Kapilvastu, October 26, 2026 — Farmers across Kapilvastu are increasingly using mechanical threshers to separate paddy from straw as a shortage of agricultural workers and rising wages make traditional harvesting methods more time-consuming and expensive.
With paddy ripening across the district, farmers are busy bringing in their harvest. Many are turning to threshers because finding workers for traditional threshing has become difficult, while hiring available labourers costs more.
Prabhu Dhobi, a farmer from Thumhawa in Kapilvastu Municipality-6, said labour shortages and high wages had made mechanical threshing a practical option.
“Using a thresher saves time and reduces costs. That is why we have started relying on machines to bring in the paddy harvest,” he said.
Binod Bhuj, a farmer from Padariya in Maharajganj Municipality-2, said threshers had made farm work easier. As the availability of oxen and agricultural labourers declines, smaller machines are convenient to transport to fields and operate. Farmers can also use them in the morning, afternoon and evening, he said.
Thresher operator Rakesh Kurmi said the machines save both time and labour while reducing expenses. He charges Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per hour for separating paddy from straw and said demand for threshers was increasing across the district.
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Despite the practical benefits of modern machinery, farmer Shyamlal Dhobi said efforts should also be made to preserve the traditional practice of threshing.
Ghanshyam Chaudhary, chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Kapilvastu, said the district has 84,591 hectares of cultivated land. Paddy was planted on 63,648 hectares this year, compared with 66,265 hectares last year, he said.
Farmers in all 10 local levels of Kapilvastu are using threshers to separate paddy from straw.