Need workers for harvest. What is a fair daily wage and where to find labour.
What are typical farm labour wages and how to find workers?
DDinesh Gowda8mo ago · 247 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓8mo ago
Farm labour wages vary widely by state, season and task, commonly ranging from around Rs 300 to Rs 600 per day for general work, and higher for skilled or peak-season jobs like harvesting and transplanting; some areas use piece rates (per acre or per quintal). States set minimum agricultural wages, which you should follow, and during peak season wages rise due to labour shortage. To find workers, use local labour contractors (mukkadams), village networks, neighbouring farmers, and increasingly mobile groups and apps. To reduce dependence on scarce labour, consider mechanisation (custom hiring centres) for sowing, weeding and harvesting. Treat workers fairly and pay on time to retain them year after year. Check your state's notified minimum agricultural wage for the exact legal rate.
DDinesh Gowda8mo ago
During paddy transplanting and harvest, labour is hard to get and rates shoot up. I now hire a harvester through a custom hiring centre, it is cheaper than gathering 20 workers.
LLakshman Naik8mo ago
Piece rate per acre often works better than a daily wage for harvesting, because workers finish faster and you know your cost in advance. We agree a per acre rate upfront with the group leader. For weeding and transplanting too, fixing the rate per task avoids disputes at the end of the day.
SShankar Reddy7mo ago
The real fix is reducing how many workers you need. A weeder, a power sprayer, or a reaper hired from a CHC cut my peak labour need a lot. Labour will only get scarcer, so investing in or hiring a few machines for the busy operations is worth planning for now.