To promote farm mechanisation among sugarcane farmers.
Murugappa Group company EID Parry (India) Ltd has tied up with New Holland Fiat (India) Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer Case New Holland, to implement farm mechanisation among sugarcane farmers who supply to the company.
The company expects to shift 40 per cent of the 100,000 farmers working with it to the technology by 2014, said Ravindra S Singhvi, managing director, EID Parry. It would invest around Rs 100 crore in two to three years to increase the penetration of mechanisation, he added.
“Initially, we are planning to reach around 15,000 farmers. This will reduce the time consumed in processes like cutting and crushing of sugarcanes,” said Singhvi.
The company would focus on mechanising its five facilities, in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, while the four facilities spread across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, including the three acquired from the GMR Group last year, are not included in the programme at present.
It already has around 14 harvesting machines, which saw an investment of Rs 20 crore, and plans to increase the number to 20-22 machines by the year end. It would buy around 40-50 machines in the next two years, according to earlier reports.
Mechanisation would help EID Parry to ensure the crop is harvested at the right time at a lesser overall cost. The fiancial lending powers that are already with the Murugappa Group would support the farmers to buy the equipment with the support of EID Parry, said Singhvi.
Through the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with EID Parry, New Holland would supply harvesters and other equipment for harvesting, along with providing training to farmers to use the machines effectively, said Rakesh Malhotra, managing director, New Holland Fiat (India) Pvt Ltd.
EID Parry, established in 1975, has presence in biopesticides and nutraceuticals other than sugar business among others.
