CII for enhanced farm mechanization in India

The Confederation of Indian Industry, a premier Industry body has recommended intensification of agricultural activity through increased farm mechanization, given limited availability of land and imperative for food security in India.

“Identification of farm mechanization needs and development of need based farm implements are of prime importance” stated Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Chairman, CII National Council on Agriculture.

According to the CII press release, it is time to move the policy from ‘Rupees per Kilo’ to ‘Rupees per Acre’. The policy framework should encourage farmers to move towards greater use of farm equipment which will lead to higher agricultural productivity and thus higher farm incomes and crop yields.

CII proposes an action agenda covering policy framework, availability of farming machinery and equipment, and financial measures for promoting farm mechanization. To begin with, CII recommends that a joint government and private sector working group be established to suggest a roadmap. A National Mission on Farm Mechanization should undertake activities in an intensive manner, suggests CII.

According to CII, availability of farm implements and machinery would hinge on maintaining a stock of such equipment at state agro corporations or agri universities for deployment on farms when needed. This could be done on a hire-purchase or lease basis so that small and medium farmers as well as large farms could access them as required. CII suggests a range of measures such as accelerated depreciation, tax exemptions, zero duties, etc to incentivize purchase of machinery.

Access to technology would also be a point to consider, says the CII press release. Technology transfer from foreign firms could be promoted through joint ventures. R&D facilities could also be established, recommends CII, while learning for farmers could be carried out through tailored distance programs leveraging IT and telecom.

CII also suggests a complete finance mechanism for facilitating leasing of farm machinery by small, medium and large farmers. Loans should be offered on agricultural interest rates and lending norms should be liberal, flexible and transparent.

The participation of private industry in farm mechanization would be critical, feels CII. Dedicated extension programs in public-private partnership mode would be needed. Suitable solutions taking into account crop types, seasons, and soil types must be developed which would be facilitated through industry.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, “While selective mechanization in our country has improved agricultural conditions in certain parts of the country, it is still a bottom of the pyramid story and it will remain so unless concrete measures are taken to propel farmers towards adoption of efficient farm mechanization practices. Setting up of a farm mechanization mission is thus the need of the hour.”

Despite significant improvements in crop productivity during the Green Revolution, yields in India have nearly stagnated for two decades and are around 35-50% below international averages. Yield differences are also apparent across states, pointed out the CII press release.

Experts estimate that by 2025, agriculture productivity should increase by 100% to sustain the projected population of 1.363 billion. According to CII, this can only be achieved through intensifying agriculture which is aided by mechanization inputs.

However, huge gaps exist in the levels of mechanization in India in comparison to the world. For example, in Argentina, a food exporting nation, 9.4% of the population is engaged in agriculture and the level of mechanization is 75%, while in China the respective proportions are 64.9 and 38. In India, 52% of the population works in agriculture, but the level of mechanization is just 30%.

CII believes that apart from increasing productivity, the use of farm mechanization enlarges employment opportunities in farm and non-farm sectors through increase in area under plough, multiple cropping, development of agro-industries and related services. Further, the drudgery of human labour is reduced and unhygienic operations such as handling of farm yard manure can be done with machinery. Farm mechanization is also increasingly important because of workers moving away from farming activity, as well as increase in the cost of upkeep of animals.