Farm Mechanization

Farm mechanization refers to the development and use of machines that can take the place of human and animal power in agricultural processes.

Although India is one of the top countries in agricultural production, farm mechanization is just 40% ( & growing at a very slow pace of 5% per annum),  against more than 90% mechanization in the first world. Furthermore, 80% of the value contribution comes from tractors.

• Agricultural Mechanization removes the drudgery associated with agricultural labour, overcomes time and labour bottlenecks to perform tasks within optimum time windows and can influence the environmental footprint of agriculture, leading to sustainable outcomes.
• Increased Productivity and Reduced Input Costs: The use of proper equipment can increase farm productivity by 30% and reduce the input cost by 20%.
• Aid in Outward Migration of Educated Youth: Farm mechanization can also aid in the outward migration of educated youth from the farm sector and help them to contribute better in other sectors. 
• Alternative to deal with increasing cost of labour: The cost of deploying labour for agriculture operations is increasing substantially. Farm mechanization is the only way to reduce labour costs and, thus, the cost of cultivation. 
• Improved quality of crops: Mechanized equipment is designed to perform farming operations with precision and accuracy, leading to improved crop quality. 
• Increased Yields: Machines can uniformly sow seeds, apply fertilizers and pesticides, and harvest crops optimally, leading to better-quality yields.
• Sustainability: Farm mechanization can promote sustainable agriculture by reducing the amount of land, water, and energy required for farming operations. 

• Soil, Terrain & Agro-Climatic Diversity: Machines used in Punjab can’t be used in North East. There is a need for Tailormade products. 
• Small farmers with limited income can’t buy Tractors.
• Low loan support by the banks to the agriculture sector compared to the Industrial sector.
• Due to Small and fragmented Indian landholdings, it is uneconomical to buy individual machines.
• Credit procedure: The procedure to avail agriculture term loan for various activities helping farm mechanization is very cumbersome. Also, the interest rate is higher for such loans than crop loans.

• Higher Agricultural Mechanization has led to higher water usage, stubble burning, smoke from machines and soil erosion, thus impacting the environment negatively. 
• Higher use of agriculture machines leads to displacement of unskilled labour from the rural areas. 
• The agricultural tools in the market are not gender friendly. 
• The agricultural tools are costly, and since the farms are small, they are not utilized to their full potential. 
• Regional Disparities: Northern India has higher mechanization levels than other regions. (Rice and Wheat crops having the largest extent of mechanization).
• Farm mechanization in India is marked by ‘tractorization’.  India’s farm equipment market is 7% of the global market, with more than 80% of the value contribution coming from tractors.

• Companies and governments should invest in R&D for making machinery suitable for different terrains and agro-climatic regions of India.
• Cooperative farming: The cooperative group can buy mechanical tools instead of individual farmers.
• Rental Model: Like ZoomCar for Tractors, Reapers etc., can also be used.
• Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs)
• Invent cheap machines suited to Indian conditions. E.g., small farmers can use power tiller instead of tractor and power reaper instead of Combines as they are more affordable, have low operational cost and can be used in rugged topography. 
• Kisan Drones: Budget 2022 has proposed Kisan Drones for spraying insecticides and pesticides, crop assessment and digitization of land records.