Govt asks cos to display MRP of farm machines excluding taxes

Government today asked farm machinery makers to display maximum retail price (MRP), excluding taxes, in a transparent way on their products as levies vary from state to state.
"We are receiving complaints regarding MRP of products like tractors, power tiller and other agricultural machinery, which in this sector is a matter of concern," Additional Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, Jalaj Srivastava said at a Ficci event on farm machinisation here.
MRP must be given, excluding taxes, on farmers portal transparently, as the taxes vary in different states, he said.
Projecting exponential growth of farm mechanisation in near future, he said that the long-term availability of productive and happy-labour in agricultual sector is crucial. It is forecast that Indian agri-workers are expected to decline to 40.6 per cent in 2020 from 54.6 per cent in 2011.

"Thus, there has to be a significant role of farm mechanisation to the extent of taking 50-65 per cent of labour inputs progressively for sustainable agri-growth," he said.
Srivastava further said the cropping intensity in India has risen with increase in power availability. Also, there is a direct connection between farm power availability and food grain productivity.

"From 1951 to 2012 as farm power availability increased from 0.25 to 1.84 kW per hectare, so did the productivity increased from 0.52 tonnes per hectare to 1.92 tonne per hectare," he said adding that farm power availablitiy in 2020 is expected to be 2.2 kW/hectare and productivity at 2.3 tonnes per hectare.

Asserting that mechanisation per se needs machines appropriate for small holdings to become a mass movement, the official said it is generally uneconomical for farmers to own machinery individually, and the farming community's attempts in the past for Custom Hiring Centres are quite successful.
Till now, farm machinisation has progressed especially in northern states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. There is considerable scope for ensuring a uniform spread of agricultural technologies across the country, he added.
Noting that farm machineries so far developed are not as women workforce-friendly, the official said, "Agri-equipment manufacturers have to be tuned, to encourage and take into its fold this colossal workforce through gender sensitisation."

Speaking on the issue, farm machinery maker John Deere Managing Director Satish Nadigar said custom hiring of agri- machineries is picking up in the country.
"We continue to design and manufacture machines that feature advanced technology and proven product reliability. This is important to modernising Indian agriculture," he said.
Ambassador of Italy Lorenzo Angeloni said India has emerged as the first market for tractors to Italy while sharing that about two lakh Indian farmers are involved in agriculture sector in his country.
Six countries and business visitors from 25 nations are participating in the international conference on farm machineries.