad, more than 100 labourers and eight combine harvesters began harvesting on the sprawling 240-hectare expanse of the Marthandam backwater paddy field here on Tuesday.

The labourers, drawn from various parts of the district and including women who came in from Mannar, were taken to the paddy fields on boat this morning by the district administration, which is bearing the expenses, including medical care. The move came as a result of discussions held between the administration and various farm labourers’ unions earlier to sort out the delays in harvest on the rain-hit paddy fields in Kuttanad.

Led by District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, district panchayat president R. Nazar, Revenue Divisional Officer K.N. Raji, Additional District Magistrate Koshy John and Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) district secretary D. Lakshmanan, the labourers stepped out on to the fields followed by a sizeable media contingent.

As Mr. Nazar put the sickle to the grain, Mr. Balakrishnan called for harvest rhymes and the women obliged.

The officials were part of the process for the first few metres and as the reapers gathered momentum, stood back to explain the agenda to the media. “We hope to finish the harvesting on this field in four days. Though machines are also being used, the rain has permitted only manual harvest in some areas. The same procedure of the government bringing in labourers for the harvest will be taken up in other Padasekharams simultaneously after discussions with the respective panchayats and unions over the next few days,” Mr. Balakrishnan said. Crops in over 7,000 hectares remained to be harvested in Kuttanad.

Arrangements were being made to bring thresher machines to Marthandam while the Civil Supplies Department had been asked to procure the harvested paddy without delay. Procurement in the rest of the regions was progressing, the Collector said.

Efforts were on to organise more combine harvesters to speed up the harvest wherever the machines could be used, he added.

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