Farm equipment market: US$18bn by 2025
The government is committed to promoting the use of additional farm machinery in the coming years to achieve improvement in awareness about diverse utilization of mechanization and credit support so that access to latest technologies is not a constraint.
Tractors dominate the Indian farm mechanization market and only 10-15% is contributed by rest of the farming equipment, he noted. India’s farm equipment market likely to grow to US$18 billion by 2025 from US$13 billion, according to a FICCI-PwC report.
The commitment was assured by Parshottam Rupala, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare at the ‘EIMA AGRIMACH 2019′, organized by FICCI, jointly with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, in New Delhi on 5 Dec 2019.
“This is due to lack of information about the advantages in using other equipment and practices in terms of productivity and yield, and operative challenges,” said Rupala.
Capacity building of local manufacturers in terms of quality and production would not only produce better equipment but also let them gain access to a larger market, he believes.
Sustainable mechanization technologies need to be developed and promoted to address the challenges associated with crop residue burning, he added.
In order to support small manufacturers at the district level, the government is providing training to these manufacturers so that they can also access and benefit from the latest technology, informed Ashwani Kumar, Joint Secretary, (Seeds/Mechanization & Technology), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
More and more Italian companies are investing in India, especially in the agriculture sector, according to Alessandro Liberatori, Trade Commissioner, Italian Trade Agency said that
Italy will focus on developing newer customized technologies and support the Indian agriculture sector, he assured.
“It is time that we move from ‘tractorization’ to ‘mechanization’,” said G S Grewal, Member, FICCI National Agriculture Committee, and Senior VP, Kubota Agricultural Machinery. “India is growing rapidly but we still have a long way to go.”
Mechanization is not only important to increase productivity, but it is also important to combat the problems of climate change, added Alessandro Malavolti, President, FEDERUNACOMA, Italy.
The three-day exhibition, held 5-7 December, witnessed over 300 exhibitions, 350+ international buyers along with 20,000+ farmer delegation.
A report by FICCI-PwC report, ‘Farm mechanization: Ensuring a sustainable rise in farm productivity and income’, was released during the event.
The report highlights:
India’s farm equipment market likely to grow to US$18 billion by 2025 from US$13 billion;
Farm mechanization in India is in the initial stages, with the mechanization level ranging from 40-45%, which is very low compared to that in developed economies, where mechanization has reached beyond 90%;
India’s farm equipment market is 7% of the global market, with more than 80% of the value contribution coming from tractors;
The adoption rates of farm equipment have increased as indicated by the sale of tractors and the rise in farm power availability (FPA) in the recent past;
Domestic sales of tractors have increased from 3 lakh units in FY09 to 7.8 lakh units in FY19, registering a phenomenal CAGR of 10%;
India is also one of the largest manufacturers of equipment such as tractors, harvesters and tillers;
With rise in pollution and huge nutritional losses through crop residue burning, mechanized solutions like the super straw management system (SMS) 5 and promoting Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) around stubble management are other important drivers fuelling sectoral growth.
Technology integration by farm mechanization start-ups, especially based on the farming as a service (FAAS) model, is gaining significant momentum these days, said the report. fiinews.com
