Launched by Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today, the new tractor with 11.2 horsepower diesel engine has been designed by CSIR's Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur. This is the third tractor to be developed by CSIR and successfully transferred the technology to the industry.
"In India, about 85 per cent households cultivate about 36 per cent of entire cultivable land. The average land holding of the small farmer normally does not exceed even 1 hectare. It is, therefore, quite difficult for the average Indian farmer to afford mechanised farming utilising standard tractors of 35 hp and above ratings, which in turn tells upon the productivity and per unit yield.
The tractor would cater to the farmers with small land holdings and would cost around Rs 2 lakh. Singha Components Pvt Ltd, to which the technology has been transferred, said it has started receiving orders from Bangladesh, South Africa and Bhutan, as it is convenient to use it in hilly areas.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Vardhan said, "The scientific community should work as per requirements of the society and conduct research in a time bound manner. It is also important for the scientists to think out of the box because routine thinking is not going to help if we have to grow faster."
This is for the third time CSIR has transferred its tractor technology. In the 1970s, with the Green Revolution, CSIR came up with Swaraj tractor with the capacity of 20 hp and the technology was transferred to Punjab Tractors Ltd.
Later, it came up with Sonalika, a 35 hp tractor for medium and large land holdings and knowhow was transferred to M/s International Tractors Ltd Hoshiarpur, which has been successfully manufacturing and selling it since 2002.