Here is a list of agricultural machinery and tools used in India:- 1. Tractors 2. Combines 3. Micro-Irrigation Equipment 4. Power Tillers 5. Electric Pumps and Motors 6. Seed Bed Preparation 7. Sowing and Planting Equipment 8. Plant Protection Equipment 9. Harvesting and Threshing.
1. Tractors:
Tractors are used for a variety of purposes in the agricultural sector. Over the years, the tractor industry in India has made significant progress in production, capacity addition and technology indigenization. Both MNCs and home-grown companies provide products with varying horsepower to meet farm requirements.
Tractor sales depend on size of landholding of the farmers, credit availability and income/savings, which depend on a large part on the monsoons. Though the penetration of tractors has been low, low crop yields, rising labour costs, planting of high yield varieties, modernization and increased mechanization is expected to push the growth in this segment in the next decade.
A report by Kotak Institutional Securities (2013) estimates that only 5 percent of agricultural households own a tractor, and so sales will continue to grow in the coming years. The report expects a CAGR of tractors to be 7-8 percent. However, fragmented landholdings prevent deep penetration. It is estimated that a farmer owning 6 acres can afford a tractor, but 82 percent of landholdings in India are 5 acre or less. Alternate uses, such as haulage and construction may help boost demand.
Fragmented Holdings:
According to the Agriculture Census 2010-11, total number of operational holdings was estimated at 138.35 million, while the total operated area was 159.59 million hectare. The average size of holdings thus comes to 1.15 ha, which is less than half of the figure in 1970-71, when the figure was 2.28 ha. The trend of average size of holdings shows a steady decline over various agriculture censuses since 1970-71.
Landholdings in the marginal category (less than 1 ha) constitute 67 percent of the holdings in India, according to the census. The share of marginal holdings has more than doubled to 22 percent in 2010-11 from 9 percent in 1970-71. The share of small farm holdings, consisting of land size 1-2 ha increased from 12 percent to 22 percent during the same period. We see that small and marginal holdings constitute 85 percent of the landholdings with 44 percent of the operated area in the country.
This trend is only increasing. According to NABARD, quoted in The Economic Times (2013), while the country’s acreage has remained stable at 140 million hectares, the number of farmers has increased from 7 crore to 14 crore, with 1 crore farmers added every five years. The landholding size will therefore continue to decrease. This will have a direct impact on farmers’ capacity to invest. Without any government action on land reforms, the situation is expected to exacerbate.
That is why, companies in India are looking at only modest growth in tractors and farm mechanization equipment. The decrease in landholdings will also make it difficult to maintain agriculture as a feasible profession. With farm distress expected to grow in the coming years because of fragmented holdings, agricultural machinery companies expecting high rural growth rates are bound to be disappointed.
Tractor sales show that their demand is region specific and correlates with the size of land- holding. Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh constitute the major tractor market with about 55 percent share of total all-India sales. Sales in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been witnessing good growth, with around 30 percent share. Tractor sales in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh show consistent growth, with about 25 percent share. Eastern states, namely Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam have been laggards, showing just 3-5 percent growth.
Cost and Credit Considerations:
Kotak has estimated that the cost of ownership of a 15 hp tractor is lower than owning two bullocks with a cart. Given the fact that tractors work faster as well, tractors are slowly replacing bullocks in the countryside. Smaller farmers can rent a tractor, which works out cheaper, but availability during the season is limited. Hence, it is better for farmers to buy one. That is why, purchase of tractors is rising among farmers across size of holdings.
However, the limited availability of bank credit facilities in rural areas affects demand of tractors. Though institutional credit has increased significantly over the years, disparities still exist in the flow of credit among states, districts, villages and even within the village. Patel (2014) points to the difficulties experienced by small, marginal and tenant farmers, households residing in remote hilly, tribal, desert or drought prone areas. This has limited the spread of tractors in the country.
Tractors are available in five categories of horsepower: less than 20 hp, 21-30 hp, 31-40 hp, 41-50 hp and above 51 hp. The maximum sales are of the 31-40 hp tractors. However, over time, the preference for higher horsepower tractors is seen to be increasing.
The major players in the tractor industry are Mahindra and Mahindra, TAFE, Escorts, Sonalika, John Deere, New Holland and HMT. In 2012, Mahindra and Mahindra held a 34 percent market share, TAFE 18 percent, Escorts 17 percent and Sonalika 10 percent. The top five companies held 80 percent market share of the tractor market.
The major manufacturers of tractors in India are as follows:
i. ACE Tractors
ii. Angad Tractors
iii. Balwan Tractors, Force Motors Ltd
iv. Captain Tractors Pvt. Ltd
v. Crossword Agro Industries
vi. Eicher
vii. Escorts
viii. Farmer Tractor
ix. HMT Tractors
x. Indo Farm
xi. John Deere
xii. Mahindra Gujarat Tractor Limited
xiii. Mahindra Tractors
xiv. Mars Group
xv. New Holland Fiat India
xvi. Preet Tractors
xvii. SAME Deutz-Fahr (India) Private Ltd.
xviii. Sonalika
xix. Standard
xx. Swaraj Tractors
xxi. TAFE
xxii. VST Tillers
2. Combines:
Combines are very popular in developed countries. Harvesting with combine harvester is becoming common where workforce is scarce or farms are very large, for example, at the time of wheat harvesting in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. More than 48 local manufacturers mainly in Punjab have developed combines, which are self-propelled or tractor operated.
Combines are also used for harvesting paddy, soybean and gram. Entrepreneurs from Rajasthan and Punjab provide combine harvesters to farmers in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Two known combines are the Class Crop Tiger and Kartar K3500, which have been tested by Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute. Institutes have been set up by the government in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Andhra Pradesh.
They test farm equipment and also conduct training courses in operation, maintenance and repair of farm machinery and equipment. The institutes provide official testing of combine harvesters, farm implements and machinery, irrigation pumps, stationery power engines and plant protection equipment.
Agricultural irrigation equipment is a huge market as farmers modernize. It has helped in increasing agricultural production and revolutionized the cultivation of crops. The category includes sprinklers, pumps, irrigation pipes, paddy seeders, weeders, sprayer systems and inline drippers.
3. Micro-Irrigation Equipment:
Micro-irrigation systems supply water directly to the root of plants through a network of plastic pipes. Low discharge emitters supply water at slow and regular intervals to plants. Micro-irrigation components consist of pipes, tubes, water-emitting devices, flow control equipment, fittings and accessories. Such systems help in saving water by transporting it to the roots as compared to the traditional way in which the whole field is flooded. It also results in fewer weeds and thus improves crop yields.
Micro-irrigation technology is becoming popular with farmers all across the world. It is widely used in the USA, Israel, Australia, parts of Europe and in Asian countries. It is already being used in India and China, and due to a rising population and growing water scarcity, it will be adopted by many more farmers in times to come. Minor irrigation equipment includes micro-irrigation systems, pumps, agriculture pipes, valves and mechanized irrigation systems. Sprinklers such as spray, mist, drippers, micro-jets, fan jets, micro-sprayers and foggers are also used.
A report by Ken Research (2014), ‘India Micro Irrigation System Market Outlook to 2018’, says that penetration of micro-irrigation techniques by farmers is very low, though it is growing at a fast pace. The micro-irrigation system market in India has grown at a CAGR of 27.3 percent during the period 2008-13 and is growing at a CAGR of 18.3 percent for the period 2014-19. There is strong demand in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Haryana. Some state governments provide support for micro-irrigation projects.
The Indian micro-irrigation system industry has grown significantly over the years, but it is highly fragmented with nearly 200 companies. The Irrigation Association of India (IAI) has been set up to coordinate with the government for subsidies and policy interventions. A large number of companies in the organized and unorganized sector manufacture and install micro-irrigation system in the industry.
Of these, Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL) is the largest and a listed company at the stock exchange. JISL offers a wide range of products including drip and sprinkler irrigation system equipment, PVC and PE piping systems, photovoltaic appliances and solar pumps.
4. Power Tillers:
Power tillers are mini-tractors with two wheels and rotary tillers and are useful in small farms. They replace animal power. Sud (2015) writes that these are very popular in paddy cultivation in Japan, but not so in India, where tractors are preferred. Tractors sell about 600,000 units per year in India, while power tillers sell less than one-tenth of that, with most of the sales happening in the southern and north-eastern states.
A power tiller is cheaper than a small tractor and has lower diesel consumption though it takes longer to complete the same job. Besides, the maintenance cost of power tillers is also far lower than that of tractors. Power tillers are more economical even for other uses, such as for running water pumps and grain threshers. It is especially useful in undulated and hilly terrains. There has been a steady growth in the sales of power tillers in the country.
However, power tillers have not been very popular with Indian farmers. One reason is that while operating, a person has to walk behind it to guide it, which not only increases drudgery but can also be hazardous. A remote control system is probably the answer, and one has been developed by Mangalore Robautonics but is yet to catch on. Second, farmers like the status attached to a bigger machine and thus prefer to buy a tractor instead.
5. Electric Pumps and Motors:
Electric motors and diesel engines are used in agriculture and are the primary sources of stationary power for irrigation, threshing and various post-harvest agro-processing operations. Indian pumps are made according to the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Agricultural pump industries are situated in Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Kolkata and Dewas. Rajkot, Agra and Kolhapur are famous for oil engines.
The most popular pumps are single phase monoblock pumpsets from 0.5 hp to 2 hp range, selling about two million sets a year, followed by three-phase monoblock pumpsets 2 hp to 30 hp range and submersible pumpsets 3 hp to 30 hp range, selling 600,000 sets each per year. Bigger pumps consisting of diesel engines up to 10 hp and above 10 hp are also popular. As water tables go down in the country, larger pumps and motors will be required in the future.
Agricultural tools are used for various operations. Most of the tools are fabricated by small-scale units in towns and sold there. The Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association (AMMA-India) lists more than 500 manufacturers of such tools, but there are countless small operators who fabricate tools as required by a farmer at a particular point in time.
6. Seed Bed Preparation:
Various cultivators, disc harrow, mould board plough, puddler, disc harrow-cum-puddler, peg tooth harrow, spring tine harrow, rotavator and patela harrow operated by animal and tractor are the improved implements which have been adopted by farmers. Different sizes of cultivators and disc harrows are used.
7. Sowing and Planting Equipment:
Line-sowing helps in regulated application of fertilizers near the root zone. Mechanical weeders are used to control weeds. Mechanically metered seed drills and seed-cum-fertilizer drills operated by animals and tractors have been developed.
8. Plant Protection Equipment:
Weed control in irrigated and rain-fed agriculture during the kharif season is required and various equipment is available for it. Khurpis, long handle wheel hoe and peg type weeders, bullock-operated weeder and cultivator are also used for control of weeds. Low-cost hand-operated sprayers and dusters are also available.
9. Harvesting and Threshing:
Harvesting and threshing equipment is used to reduce costs of production and reduction in harvest/post-harvest losses, non-availability of labour during the harvesting period. They are also used to reduce drudgery in operations. Harvesting is done in several ways—manually with sickle, with animal or stationary power threshers operated by diesel engines, electric motors or tractor power.