Wheat harvest technology in Punjab's rice wheat zone: combines, laborers and the cost of harvest delay
Combine-users in Punjab's rice-wheat zone tend to be large owner operators who harvest a total of over 20 hectares in either wheat or rice. Although a slightly higher proportion combine rice, those who combine wheat hand-harvest a 'smaller percentage of their total crop area. In wheat, the percentage of crop area hand-harvested is likely to depend on animal herd sizes, since most combine-users previously sold wheat straw and now meet their dry fodder needs by hand-harvesting some area. By comparison, the proportion of rice area that is hand-harvested may reflect the crop's varietal composition and the wetness of the farmers' fields. The relationship of varietal composition, field condition, and rice area combined merits further research attention. At present, imperfect information in the custom combine market probably dominates these decision-making criteria. Many farmers stated that they would have combined a larger area if they had known of or had obtained combine services earlier. In Indian Punjab, Laxminaryan et ale also found that the majority of combine-users hand-harvested some acreage, both because they needed wheat straw for fodder and "they experienced difficulties and uncertainties in obtaining the services of the combine". The youth of the industry and the high cost to companies of "advertising" their services, or establishing and maintaining close contact with their clients, undoubtedly contributes to some contractual difficulties. Most combine-users had only one or two years of experience renting combines, and knew little about the machine itself or the companies from which they hired the combine. Most contracts were verbal. About half of the farmers were informed of combine availability by company representatives, and about half. were informed by other farmers. Despite any difficulties in communicating with the companies, farmers estimated that, on the average, combines arrived only 3 days after rice crop maturity and 5 days after wheat crop maturity. A number of farmers experienced no delays because their contracts were negotiated in the fields when combines arrived in the area. Farmers recalled that in hand-harvesting wheat, over the three years preceding the shift in technology, they waited a comparable period for contracted laborers to begin harvesting their fields. Although initial delays may be similar, the difference in average harvest duration with the two technologies is dramatic. For these large farmers, combines cleared the wheat fields 8 days after crop maturity, including delays. Hand harvesting the same fields, laborers did not complete cutting and threshing until 28 days after crop maturity. Yield comparisons indicate that, as a consequence of shattering losses associated with long harvest duration, farmers' wheat returns increased by over 10 percent when they- shifted technologies. At current rental and wage rates, with yield increases, farmers gain net revenues when combining wheat, despite the loss of wheat straw sales. Although average yield increases associated with combining were even higher in rice, these were partially offset by lower prices received for broken rice. At current wage and rental rates, farmers lost net revenue when combining rice. The slight loss in rice revenues may be offset by timely planting of wheat, or if the farmer combines both crops, by the gains in wheat revenues. Further research should investigate the comparative harvesting costs for rice more thoroughly. Hand-harvesters operating over 10 hectares (potential combine users) also tended to be owned-operators who themselves contracted and supervised harvest laborers. Most of them paid heavily in grain, straw, and other in-kind payments for wheat harvest labor. Although they tended to contract labor well before crop maturity, a large proportion of them experienced both preharvest labor delays and delays during the harvest, when laborers sometimes left their fields to work for other farmers. The estimates provided by hand-harvesters confirm the substantial costs of harvest delay. Based on a three-year average and farmers' recall, a large hand-harvester in the rice-wheat zone can expect a 10 to 12 percent yield loss in years of longer delays. In 1986, laborers cleared the fields of these large farmers an average of 27 days after crop maturity. At "crop maturity," the average moisture content of the wheat was only 10.5 percent, which is dry by agronomists' standards. Given the dryness of the crop, and the increased rainfall probabilities associate~ with prolonged harvest duration, yield losses are not surprising. As compared to the custom combine market, the harvest labor market appears personal in nature. Despite increased labor mobility and commercialization in Gujranwala District, the, locus of the wheat harvest labor market seems to remain the village and nearby villages. Eighty-five percent of the farmers hired labor from their village of residence. Farmers tended to know most of the laborers they hired, and most laborers claimed the village where they were harvesting as both their residence and their home. Many of the laborers hired from outside the farmers' villages lived in nearby villages. Certain exceptions were discovered, such as several farmers who hired contract labor teams through the local grain merchant and transported them to the farm by tractor trolley. These cases are probably atypical. Unlike the conditions described for Sind (Seager) and for Indian Punjab (Singh and Laxminaryan) migrant labor is not a recognizable feature of the Gujranwala wheat harvest, with the possible exception of village residents working in nearby towns who 'return home for the harvest, and are more properly termed "·commuters."
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| Format: | Book biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PARC
1987
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| Subjects: | AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, COSTS, FARMERS, HARVESTERS, HARVESTING, RICE, SIZE, SURVEYS, TECHNOLOGY, TRITICUM AESTIVUM, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10883/3900 |
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