Problem

Sowing, weeding and harvesting remain largely manual across most crops

• National

ICAR's 2020-21 estimates, placed before the Lok Sabha in July 2025, put average mechanisation at 70 per cent for seed-bed preparation but only 40 per cent for sowing, planting and transplanting, 33 per cent for weeding and inter-culture and 34 per cent for harvesting and threshing — 45 per cent overall. Harvesting and threshing are more than 60 per cent mechanised in rice and wheat but very little in cotton; transplanting is 30 per cent mechanised in rice and 20 per cent in sugarcane. Evidence confidence: High for the 2020-21 estimates.