* Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal.
A techno-economic survey was conducted in 36 villages in Midnapore district of West Bengal and 15 villages in Jorhat district of Assam by personal interview with farmers to find out the reasons of popularity of power tillers in these regions and to identify the associated operational and maintenance problems. Information were collected to assess power tiller utilization and operational difficulties in crop cultivation during kharif and rabi seasons, make and model of power tillers, land availability and purchasing capacity of the farmers, availability of spares and repair and maintenance facilities, financial arrangements, etc. The survey revealed that power tillers rotavators were extensively used for paddy seedbed preparation in both the districts. KAMCO power tillers in Midhapore and Mitsubishi in Jorhat were more popular for the above purpose mainly because of easy availability of spares and repair facilities in nearby areas due to very good network developed by the power tiller manufacturers. In order to increase their annual income by hiring out to the other users, the farmers were interested to purchase more than one power tiller.
