The Hindu Business Line : Labour shortage hits wheat harvest operations

Major draw
Getting workers from UP, Bihar is tough since they are required in their own States due to good crop.
Workers are asking for a payment of Rs 2,500 a acre. Last year, they were paid Rs 1,500-1,700.

M.R. Subramani

Recently in Ludhiana Mr Satwinder Singh of a village in Khanna tehsil in Punjab expects to harvest a good crop. But he faces a problem that has turned out to be a common one in Punjab and Haryana this year – shortage of labour.

“We are not able to get workers to harvest our crop. In fact, no one is coming even if we offer more than last year,” says Mr Satwinder.

Last year, workers got Rs 1,500-1,700 for harvesting an acre of wheat. This year, demand from the workers is nothing less than Rs 2,500. Still, getting hands is a problem.

Labour is required not only to harvest standing wheat crop but also to make straw after the grains are separated.

“From an acre, we can make two trolleys each of 8-10 quintals of straw. For that the workers are demanding Rs 1,100. Last year, we offered only half of it,” says Mr Sukhdev Singh, a farmer from Dagru village near Moga.

Farmers, traders and officials view the shortage of labour as an acute problem that could hamper arrivals of wheat in the markets. “Labour shortage means that arrivals of wheat could extend beyond May 31,” say traders.

The problem in Punjab and Haryana is that until last year they were getting workers from Bihar and, to some extent, Uttar Pradesh for their field operations.

This year, two developments have ensured shortage of labour. One is that both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are reporting good crop. “As a result, workers are required in their own States for harvest. Even if the payment is to be a little lower, it will still make sense for them to work in near their homes,” said Mr Rajesh Kumar, a commission agent in Khanna grains market.

Secondly, various infrastructure projects are being implemented in these States that is drawing the workers there.

Government officials say under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programmes, workers are getting the same wages they would get from undertaking harvest operations in Punjab and Haryana. “They get same payment for NREGA jobs in their own places,” they say.

The problem of labour is felt acute in places such as Mansa or Jalandhar where the crop has fallen during the hailstorm and rains that lashed the growing parts 10 days ago.

“When the crop falls, it requires to be manually harvested since it will be difficult for the combine harvesters to operate in such fields,” says Mr Gurcharan Singh, a farmer in Gharaunda village in Panipat district, Haryana.

Higher moisture

The problem in using a combine harvester in fields where the crop has fallen is that the machines suck in the moisture from the land, and thus, lead to higher moisture in the grains.

Already, higher moisture wheat is causing unrest among workers in the markets. “Workers have to do more work in view of the wheat with higher moisture. And we are not compensated properly,” says Mr Charan Singh, President of the Khanna Labour Union. “The situation is such that if we need 100 workers, we are getting only 10 now,” says Mr Satwinder Singh.

In fact, a flour mill in the South had to down its shutters as it did not get labour for loading and unloading.

Traders and farmers say the problem may turn more acute in the days to come.

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