 "Surya Marketing to enter farm equipment production")
Encouraged by government's announcement to double farmers’ income by 2022, trading company Surya Marketing Ltd plans to enter farm equipment manufacturing with potential to increase crop output by upto 20%.
The board of the company at a meeting early this week approved expansion in the production of farm equipment to enhance profitability.
The board of the company at a meeting early this week approved expansion in the production of farm equipment to enhance profitability.
"We are working on the details of the plan with investment and local for setting up a farm equipment production facility,” said a senior company official.
Claims to be cost effective, the company said that it would provide Indian farmers with ultra modern farm equipments which would boost the productivity of farmers.
India has the second largest cultivable land base in the world, only marginally behind the US. Indian productivity remains amongst the lowest in the world due to lack of modern hi-tech farm equipment.
"Surya would provide these whereby our small hold farmers improve on-farm productivity through improved farming techniques and better crop inputs. Hi-tech farm equipment provided by Surya Marketing will enable farmers to access markets directly to earn a decent profit on the crop. These services help small hold farmers improve productivity by over 20 per cent with cost savings to boot, and provide access to technologies that were hitherto out of reach due to the high capital investments required," said a senior company official.
The company's latest investment, will specifically focus on solving the on-farm productivity improvement problem through precision farm operations as a service.
"We believe the timing for this intervention is right, given we're at an inflection point where mechanisation services are starting to become cheaper than farm labour," said the official.
The Union Budget 2016 was presented by the finance minister focusing to encourage entrepreneurship, while ensuring rural development. Considerable funds were allocated to irrigation, agriculture and farming and care was taken to pull out farmers from debt in drought-ridden areas.
The government ensured double income of farmers, which would include Rs 35,984 crores investment, new infrastructure for agriculture, manure, animal husbandry and irrigation. 2.58 million ha to be brought under irrigation. All in all, 23 projects under the scheme are to be accomplished before March 2017.
These services help small hold farmers improve productivity by over 20% with cost savings to boot, and provide access to technologies that were hitherto out of reach due to the high capital investments required.
"Our latest investment will approach by specifically focusing on solving the on-farm productivity improvement problem through precision farm operations as a service in line with government objective. We believe the timing for this intervention is right, given we’re at an inflection point where mechanisation services are starting to become cheaper than farm labour.”
The global demand for food will only continue to rise, as will the transition to higher value crops and the move from growing cereals to proteins and fats. As long as there are cost-efficient and transparent ways to enable farmers to grow food, there will be also be no shortage of investment and farm credit.
Allowing every small farming household to unlock the true economic potential of their assets is the only way India can build a richer economy while maintaining harmony in our transition to a more urbanised society, the official said.
