M&M starts pilot project to lease out high-end equipment to farmers

The farm equipment division of Mahindra and Mahindra has started leasing out high-end farm implements through its Samruddhi Centre.

Started as a pilot project at five centres in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the move is targeted at familiarising farmers on the benefits of these equipment.

The farm implements include harvesters, rice transplanters, rotavators, cane-cutting machines and land preparation equipment, and the project will be scaled up across its over 170 Samruddhi Centres, which support farmers in soil testing, quality seed sourcing and advice on drip irrigation methods.

Speaking to

Business Line, Sanjeev Goyle, Chief of Marketing (Farm Equipment Sector), Mahindra and Mahindra said it is difficult to convince farmers on the benefits of these modern farm equipment unless and until they use them personally.

“Lending these farm equipments would help us grow farmers’ awareness more than contributing to our business as such,” he said.

Very expensive

Most of the high end farm implements are pricey, making it difficult for farmers to own them individually. The Mahindras had raised tractor prices by Rs 4,000 in January due to rising input costs. The shortage of labour and rising cost on labour has pushed farmers to adopt mechanisation.

Farm implement sales have gone up due to a bumper kharif harvest and rise in Government minimum support price for the winter crop.

Sales up

This apart, banks have enhanced lending to farmers to overcome the escalation in cost of cultivation. Rabi output is also expected to be better this year as the moisture content in soil improved after the excess rain last year.

Despite the general slowdown in the automobile sector, the tractor sales of most companies have grow steadily in the last few months as most modern farm implements are tractor propelled.

Mahindras registered sales growth of 15 per cent in January (at 20,109 units) even as exports fell 33 per cent to 720 vehicles. In the first 10 months of this fiscal, tractor sales were up 21 per cent at 232,369. The company has 41 per cent market share in tractor business.

“Going ahead, we intend to grow our farm equipment by adopting latest technology through our global tie-up and modify it to the needs of Indian farmers,” said Goyle.

The company has four plants to produce farm equipment in India, two in China, three in the US and one in Australia.

It produces tractors right from 15 HP (horse power) engine up to 85 HP ones.