B. Avinashi (45) is now in the category of agricultural workers who plough field using cattle.
With the advent of mechanisation, his peers have switched over to tractor ploughing as maintenance of cattle became an increasingly costly affair and also to cater to the growing demands of the farmers for ploughing at faster pace.
However, Avinashi, hailing from the Tirupur outskirts, decided to stick firm with the legacy passed on by his forefathers using the five cattle in his possession. He believes that the inherent advantages of cattle ploughing vis-à-vis tractor ploughing can keep him going.
“Orders have certainly come down over the years. At the same time, lots of farmers still are opting cattle ploughing as they are more interested in soil pulverisation rather than concerned about the longer duration needed for turning up earth/laying furrows,” Avinashi says. To meet the expenses for cattle maintenance, Avinashi sells milk obtained from his cows and go for pesticide spraying in fields in seasonal breaks.
P. Santhanakrishnan, a retired Joint Director of Agriculture and now a farmer himself, tells that cattle ploughing had lots of advantages when compared to tractor ploughing. “Tractors when run over the soil make the substrate hard due to its sheer weight making water penetration difficult. On cattle ploughing, the footprints left by the animal itself will act as ‘micro catchment’ conserving rainwater besides help to plough as well as de-weed easier in fields where small sized crops are grown,” he says.
Mr. Avinashi has taught the art of attaching the yoke and shaft to the cattle at appropriate positions, to his three sons hoping that the cattle ploughing will not die down.
Published - October 31, 2016 12:00 am IST
