Farm Mechanization, Playing

a Pivotal Role in Overcoming

Challenges in Agriculture
Mr. Jay Singh,
Managing Director
CLAAS Agricultural
Machinery Pvt. Ltd

griculture, the backbone of the

Indian economy and the primary
occupation of over 50% citizens,
has seen limited improvements
in the past few decades. Over the
years, the manufacturing and services sectors
have flourished, but the agriculture sector
has remained stagnant. This indicates that the
benefits of development of these sectors have
not trickled down to all sections of the society.
In the recent past, the challenges have
multiplied. From continuous droughts to
increasing incidence of farmer suicides, the list
of problems go on to include increasing debts,
slow implementation of schemes and increasing
demand for food grains. The sector is further
pressurized by reduction in available manual
labour, as youth migrate to urban areas in search
of better opportunities. With the Governments
vision of doubling farmers income by 2020,
agriculture has received new impetus through
campaigns such as Make in India and Skill
India.

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Year Book 2016

As the Government launches many more

initiatives, especially keeping technology at
the core of it, farmers are also supporting and
cooperating in embracing such technologies.
E-mandis, online retail stores, soil health
cards and e-banking are some of these
initiatives. However, as manual labour reduces,
farmers must look at investing more in farm
mechanization, which is cost and effort effective
in the long run. Manual labour is expected to
further reduce by 26% in 2050, highlighting the
urgent need to invest in various machines that
solve specific purposes on the farms.
Farm mechanization is not a new concept.
Ministry of Agriculture shares that about 40%
of the total agricultural land is mechanized.
Although the extent of mechanization at various
stages varies, the trend indicates that adoption
of mechanized solutions at all stages would
slowly gain momentum and hence is expected
to bring about a much needed revolution in
the country. Conversations around the need for
mechanization in the country have seen a rise

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because there is a requirement for

increase in productivity, which cannot
be met through current practices.
According to the World Bank, India
has the second largest agricultural
land in the world with 60.3% of land
used in agriculture. However, with the
simultaneous increase in population
and demand for food, we must utilize
this land to feed everyone. Hence,
mechanization is the way forward
which shall enable farmers to increase
productivity of their land, and make it
cost effective as well.
Today, the revolution that we
are witnessing, is not only going to
bring about progress for the farmers
but is going to change the face of
agriculture. With the introduction of
custom hiring centres, farmers are
finding ways to afford machines and
become progressive. What started
off as a one-off centre, has today,
become a promising model with the
potential to accelerate the growth of
a sector which has seen negligible
growth till date. The growth of rental
operators has been advantageous

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as well. On one hand, it has helped

reduce dependence on manual
labour, thereby ensuring cost and
time effectiveness and improvement
in yield; on the other hand it is
leading to an entrepreneurial
wave in the nation, and farmers
are seen moving towards not only
purchasing machinery to use on
their farms but also to rent it out to
small and marginal farmers, ensuring
maximum utilization, better access,
and development for the community
as a whole.
While avenues are opening
up, some challenges retain. A
major challenge in adoption of
mechanization in India is the small
land holdings. Although with a

change in perceptions, farmers are

now willing to adopt mechanization,
they are apprehensive as the small
size of landholdings does not allow
them to utilize the machine to its full
potential. The custom hiring centres
help eliminate this apprehension
by providing machinery on a
rent-out basis, which reduces the
investment required and yet makes
technology accessible. Not just small
and marginal farmers, but rental
operators themselves are exploring
new avenues, and reaping benefits,
and becoming entrepreneurs in their
own way. Just like any new model
that is in its initial phase, the custom
hiring model is not free from its share
of challenges. One of the biggest
challenges they face is that of taxation,
while migrating from one city or state
to another. The implementation of
GST might prove to be a solution to
this challenge, since it would ensure
a uniform tax across cities and states,
which will reduce the additional tax
burden and make this model even
more lucrative.

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Year Book 2016

187

Another aspect which is expected

to give a boost to this exemplary
model is the initiatives being taken
up by the government to generate
awareness amongst farmers about
various schemes available at their
disposal. With the development of
various portals and applications, we
must inform and educate the farmers
about farm equipment and machinery,
other than tractors, which are used in
various stages of production. Balers,
transplanters, foragers or harvesters
are to name a few. At present, the
farm equipment sector is dominated
by tractors, the annual market size
of which is currently, 600,000 to
700,000 units. Though threshers are
the second largest equipment sold,
it lags behind at only 100,000 units a
year. Each machine has its own role to
play in the field, and these numbers
highlight the urgency to educate the
farmers about the options they can
choose from.
Contrary to normal perception,
tractor is not a multipurpose
solution to all farming needs. To
ensure efficiency and optimum time
utilization, other machines must
be used for specific activities. For
instance, a forager can help increase
the yield of cattle by 1-2 kg per day
per cow, thus improving productivity
and income for a dairy farmer. But,
unfortunately, a large number of
dairy farmers are not aware of this.
This shows lack of awareness is

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Year Book 2016

detrimental and must be addressed.

It is encouraging to note that
we are embracing technology, and
mechanization in agriculture is
expected to enjoy a growth rate of
10% by 2018. It would be interesting
to see if efforts towards educating
farmers, and custom hiring centers
can encourage adoption of more
machines than just tractors. With the
Make in India initiative, research and
development in the sector is being
prioritized and innovative solutions
such as precision farming are being
explored. This can play a pivotal role
in changing the way we look at the

Indian agricultural scenario. These

initiatives can provide a boost to
the Indian farmer and can result in
positive outcomes for the economy
as a whole.
The farm economy holds a lot of
untapped potential which, if explored,
would lead to the development of the
most crucial sector in the economy.
With over 50% of the population
dependent on agricultural sector, we
need to expedite these efforts.
To conclude, there is a need to
spread awareness amongst farmers
about the innovative, mechanized
solutions available today, benefits
of adopting sustainable practices
and the initiatives that are being
undertaken to ensure accessibility.
Once we are able to achieve this,
the Governments vision of doubling
farmers income would become a
reality, India would become a selfreliant nation, in terms of food
production and a large section of the
society which has been neglected
would prosper. n
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