India’s farm equipment market to grow to $18 bn by 2025: Report

India’s farm equipment market likely to grow to US$ 18 billion by 2025 from USD 13 billion. Farm mechanisation in India is in the initial stages, with the mechanisation level ranging from 40–45 percent, which is very low compared to that in developed economies, where mechanisation has reached beyond 90 percent, a FICCI-PwC report ‘Farm mechanization: Ensuring a sustainable rise in farm productivity and income’ released today at EIMA AGRIMACH in New Delhi, has said.

According to the report, India’s farm equipment market is 7 percent of the global market, with more than 80 percent 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 compound annual growth (CAGR) of 10 percent. India is also one of the largest manufacturers of equipment such as tractors, harvesters and tillers, the report has said.

With rise in pollution and huge nutritional losses through crop residue burning, mechanised solutions like the super straw management system (SMS)5 and promoting custom hiring centres around stubble management are other important drivers fuelling sectoral growth.

Technology integration by farm mechanisation start-ups, especially based on the farming as a service (FAAS) model, is gaining significant momentum these days, the report has analysed.

Speaking at the event, EIMA AGRIMACH 2019, organised by FICCI, jointly with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Parshottam Rupala, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, said, the government is committed to promote the use of additional farm machinery in the coming years to achieve improvement in awareness about diverse utilisation of mechanisation and credit support so that access to latest technologies is not a constraint.
 
Addressing the event, Ashwani Kumar, Joint Secretary, (Seeds, Mechanization & Technology), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare said, 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.
 
Speaking on India-Italy trade relations, Alessandro Liberatori, Trade Commissioner, Italian Trade Agency said, India and Italy have strong bilateral trade relations and more and more Italian companies are investing in India, especially in the agriculture sector. He added that Italy would focus on developing newer customised technologies and support the Indian agriculture sector.
 
Highlighting the growing mechanisation in agriculture, GS Grewal, Member, FICCI National Agriculture Committee, and Senior VP, Kubota Agricultural Machinery said, mechanisation in India is growing rapidly but we still have a long way to go. “It is time that we move from ‘tractorisation’ to ‘mechanisation’.”
 
The 3-day exhibition, being organised at the campus of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) during 5-7 December is expected to witness over 300+ exhibitions, 350+ international buyers along with 20,000+ farmer delegation.