EIMA Agrimach: Themes of the Opening Day

The agricultural sector is one of the cornerstones of India’s production system. Agriculture contributes 18% to the country’s GDP and employs around half of the total workforce. The subcontinent is also among the world’s leading producers of food commodities. The remarkable development of the agricultural economy in recent years has also been supported by federal government policies that have encouraged the purchase of agricultural machinery. Between 1975 and 2017, the level of mechanisation increased by 600%, rising from an average of 0.36 kW/ha to 2.48 kW/ha. Today, India is the world’s largest market for tractors, with more than 900,000 units sold annually between 2021 and 2024. However, despite substantial investments in mechanical equipment, the modernisation of Indian agriculture remains an ongoing process. The country still needs to bridge a significant gap between its different regions and crop types, some of which display technological levels that are inadequate for their actual needs.

This issue was the focus of the conference entitled “Innovating with impact: farm mechanisation technology addressing farmer challenges,” held on the opening day of EIMA Agrimach, the international exhibition of machinery and technologies for the primary sector in India and Southeast Asia. The event featured the participation of Pramod Mehrada, Additional Secretary at the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; S.N. Jha, Deputy Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); T.R. Kesavan, Director and Group President of TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited); Rajeev Wahi, CEO and Head of International Business at Captain Tractors; Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director of International Tractors Limited (Sonalika & Solis); Ankit Chitalia, Managing Director of KisanKraft; Arvind Kumar, Director of Jadhaolayland; Pankaj Singh, Head of Institutional Sales at CNH; and Nitish Arora, Director of the Sustainable Transport and Energy Department at the National Research Development Corporation. The session was moderated by Guna Nand Shukla, Director at the consultancy firm Pwc.
During the meeting, speakers focused particularly on innovation in the agri-mechanical sector. Through the adoption of mechanical equipment and next-generation systems, they explained, the agricultural economy of the subcontinent can not only increase productivity and resilience but also ensure the sustainability of production. Technology therefore represents a powerful accelerator of growth, one that is all the more important given the major challenges the agricultural world must face today, from global population growth to combating the effects of climate change.