Custom Hiring Centre (C-H-C) at KVK Gurez: One stop solution for increasing efficiency, reducing farm drudgery

Agriculture has evolved from labour-intensive practices to a more mechanized and efficient system due to increasing labour shortages and the high cost of maintaining draught animals. Mechanization improves crop productivity, reduces drudgery, ensures timely farm operations, and supports activities such as land preparation, sowing, irrigation, plant protection, harvesting, threshing, and post-harvest management. In Gurez valley, mechanization is constrained by geographical isolation, rugged terrain, fragility, marginality and inaccessibility small landholdings, with short cropping season (May-Oct). It also reduces drudgery, especially for women, as most of the agricultural activities are being carried out by women farmers. However, access to machinery remains limited for small and marginal farmers due to various constraints like area of operation, budget, formal procedures etc. To bridge this gap, Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) have been promoted under the Holistic Agriculture Development Plan (HADP) to provide affordable access to agricultural machinery across the Gurez valley. As part of this initiative, one such CHC has been set up at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gurez under the HADP-9 project titled “Farm Mechanization and Automation.” This centre aims to cater to the mechanization needs of local farmers and improve access to modern agricultural practices.

Subject area

Agriculture

Language

English

Keywords

Custom Hiring Centre, KVK Gurez

People behind the work

Contributors

1. R

   Ravi Kumar

   Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gurez

2. H

   Hilal Ahmad Malik

   tremendousravi60@gmail.com

3. 

   Dr Jauhar RafeeqCorresponding

   Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gurez

4. S

   Shahida Altaf

   Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gurez

5. M

   Manzoor Ahmad Khatana

   Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gurez

6. T

   Tanzeer Hussain Khan

   Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gurez