Farmers told to use machines for kharif sowing

New Delhi: The agriculture ministry has advised farmers to adopt mechanised farming to ensure minimum involvement of manpower in its standard operating procedure (SOP) for farm operations ahead of kharif sowing to help farmers prevent the spread Covid-19 infection.

“Farmers have been advised to use sanitised farm tools, keep a distance of 1-2 metres and cover nose and mouth with cloth or mask while working in the farm,” agriculture commissioner S K Malhotra, told ET.

He said farms should have arrangement to wash hands with clean water and soap. “All the clothes used for a day should not be worn next day. These clothes should be washed with soap and sun dried properly,” he said.


Malhotra said farmers should go for mechanical paddy transplanting to reduce labour requirement and ensure timely sowing under the current situation of epidemic.

“Workers should wash hands, legs and face with soap every time coming out of field for meal or rest,” he said.