Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE), the country’s second largest tractor maker, has announced the national expansion of its farmer-to-farmer tractor sharing platform initiative – JFarm Services and the supporting app.
The JFarm Services platform leverages technology to provide free-of-cost access to the platform for the rental of farm mechanisation solutions and will offer an opportunity to build a viable rural entrepreneurship model while augmenting farm productivity and income of small and marginal farmers.
‘Farmer to farmer’
Farmers who own small parcels of land across India can now hire modern farm equipment for their farm productivity needs.
Farmers looking to rent out their existing tractors and farm equipment are linked directly to farmers seeking to hire them at no extra cost. ‘Farmer-to-Farmer model’ (F2F) of JFarm Services app enables them to contact farmer entrepreneurs, negotiate rental prices and fulfil their requirements.
“The nationwide launch of JFarm Services as a CSR initiative is aligned to TAFE’s vision of cultivating the world and our commitment to the economic well-being of Indian farmers,” Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & CEO – TAFE, said in a statement.
“With this launch, we aim to touch millions of farmers who have no access to farm mechanisation and modern technology while accelerating the progress towards the Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farm incomes by 2022,” she said.
Farmers can hire equipment via the JFarm Services App or by contacting the toll-free helpline 1800-4-200-100 or the local Custom Hiring Centres. Farmers who don’t own smart or feature phones can use the toll-free helpline. The platform also provides periodic updates on local weather, market, agri-news and mandi prices without any fee.
TAFE is collaborating with various State governments such as Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Assam to roll out the JFarm services platform. JFarm Services initial pilot roll-out covered Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, directly benefitting around 60,000 users resulting in over 1,00,000 orders, adding up to about 250,000 hours in hired farm machinery usage.