Recognising the importance of agricultural mechanisation amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government has planned to provide farmers with 300 combine harvesters and 500 reapers at subsidised prices within the current fiscal year to face the scarcity of farm workers.   The machines are being provided with the raised allocation of Tk 200 crore kept aside for agricultural mechanization, said officials at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).   The machines will help harvest paddy in a shorter time protecting the crops from the damage of any flashflood and heavy rainfall in Haor and other crisis-hit districts, according to the officials.   They said the government now promotes quality combine harvesters instead of substandard and small harvesters and reaper machines as the demand for the large combine harvesters is on the sharp rise due to smooth harvesting and low cost.   “We want to provide quality (harvesting) machines. We’ve the experiences that small machines don’t work well. We don’t want people to criticise the government for such substandard machines,” said Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque while talking to UNB.   Mentioning that they want to provide combine harvesters of three companies --Yanmar, Kubota and Metal, he said the prices of the Yanmar and Kubota brands harvester machines is in between Tk 28-30 lakh each, while the price of a machine of metal brand, which has smaller capacity, is around Tk 20 lakh, he said.   “We also want to go for the use of machines in paddy transplantation,” he said adding that the government puts emphasis on farm mechanisation to address the scarcity of farm workers and reduce the production cost.   The minister said a project titled ‘Agricultural Mechanisation through Integrated Management’ involving Tk 3,000 crore is now awaiting approval of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) and its implementation can be started in the upcoming fiscal year.   “The agricultural sector will largely adopt mechanisation in the country within the next three years,” he said.