Source: Chronicle News Service

Thoubal, October 27 2021: With the main objective of easing problems faced by farmers in harvesting paddy, a not so well-educated farmer named Buyamayum Tomba developed a portable paddy threshing machine, which could be carried around comfortably.

Buyamayum Tomba (37) hails from Uchiwa Wangbal under Mayang Imphal police station in Imphal West district and he is the youngest of 11 children of late Moulana Ahamed Ali and Madina.

Tomba studied till class VIII but could not further his education due to poor fir ancial condition of the family and presently a daily wage earner apart from taking up farming activities.

The threshing machine developed by Tomba might be small in size but compatible with big machines available in the state.

His machine could thresh one 'Sangam' of harvested paddy in little over 10 minutes than the normal time taken by big machines but consumes half the fuel required for bigger machines.

Chatting with The People's Chronicle at his Uchiwa Wangbal residence, Tomba said that he being a farmer understands problems faced by food producers clearly.

Farmers of the state are facing problems in bulk transportation harvested paddy due to narrow approach road to the middle of paddy fields (Loukol).

Big threshing machines available in the state could not access interior fields and farmers have to carry the harvested paddy plants up to the road for threshing.

According to Tomba, he decided to ease problems faced by farmers in paddy plantation activities after he personally encountered hardship in threshing paddy on wet fields since the past few years.

"After keenly looking a threshing machine, I decided to develop a machine which could be easily carried into paddy fields so that farmers of the state do not face much problem in threshing paddy even on wet held," Tomba said, adding that he began developing a small machine right away.

After three failed attempts, the small machine began to work efficiently and put paper on the cone made for putting harvested paddy plants and the result was satisfying.

After successful trial of the small machine, a bigger machine was developed in a little over three months and this machine too came out successful, Tomba added.

While asserting that the paddy threshing machine was developed for the people and fanners of the state and not for selfish or personal use, Tomba said that he plans to upgrade the machine to a better one if people of Manipur love and bless him.

He further said that more than Rs 1 lakh was invested in developing the bigger machine and interested farmers could procure the machine by footing labour charge in addition to total cost of materials used in developing the machine.