11.2 HP tractor developed by CSIR launched

To cater to farmers with small land holdings, the government today launched 'KrishiShakti', a tractor developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
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.

"As a result, there has been tremendous demand for developing small, compact and easily manoeuvrable tractors of rating in the range of 10-12 hp, which is deemed fit for small and fragmented land holdings," said a CSIR official involved in developing the tractor.
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."

He added the ministry would review the process of how to fasten the transfer of technology from different CSIR laboratories to the industry.
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.