Role of Tractors in Modern Agriculture – A Must-Use Technology for Farmers

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Role of Tractors in Modern Agriculture A Must
- Use Technology for Farmers

• Khetigaadi

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Evolution of Tractors in India
The tractor is perhaps one of the most essential
farm machines in India and around the world. It
has played a significant role in the fundamental
alteration and development of agriculture in
modern times. The advent of tractors has relieved
humans and draft animals of strenuous and
time-consuming drudgery have facilitated faster
farm operations and have helped improve overall
farm production. Modern agriculture without
tractors is simply unthinkable.

• The very first tractors in India were imported by
  the British government in 1914 for the purpose of
  clearing bushes and shrubs from degraded forest
  areas and to use this cleared land for
  agricultural purposes. While these imported
  tractors were mainly used in governmental farming
  operations, they were also made available for
  hire to landowners that could afford them. By
  1930, while the use of tractors in farming still
  remained limited, an indigenous industry of
  manufacturing tractor spare parts and engines
  sprang up in India.

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The Invention of the Tractor and its Market
Growth Mechanization of agriculture was an
outcome of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.
There was a concerted effort during this period
to come up with machinery that would replace
human and animal labour and also get more work
done in a shorter amount of time. The development
and refinement of steam engines was a major step
towards the invention of tractors. In 1849, the
Philadelphia-based A. M. Archambault Company
built the first steam-powered machine that could
chop straw, cut wood, and thresh crops. These
early farm machines were either fixed in place or
were hauled by horses or oxen. It wasnt until
the development of the steam traction engine that
could power the wheels that it became possible to
have farm threshers that could be mechanically
driven to the threshing site.

• After India became independent in 1947, the
  Indian government placed great emphasis on
  reforming and modernizing the agricultural sector
  to pave the way towards food self-sufficiency.
  More land was brought under agricultural
  cultivation and more tractors were imported to
  speed up this task. These tractors were
  rigorously studied by Indian manufacturers,
  already well-versed in producing tractor parts
  and engines, and modified to suit Indian
  conditions, and, in 1961, Indian manufacturers
  began bringing out the first Indian-made
  tractors. Five major tractor producers Eicher
  Motors, Gujarat Tractors, TAFE Ltd., Escorts
  Tractors Ltd., Mahindra Mahindra. Domestic
  tractor production increased in the next ten
  years, but tractors still continued to be
  imported from the former Soviet Union, Poland,
  Romania, Czechoslovakia, the UK, and other
  countries.

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Tractor Market in India
While the steam-powered threshers were certainly
an improvement on manual labour, they had severe
drawbacks. They were large and difficult to
operate, they were expensive to manufacture,
purchase, and maintain, and they could also be
hazardous there were instances of fires starting
from flying sparks. Something more reliable,
safe, and practical was needed, and this came
about in 1876 with Nicholas Ottos four-stroke
internal combustion engine. Later inventions of
the petrol, diesel, and gasoline engines further
helped in the development of tractors.

• Indian is one of the largest producers of
  tractors in the world, manufacturing around
  660,000 units per year. The main centers of
  tractor production are in the states of
  Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat,
  and the top domestic markets are in Maharashtra,
  Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
  and Andhra Pradesh. Indian tractors are also
  exported to other countries in Asia, Africa,
  Europe, and America.

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Types and Uses of Tractors
An American inventor from Illinois, John Carter,
is credited with building the first tractor with
the Otto engine in 1889, and a year later, John
Froelich from Iowa invented the first
gasoline-powered tractor that could be driven
back and forth. Froelich helped start the
Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in 1895, and the
company gained recognition for their best-selling
Waterloo Boy tractors. The company was later
taken over by John Deere in 1918.

• The most commonly used tractors in Indian are
  four-wheeled, 31 HP to 40 HP tractors. These can
  be put to multiple agricultural uses, and, aside
  from their price, this is the main consideration
  that farmers make in their purchase. Aside from
  their use in farms, orchards, and gardens, these
  tractors can also be used to haul produce, goods,
  equipment, and any other loads from one
  destination to another. To be able to drive the
  tractors on roads though, it is necessary for
  farmers to register them with the transportation
  department first.

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Current Scenario
The first industrial production of tractors was
begun in Iowa in 1902 by the Hart-Parr Company.
Henry Ford began manufacturing tractors that he
called Automobile Plows in 1907 and the Holt
company began producing Caterpillar track
tractors in 1908.   Tractors found widespread use
in the USA and Canada and were instrumental in
bringing huge tracts of land under cultivation.
These early tractors were behemoths and not
affordable for all farmers. Following the
economic downturn of 1914, it became clear to the
tractor companies that if they were to stay
afloat they needed to come up with smaller,
easier to operate, and less expensive tractors
that within the range of most farmers.

• Indian farmers have become more aware of the
  benefits of farm mechanization and the role of
  the tractor in reducing farm labour drudgery,
  making multiple crops possible in a single year,
  speeding up farm operations, and reducing overall
  farm expenses.

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Tractors in India Tractors have been used in
Indian agriculture since 1914. They were imported
by the British government to bring more land
under agricultural cultivation, but their use was
mainly limited to governmental operations they
were also hired out to rich Indians who could
afford to rent them from the government. Since
getting replacement parts and engines for these
tractors from England was very expensive, these
parts and engines began to be produced in India
and a thriving industry had developed by the
1930s.

• Government funding and subsidies, as well as the
  availability of nearly 95 credit from commercial
  banks, state land development banks, regional
  rural banks, and other financial institutions,
  have made it possible for a growing number of
  farmers with small-sized and medium-sized
  landholdings to purchase tractors. With the
  problem of rising labour scarcity due to
  increased migration to urban areas, better work
  opportunities in other sectors, and government
  employment schemes, having a tractor has become
  more or less of a necessity for many farmers.
  Without it, they wouldnt have sufficient
  manpower to complete all the essential farming
  tasks.

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Future Industry Growth

• The future of the agricultural machinery market
  in India will continue to be influenced by the
  developments in the agricultural sector and vice
  versa. According to a report titled Agricultural
  Machinery Market in India 2017, published by
  Netscribes (India) Pvt. Ltd on the Research and
  Markets website, the projected growth of the
  Indian agricultural machinery market by 2022 is
  expected to reach 769.2 billion rupees.
• Also expected is an increased demand for more
  technologically advanced tractors with autonomous
  features, sensors, air-conditioned cabins,
  climate-controlled cabins, Internet connectivity,
  data collecting abilities, and several other
  capabilities.

After Indian independence, Indian agriculture
received a boost from government initiatives to
modernize farming. Tractors were imported from
the Soviet Union, Romania, Czechoslovakia,
Poland, UK, and other countries to help increase
agricultural productivity. They were often
modified locally to suit Indian farming
requirements, and Indian manufacturers studied
their construction and began producing
Indian-made tractors.
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In 1973, the Indian government banned tractor
imports and encouraged indigenous manufacturing
of tractors. By the 1990s, most of the tractors
used on Indian farms were produced by Indian
manufacturers such as Mahindra Mahindra,
Sonalika Tractors, Standard Tractors, the Escorts
Group, Balwan Tractors, HMT Tractors, and others.
In recent times, the easy availability of credit
for purchasing tractors and the production of
higher HP tractors that are capable of deep
tilling as well as performing other farm and
non-farm tasks has spurred the growth of
mechanization in Indian agriculture.

• If you are interested in looking at some of the
  current tractor models that are being used in
  India and around the world, please visit the
  Khetigaadi website and browse through the
  available selection. It is also possible to ask
  for tractor demos before you make your purchase,
  so please get in touch in that regard.

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Social and Economic Impact of Tractors The
tractor has, undoubtedly, had a tremendous social
and economic impact on agricultural societies.
Mechanization of many agricultural tasks that
were previously performed manually has freed up
the animal and human labour. Since the practice
of keeping draft animals and cultivating meadows
for their feed is no longer necessary on many
farms, farmers can save on these costs and make
more land available for cultivation. Farm workers
can be diverted to other farm tasks or can find
altogether different occupations in other
industrial sectors. Opportunities in other
sectors, as well as lack of work in rural areas,
has led to a growing influx of migrant workers to
urban areas and, in India and many other places,
this phenomenon has resulted in the mushrooming
of large slums.

• If you are interested in looking at some of the
  current tractor models that are being used in
  India and around the world, please visit the
  Khetigaadi website and browse through the
  available selection. It is also possible to ask
  for tractor demos before you make your purchase,
  so please get in touch in that regard.

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Future Scenario for Tractors In the coming
years, we can expect more innovations in
tractors. It will be common to see autonomous
tractors that drive themselves through the field
and sync with other autonomous farm machines to
get all the necessary farm tasks done. Such
machines will only need to be programmed in
advance to perform their tasks or they may be
operated remotely by the farmer. The tractors
will be equipped with motion detection sensors to
help them navigate, with sensors to collect soil
and weather data, and with climate controlled
cabins and Internet connectivity.

• If you are interested in looking at some of the
  current tractor models that are being used in
  India and around the world, please visit the
  Khetigaadi website and browse through the
  available selection. It is also possible to ask
  for tractor demos before you make your purchase,
  so please get in touch in that regard.

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Contact Us
Contact Us

• Address 601, P3 Pentagon, Magarpatta City,
  Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411028
• 07875114466   (Call Us / Whatsapp)
•  connect_at_khetigaadi.com
•   

• Address 601, P3 Pentagon, Magarpatta City,
  Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411028
• 07875114466   (Call Us / Whatsapp)
•  connect_at_khetigaadi.com
•