Assessment of Mechanization Status in Paddy and Apple Growing Pulwama District of Kashmir Valley: A Systematic Chronological Approach

The study investigated the status of farm mechanization with respect to paddy and apple cultivation system in district Pulwama of Kashmir valley. Twenty-five villages in five blocks: East, West, North, South and Central block were selected. A multistage random sampling technique was employed to select blocks, villages and households. The highest production of paddy (64.8 q ha⁻¹) and apple (3300 boxes ha⁻¹ or 3.3 boxes m⁻²) was recorded in East block and South block of district Pulwama. In Paddy cultivation, the power per unit area was 11.59 kW ha⁻¹ for field preparation (ML 100%), 4.31 kW ha⁻¹ for puddling (ML 36.2%) and 0.22 kW ha⁻¹ for harvesting operation (ML 6%). The mechanization index was 95.43%, 50.62% and 5.39% in the successive order. The maximum labour requirement of 23 man-days/ha/annum was recorded in threshing with labour power of 12.01 kWh ha⁻¹. For apple orchards, the power per unit area was 1.31 kW ha⁻¹ for weeding/basin preparation (ML 9.2%), 5.17 kW ha⁻¹ for spraying (ML 100%) and 0.60 kW ha⁻¹ for irrigation (9.6%) with mechanization index of 36.74%, 90.38% and 6.8%, respectively. The maximum labour requirement of 206 man-days/ha/annum was observed in harvesting with labour power of 107.57 kWh ha⁻¹. The traditional tools like Spade, hand hoe, shovel, rake, sickle, pruning shear, orchard ladder and pruning saw were also used in paddy and apple cultivation system. The study can serve as baseline for the policymakers to prepare a roadmap for bolstering the mechanization level at district, state and national level.