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Infusion of farm mechanization technologies in Indian agriculture: Progress and

Impact

Article · March 2015

DOI: 10.5958/2322-0430.2015.00014.1

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INFUSION OF FARM MECHANIZATIONTECHNOLOGIES IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE:

PROGRESS AND IMPACT

Mankaran Dhiman * and Jaskaran Dhiman**

ABSTARCT

India has shown remarkable progress in agriculture since independence.The food production scenario has greatly improved. In view of the intensiveagriculture especially in the food bowl states (Punjab, Haryana, and westernUttar Pradesh), short window of time available between harvesting of paddyand sowing of wheat, as well as well as labour shortage, the farmmechanization can have a crucial role to play. For making farming globallycompetitive and checking impairment to natural resources (soil and water)base, a major shift in farm mechanization is required to realize the goal ofeco-friendly sustainable agriculture with cost-effective production of qualityproduce. Appropriate and selective mechanization is needed for productionagriculture, post-harvest handling, and value addition using a prudentcombine of conventional and renewable energy sources. To devise longterm strategies for farm mechanization, it is vital to visualize the needs inview of the prevailing and emerging challenges.

Keywords: Farm mechanization, Indian agriculture, technology infusionJEL Classification: O12, Q01, Q15, Q16, Q18,

INTRODUCTIONAgriculture plays a vital role in the economic

development in India. Since independence,India made a noteworthy progress inagriculture in terms of rapid transformation onthe foodgrain front. The Indian GreenRevolution, which indeedhas beenanexemplary success story of independentIndia, took roots in the mid sixties. It wasushered in through taking up of higher andbalanced use of biological, chemical andmechanical inputs together with the timelygovernment intervention and support. The key

elements for the success of this well-orchestrated Green Revolution were:Development of high yielding varieties ofwheat and rice; Generation of complimentaryproduction technologies; Efficient technologytransfer to farmers; Adequate availability ofinputs (irrigation, fertilizers, etc.); Highlyresponsive and keen peasantry; Pro-agriculturegovernment policies (paddy and wheatprocurement at MSP, PDS, etc.). Besides, theinfrastructural facilities such as irrigationsystems, rural electrification, link roads andstorage facilities; Marketing of farm produceand input distribution system; Machinerymanufacturing and farm mechanization;Consolidation of land holdings;Institutionalization of farm credit, etc. also ledto the success of Green Revolution.

The improvements in agro technology

*Department of Farm Power and Machinery, PunjabAgricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Indiaand **Ph.D. Student, McGill University, Montreal,CanadaEmail:mankaran.90@gmail.com

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including that of farm mechanization in Indiabrought about revolutionary enhancement inagricultural production. From a net importingcountry, India is nowproducing more than 264million tons (mt) of food grains. For meetingthe food security needs of the country,agricultural productivity and its growth needsto be sustained and further improved.

Farm Mechanization provides thetechnology to facilitate agricultural growththrough efficient use of inputs. It can have agreat role to play in the development ofagriculture. Mechanization is important fromtillage and seed-bed preparation, sowing/planting, inter-culture, fertilizer application,irr igation, harvesting, to post harvestoperations. With newer technologies like zero-tillage, raised bed planting, residuemanagement, precision agriculture, micro-irrigation, mulching, etc., for farming thedependence on farm mechanization hasincreased. Adoption of mechanization ensurestimeliness of agricultural operations reducescost of production as well as reduces drudgeryin carrying out various farm operations.Equipment and implements for variousoperations like tillage, sowing, irrigation, plantprotection and threshing, etc. are generallybeing used by farmers.

India is in the early stage of developmentas far as mechanization infusion is concerned.A big leap toward mechanization is expectedinfuturedue tolabour shortage owing to ruralemployment guarantee scheme and prevailingpressure to boost productivity (Balachandar,2014 and Srivastava, 1999). Although, India is

the largest manufacturer of tractors in theworld, accounting for one-third of worldproduction (Ravi, 2013), the average poweravailability in the country is lower than manycountries (Korea, Japan, US).

The migration of people to urban areas andavailability of credit and money arealso mainfactors in mechanization. The movement oflabour away from agriculture has gainedmomentum in recent years, although the shareof workers living off the land still remains at54.6% of the work force (Ravi, 2013). The farmerpopulation has shrunk by 9 million between2001 and 2011. In view of the efforts beingmade to modernize Indian agriculture,mechanization in an important element (Vatsa,2013). The farm mechanization has been wellreceived world over as one of the centralelements of modernization of agriculture.There has been a substantial progress ofmechanization in agriculture, however, itsspread has been in the most uneven manner.Further, efforts to identify specific farmequipments, implements and machines, fordifferent agro climatic zones, as well as theirpromotion in the respective zones has beenlacking. Looking at farm implements used per1000 ha of net sown area in the country, thetractor operated machinery is commonly used(Table 1). The Ministry of Agriculture,Government of India is giving a focus toagricultural mechanization including R&D,custom hiring and better technology infusion,through its various schemes. The focus is onincreasing the reach of mechanization to theunreached regions and farmers.

Table 1: Number of farm machines per 1000ha net sown area in India(000'ha-1)

Machine Number Machine NumberManual seed drill/seed drill-cum- fertilizer drill 153.2 Power operated horticultural tools 8.9Animal drawn leveler 84.8 Drip and sprinkler equipment 8.3Animal drawn seed-cum-fertilizer drill 36.1 tractor drawn seed-cum-fertilizer drill 7.2Manually operated plant protection equipment 28.5 Tractor operated disc harrow 6.6Straw reaper 18.8 Tractor operated levlers 6.2Forage harvester 18.2 Power operated plant protection equipment 4.3Tractors 16.7 Potato digger 2.1Tractor operator cultivator 12.5 Tractor operated rotavator 0.9Source: Ministry of Agriculture (2012)

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Punjab, the agriculturally progressive state,has achieved tremendousgrowth in rice andwheat system where 3.5 million hectares whichform 80 percent of total cultivated area is underwheat and 2.8 m ha (68 percent) is under rice.Cropping intensity of the state is 191 percent.This unparalleled achievement has been onlypossible through mechanization of cropproduction system. This paper appraises thefindings of various researchers on the progressand impact of the infusion of farmmechanization technologies on agriculture.The sale of tractors and power tillers in Indiahas shown exponential increase over the years(Table 2).

Table 2: Sale of tractors and power tillersin IndiaYear Tractors (lakh) Power tillers (000')2004-05 2.47 17.482005-06 2.96 22.32006-07 3.53 24.792007-08 3.46 26.132008-09 3.43 35.292009-10 3.94 38.792010-11 5.45 55.002011-12 6.07 60.00

INFUSION OF TECHNOLOGIESTractors

In the mechanization process tractor thecommon farm vehicle has played a pivotal roleand at present there are about 4.50 lakh tractorsin the state. The use of tractors and tillers hasincreased five-fold in the last 40 years (Ravi,2013). On an average, there is almost one tractorfor every 25 acres of land. Now the tractor isavailable with several features such as airconditioned cabins, ergonomically designedpedals and levers. Tractor performs severalfunctions. All tillage operations are mechanizedthrough tractors. These are also used for theoperation of wheat thresher and pumpingwater through generator in the absence ofelectricity power supply. Average HP in thestate is almost 3.7 KW per ha.

In India, tractor have been used forperforming operations using tillage equipmentlike rotavator and spading machines (22.78

percent of total area) and sowing (21.3 percentof total area) and is also used for running otherequipments like laser land leveler. The shareof farm workers and draught animals has comedown from 63.5 percent in 1971-72 to 13.6percent in 2009-10, whereas the share oftractors, power tillers, and motors has goneup from 36.5 to 86.3 percent during the sameperiod (Ravi, 2013). The contribution of tractorshas increased from 7.5 percent in 1971 to over51 percent in 2010-11(Singhaet al., 2012). Theincreasing cost of labour and upkeep ofdraught animals also led to more adoption oftractors for farm operations.

Tractors are available from 18 to 70 HPrange. The market has been moving towardbigger tractors during the past few years. In2005, 4-5 percent of the total industry was ofhigher HP tractors (48HP). In 2013-14, however,the domestic tractor industry volumewas inthe tune of 6.35 lakh of which 48HP tractorsaccounted for16 percent (Balachandar, 2014).In view of shortage of labour, the need fortractor mechanization arises. According toSharma (1998) the projected demand fortractors in India is 22.58 lakh in 2024-25. Singhand Jain (1981) estimated that agriculturalproductivity and labour force were importanteconometric variables determining the demandof tractors in Punjab. Chatha and Grewal (1991)revealed that demand for tractors in Punjabwould be 5.60 lakh in 2030-31 and indicatedthat by 2010-11 there will be saturation pointas far as the number of tractors is concernedand that further demand of 25-32 thousandtractors will be due to replacement reasons.With the recommendation of rotavator, thehigher HP tractors will play a vital role.Thetractors with advanced features but withaffordable price range are needed. Thenormative demand of tractors in Punjab ishigher than the prevailing tractor use. InPunjab, the farmers are buying tractor as theirstatus symbol though its field use (264 h) isfar below the normal annual requirement (1000h).

The big manufacturers of tractors and

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pumpsets have their dealers in big towns inthe country. Almost in every town there are afew manufacturers making different types ofmachines and implements. There aretractormanufactures in the Punjab with annualproduction capacity of one lakh tractors. Inspite of good manufacturing base forproduction of different types of farmmachinery, their availability in many places isnot very satisfactory. Subsidies on differenttypes of farm machines are available fordifferent categories of farmers under the micro-management schemes of the stategovernments.Seed-cum-fertilizer drills

Several types of tractor-operated drills andseed planters with fertilizer attachments havebeen developed and introduced in India in thelate sixties. Animal and tractor operated seedplanters were developed and made availabletofarmers. During the seventies R&D work wasdevoted to evolving new models, fine tuningthe seed metering mechanisms, powertransmission systems, frame designs, anddeveloping suitable types of furrowopeners.The Punjab Government gave asubsidy of 33 percent to all farmers buyingdrills. Evaluation and testing of various typesof drills and planters under varying soil andfield conditions also intensified during theseventies. A need-based target for introducingabout 50,000 improved drills was set in 1968-69. At present about 1.8 lakhs of seed-cum-fertilizer drills are being used by the Punjabfarmers. Drills in size rangeof 7 to 15 rows fortractors are available. The most common seed-metering device in drills is the external fluted-feed roller and that on planters is the inclinedor vertical plate with cells.

Although this method of wheat seedingusing zero-till seed-cum -ferti drill is becomingvery popular in Haryana and Punjab states butit not popular in U. P. particularly in centralparts (Singh et al., 2014). According to Singhet al. (2014) wheat crop can be sown 10-15days earlier as compared to conventionalmethod of sowing. This will result in timely

sowing of wheat crop and increase in yield.Further, in zero-till ferti seed drill system, theaverage cost of irrigation was `2592 per hawhich was `667.5 per ha lesser in comparisonto conventional system and gives 21 percentsaving. The zero tillage sowing was moreeconomical (79 percent) in comparison toconventional methods of sowing. It wasobserved that zero-till ferti seed-drill systemwas found an acceptable machine by thefarmers of district Ambedkar Nagar (UP)because the zero-till ferti seed-drill system gavehighest benefit cost ratio (1.76) in comparisonto conventional system. The machine has beendiscussed from various angles (Chauhan andKumar, 1992).

The Indian drills and planters place fertilizerin a band usually on one side of the seed atthe same depth or deeper. Agronomic researchshows fertilizer placement in a band about 2.5cm to the side and about 2.5 cm deeper thanthe seed leads to about 8 to 10 percent increasein yield of cereal crops. Indian StandardsInstitution (ISI) formulated several standardsrelevant to the seeding equipment. Themanufacturers of the state considerablyimproved equipment quality and started usingjigs and fixtures for making its components(Guruswamy, 1985).Threshers

An indigenous thresher called ‘LudhianaThresher’ was developed during the mid-l950s,by Mr S.K. Paul (farm engineer) and Mr .Sunder Singh (an innovative small-scalemanufacturer of Ludhiana), which was the firstindigenous power thresher to becommercialized and acknowledged., IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research (ICAR)recognized the inventors of the Ludhianathresherin 1957. It was capable of threshingand cleaning besides facilitating bagging.Thisfollowed suit as it was followed by the low-cost drummythreshers, better-designed Nainior Sherpur threshers, and low powerSyndicator/Toka threshers capable of handlingeven moist wheat.

Recently, bulk automatic feeding with auto-

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reverse, and multi-crop threshers have come.Punjab State has reached acompletelymechanized wheat threshing level. Theengineers are now focusing on precise aspectslike reducing energy consumption, safety,quality control, and standardization. Thethreshers are being manufactured on a smallscale industry level. Ancillary units producecomponents required by threshermanufacturers. The PAU designed anddeveloped multi crop thresherbased onconventional rasp-bar design. It can threshseveral crops except groundnut. However,peoplerequire bruised straw for feeding tocattle. Thus, a new design used a tractor-operated rasp-bar thresher to yield betterbruised straw. At present about 8 lakh threshersare being used by the farmers of the state. Theinfusion of this technology has helped farmersto market their wheat produce timely.

Threshers have been designed for differentcrops such as wheat, maize, groundnut,cowpea, mungbean, etc. Threshers often leadto some accidents causing varying level ofinjuries. It is estimated that every year inHaryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh alone theremay be 5000 to 10,000 deaths 15,000 to 20,000amputations and 1.5 to 2.0 lakh serious injuriesdue to farm activities (Mohan and Patel, 1992).Among these, threshing machines areresponsible for a significant number of seriousinjuries. Kumar et al. (2002) suggested a costeffective, improved design for safe operationofthreshers based on ergonomic principles.Threshers have been designed to suit theneeds of small farmers(Azouma et al., 2009).Combine harvesters

The combine harvester, or simply combine,is a machine that harvests cereal crops. Thename is due to its combining three operations(reaping, threshing, and winnowing) ofharvesting into a single one (Quick andWesley,1978). Combining is found to be thecheapest method of harvesting and threshingpaddy and wheat (Alam, 2005). There are about30 manufacturers fabricating combines.Combine harvester machines for harvesting of

rice, wheat, maize, green gram, soybean, etc.are available. Tractor mounted, tractor driven,self-propelled combines with 8-14feet headershave been manufactured.

In Punjab, 91 and 82 percent area underpaddy and wheat is harvested with combineharvesters.Currently, there are nearly 15,000harvesters available in the state. About 90-95percent combine harvesters are operated oncustom hiring basis, which considerablyreduce the cost and availability of these costlymachines, which cannot be otherwise affordedespecially by the small farmers. The majorinternational companies like CLAAS and JohnDeere haveset-up their manufacturing base inthe state. Punjab is considered to be hub ofmanufactures of combine harvesters andsupplies this machinery to the rest of thecountry. the limitation is that the combineharvesters do not handle crop residue andcreate management problem. Track type smallharvesters are also manufactured, which canbe operating in water logged and wet lands.Laser land leveler

The laser land levelling technology is usedto level bigger fields. Land leveling is animportant operation for good agronomic, soiland crop management practices (Anurajaet al.,2013). Cook and Peikert (1960) reported that asignificant (20-25 percent) quantity of irrigationwater was lost during its application due topoor farm designing and unevenness of thefields. The levelled fields have better water useefficiency. Aggarwal et al. (2010) assessedwater saving in different crops (maize, wheat,cotton, paddy, berseem, pea, potato) throughprecision land leveling and reported a watersaving in the range of 22-33 percent (average26. 64 percent). Reporting that 10, 25, 50, 75and 100 percent adoption of laser land levellercan result in saving of 1.46, 3.66, 7.33, 10.99and 14.65 lakh haM of water, theyrecommended the use of laser land leveller tosave water in Punjab where water table isdepletion is a cause of concern.

Several researchers have conducted fieldexperiments to evaluate the performance of

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laser landleveler for land leveling and gradingoperations to determine its effect on waterrequirements and yield of selected crops. Inthe case of paddy crop, land leveling by laserguided land leveler resulted in much lesservariations in height of standing water as aresult of which 16.67 percent water saving wasobserved per irrigation. Crop yields werehigher in case of fields laser leveled and gradedfields. However, differences were significantin the case of paddy and pigeon pea crop only(Chaudhuri et al., 2007).

In another report (Aryalet al., 2011) laserleveling in rice fields reduced irrigation timeby 47-69 h per ha per season and improvedyield by approximately 7 percent compared withtraditionally leveled fields. In wheat, irrigationtime was reduced by 10-12 h per ha per seasonand yield increased by 6.7 percent in Haryanaand 8.8% in Punjab by adopting laser leveling.The monetary benefits of laser leveller in termsof increased yields of paddy and wheat wasequivalent to USD 138 per ha per year. Thisshows that the use of laser leveler has becomeeconomically accessible, even to small holdersand resource-poor farmers. The technologywas recommended in 2006 as it ensures betterwater distribution efficiency, provides optionfor providing slope, ensures better crop stand/yield. The infusion of this scale neutraltechnology (not biased towards large farmers)has recently been picking up as the number oflaser levelers has been increasingexponentially in the Punjab starting withmerely three in 2006 to more than 7200 at

Table 3: Area levelled using laser landlevelers in PunjabYear Area laser levelled (ha)2005 82006 1502007 5502008 10002009 20002010 41002011 62502012 93702013 115802014 15000

present. It has levelled around 15,000 ha areain Punjab (Table 3). Cooperative Societies arealso helping farmers to avail laser land levler.

About 32 percent of the cropped area hasbeen laser levelled in the state. Besides leadingto water saving, the laser levelling techniqueis beneficial in many ways. Nearly 20-25% ofirrigation water is lost due to unevenness ofthe fields leading to non-uniformity ingermination, poor crop stand, more weeds anduneven crop maturity affecting yield andquality of produce. Proper land levelling isneeded for optimum water and nutrient useefficiency, better crop establishment, savingin time for applying irrigation and ultimatelymore productivity. Number of manufacturersin the state are producing and selling themachines in Punjab and also in adjoiningstates.Tools and techniques for precision farming

Rapid socio-economic changes in somedeveloping countries, including India, arecreating new scopes for application ofprecision agriculture (Mondal and Basu, 2009).As far as precision farming technologydevelopment and infusion is concerned, Indiais yet to catch up with the developments madein advanced countries (Mondal and Tewari,2007). Some work on this front has beeninitiated. Various precision agriculture toolslike ‘grain yield monitor’ and ‘moisturesensor’fitted on indigenous combineharvesters are being evaluatedthrough onlinedata collection. Efforts are underway to modify‘tractor mounted soil sensor’ toappraiseelectrical conductivity (EC) andcompaction of soil at the same time. The CSIO,Chandigarh has developed tractor mountedsoil EC mapper.Tractor operated pHmonitoring system has been developed.Thetractor fitted GPS Navigator is being evaluatedto guide the tractor and to analyze the effecton missing and overlapping during differenttractor operations. A ground-based integratedsystem was to measure real-time cropconditions including Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI), real time images,

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biomass, etc. has been developed.Theprototype of variable rate applicator forfertilizershas been developed to reduce thecommon problems of over and under fertilizerapplication. High resolution multi spectralsatellite data of different sensors i.e World View(WV-02), Quickbird (QB02), Geoeye andIKONOS-02 is being used to establishrelationships with soil and crop parameters forselected sites of Punjab and Harayana. Soiltexture analysis and spatial variability mapsgenerated in terms of sand, silt and claypercentage by using satellite data are useful.Such precision farming technologies usinginterdisciplinary efforts and involving ICT willhelp rationalize the use of inputs.Infusion of farm mechanization technologiesthrough Custom hiring

Indian agriculture, for that matter Punjabagriculture, is largely dominated by smallholdings (Singh et al., 2013).Small holdingshave their intrinsic problems. The ownershipof machinery is mostly determined by theeconomic viability. The custom-hiring systemcan be greatly helpful (Dhillon and Sidhu,1987and Pandey, 2000). Custom hiring service offarm machinery was first introduced in pre-partition Indian agriculture in 1912 when a 30-inch (diameter) steam thresher was used forcustom hiring in Layallpur district. Thesemachines were taken to about 10 differentplaces working for 2 or 3 days at each place.The users were charged half rate only i.e. 2anna a maund. The output of this thresher wasabout17 kg per h. Organizedefforts to promotemulti farm use of agricultural machinery was

made in mid 1960’s when Agro-IndustriesCorporations (AIC) were established in thestates. The AICs acted as facilitators of farmmechanization. The AICs in most states setupAgricultural Machinery Service Centers(AMSCs) to provide custom hiring andservicing facilities to farmers. These centreswere run on no profit no loss basis. From 1967these centers also supplied other machines likepump sets, tractors, power threshers and powertiller on hire purchase basis rather than oncustom hiring. The custom hiring system isbetter for the smaller farmers for availing non-farm employment opportunities.Thegovernment has also developed the PrimaryAgricultural Cooperative Societies as Agro-Service Centres for such services. This wouldparticularly be beneficial to the small farmersto cut down their cost of production, enhanceproductivity and increase their net farmincome.

The establishment of Agro MachineryService Centres (AMSCs) at various PrimaryAgricultural Cooperative Societies (PACSs)was initiated during the early-2000s in Punjab.These AMSCs purchased heavy farmmachinery such as tractors, trolleys, laserlevellers, etc. out of their own savings,institutional loans and subsidy support fromthe government to provide timely services tothe farmers, especially small and marginalfarmers, at reasonable rates. These AMSCshave successfully catered to the farmers’needs, thereby reducing their investmentburdens, and costs of farm operations withsubsequent improving of economic viabilityof these farms.

Table 4: Number of operational holdings by size group('000)

Farm category 1990-91 2004-05India Punjab India Punjab India Punjab India Punjab

Marginal 63389 59.44 297 26.48 83694 64.77 135 13.45Small 20092 18.84 204 18.25 23929 18.52 184 18.33Semi- Medium 13923 13.06 288 25.85 14127 10.93 319 31.77Medium 7580 7.11 261 23.41 6375 4.93 295 29.38Large 1654 1.55 67 6.01 1095 0.85 71 7.07All Holdings 106637 100 1117 100 129222 100 1004 100Source: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Agricultural Census Division ( c.f. Singh et al., 2013)

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Impact of mechanizationA number of studies have been attempted

in different parts of the country to assess theimpact of farm mechanization. The impact hasbeen viewed in relation to agriculturalproduction and productivity, enhancement ofcropping intensity, employment generation,conservation of natural resources, etc.

Availability of mechanical power andimproved tools and equipment has enabled thefood bowl states of Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh to achieve high level ofland productivity (Goyal et al., 2014) and thesame should happen to other states. A positiverelationship exists between farm poweravailability and agricultural productivity(Singh, 2001).According to Gajri et al. (2002),farm mechanization has enhanced the areaunder crop cultivation and thereby contributedtoward increased productivity mainly becauseof the precision with which crop agronomicaloperations can be accomplished.

Mechanization of farm operations hasgreatly helped in reducing the labourrequirement, drudgery and cost of cultivationand saving farmers from vagaries of weather.It has also led to an enhancement in croppingintensity. The tractorization, which isconsidered as back bone of mechanization, hasplayed a key role in making the GreenRevolution a grand success in India (Bectoretal., 2008). Despite some divergence that thetractorization displaces bullock, labour andretrenchment of manpower in the labourintensive country like ours, the farmmechanization or use of tractors (4.5 lakh inPunjab) has contributed significantly to thegrowth of Indian agriculture (Singha et al.,2012) it enhances the agricultural GDP both inthe long and short run. According to Verma(2005) tractor farms yield more than the non-tractor farms in India, especially of thecommercial crops like sugarcane and potato.Prioritization and future outlook formechanization

In view of the intensive agricultureespecially in Punjab, Haryana, and western

Uttar Pradesh, short window of time availablebetween harvesting of a crop and sowing ofthe next, as well as well as labour shortage, thefarm mechanization is critically important.There are estimates that farm mechanization inIndia is set to enter a new phase to meet thegrowing demand for food grains and other foodand non-food commodities(Goyal et al., 2014)and the process needs to be re-looked and re-engineered so as to effectively include smalland marginal farmers (Aggarwal,1983).According to Bakshi (2013), Indian agricultureis undergoing a heavy stress as average landholdings is decreasing day by day. Theacreage has remained at 140 million hectaressince 40 years but the number of farmers hasincreased from 7 crore to 14 crore. We areadding one crore farmers every five years. Withsmaller land at disposal, there is a decrease infarmers’ capacity to invest in land.

For making farmers globally competitiveand checking damage to natural resources (soiland water), a major shift in farm mechanizationis required to realize the goal of eco-friendlysustainable agriculture with low cost ofproduction and high quality produce.Appropriate and selective mechanization isneeded for production agriculture, post harvesthandling, and value addition using a propercombine of conventional and renewable energysources. To devise long term strategies forfarm mechanization, it is vital to visualize theneeds in view of the prevailing challenges(Goyal et al., 2014). The following points arerelevant in this regard: Power farming should be adequately

adopted fortimeliness and precision offield operations, maximizing useefficiencies of agrochemicalinputs(fertilizers, seeds, etc.),for naturalresource (water and soil) conservationand environment (Joshi, 1998, Srivastava,2002 and Rijk, 1989).

Due focus should be given to precisionequipment for proper placement of inputs(Gajri et al., 2002) for precision farming.Tractor mounted sensor based nutrient

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application and yield monitoring forcombine harvester need to be developedfor precision agriculture.

· Sub-soilers and equipment for deep tillagefor breaking hard pan and managing withperennial weeds should be introduced.

Conservation tillage technologies (zero tilldrills, strip till drills, roto drills, tillagemachines, spading machines, raised bedplanters, ridger seeder, etc.) should bepromoted priority (Peter, 1993).

Low cost multi-task and multi-crop farmmachinery needs to be developed andpromoted among marginal and smallfarmers.

Mechanization of sowing and harvestingof major crops, collection and managementof residue of paddy and other crops andmulching should receive priority.

There is need to develop and promotemachines/equipment for sugarcaneharvesting, cotton picking and vegetableharvesting. Mechanization solutions forpaddy, sugarcane, cotton, potato,horticultural crops, and green houseprotected cultivation, etc. needs attentionof engineers and industries for theirdevelopment, production and marketing.

For mechanization of horticultural crops,machines like pit makers, sapling planters,mulch layers, orchard sprayers, fruitharvesters, vegetable grafting machine,etc. need to be identified, designed/introduced and popularized.

Design, import, evaluation and promotionof pneumatic planters and sprayersshould receive focus.

Design of green house withenvironmental control mechanizedcultivation and product-handlingtechnology package will assume greaterimportance.

Mechanization in hill agriculture, wherethere is tremendous potential of growinghorticultural crops, flowers etc. exist,needs to be focused.

In view of depleting water resource and

increasing demand for irrigation water,efforts are needed for strengtheningresearch on drip, sprinkler and micro-sprinkler systems to economize water useand improving its use efficiency.

Electronic procedures/devices foridentifying gaps and counting seeds/seedlings in planters/transplanters needto be introduced (Singh and Bhardwaj,1985).

Use of information and communicationtechnology(ICT) and computer conceptsfor the designing, manufacturing andmanagement of farm machinery.

The public-private partnership (PPP)needs to be encouraged to give a boostto farm mechanization

The present trend in agriculturalmechanization is for high capacitymachines to be used on custom hiring andfor contractual field operations.

The future mechanization strategy mayhave to be based on agro-ecologicaldiversity and economic disparity of thefarmers. Combine harvestersincorporating straw/crop residuemanagement options need to bedeveloped.

CONCLUSIONSFor meeting the food security needs of the

country, agricultural productivity and itsgrowth need to be further improved. Thisrequires among other efforts, strengtheningof farm mechanization. Viewed over the years,there has been a substantial progress;however, its spread has been uneven. Further,efforts to identify specific farm equipment,implements and machines, for different agroclimatic zones, as well as their promotion hasbeen lacking. The tractor operated machineryis commonly used. The sale of tractors andpower tillers in India has shown exponentialincrease over the years. All tillage operations,running of wheat thresher and water pumps(in the absence of electricity power) aremechanized through tractors. With therecommendation of rotavator, the higher HP

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tractors will play a role. Sowing drills andmachines capable of threshing and cleaningdifferent crop produce besides facilitatingbagging are in practice. Combine harvestermachines for harvesting of rice, wheat, maize,green gram, soybean, etc. are available. Tractormounted, tractor driven, self-propelledcombines with 8-14feet headers have beenmanufactured. Land leveling technologyensures better water distribution efficiency,provides option for providing slope, andensures better crop stand/yield. The infusionof this scale neutral technology has recentlybeen picking up exponentially. Rapid socio-economic changes in India, are creating newscopes for application of precision agricultureand some sensor based equipment is beingstandardized for site application of nutrientsand adjusting soil moisture. Such precisionfarming technologies using interdisciplinaryefforts and involving ICT will help rationalizethe use of inputs. Our contemporaryagriculture is largely dominated by smallholdings having their intrinsic problems. Anumber of studies have been attempted indifferent parts of the country to assess theimpact of farm mechanization. The impact hasbeen viewed in relation to agriculturalproduction and productivity, enhancement ofcropping intensity, employment generation,conservation of natural resources, etc.Mechanization of farm operations has greatlyhelped in reducing the labour requirement,drudgery and cost of cultivation and savingfarmers from vagaries of weather. For makingfarmers globally competitive and checkingdamage to natural resources (soil and water),a major shift in farm mechanization is requiredto realize the goal of eco-friendly sustainableagriculture with low cost of production andhigh quality produce. Appropriate andselective mechanization is needed forproduction agriculture, post-harvest handling,and value addition using a proper combine ofconventional and renewable energy sources.To devise long term strategies for farmmechanization, it is vital to visualize the needs

in view of the prevailing challenges. Subsidieson different types of farm machines areavailable for different categories of farmersunder the micro-management schemes of thestate governments. The Government of Indiais giving a thrust to agricultural mechanizationincluding R&D, custom hiring and bettertechnology infusion, through its variousschemes. The focus is on increasing the reachof mechanization to the unreached regions andfarmers.REFERENCESAggarwal, B. 1983. Mechanization in Indian

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Received: January 20, 2015Accepted: February

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