TAFE cultivates 100,000 acres free for small farmers during COVID-19

Udaipur : TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, India’s second and world’s third largest tractor manufacturer by volumes, had launched a Free Tractor Rental Service for farmers in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, from April 1, 2020, for a period of 90 days spanning till
June 30, 2020, through its JFarm Servicesplatform. The scheme received an overwhelming response from the farming community and within 60 days of its implementation, over 100,000 acres have been cultivated and rental service has been provided benefitting thousands of farmers in this crucial cropping season.

This CSR initiative by TAFEaimed to rescue the farming community from the economic implications of COVID-19, and mitigate the impact of the Coronavirus threat on farming operations of small and marginal farmers during the critical Rabi harvest and Kharif preparation season.

TAFElaunched the JFarmServicesfree tractor rental scheme with18,000 Massey Ferguson and EicherTractor customers, and about 75,000 farm implement owners, to offer implements like thecultivator, rotary tiller, duck-foot cultivator, disc plough, disc harrow, mould board plough, thresher and several others. Owing to popular demand, the JFarm servicesplatform saw anincrease in the registrations to 38,900 Massey Ferguson and EicherTractors and 1,06,500 implements available on rent.

TAFE successfully implemented this free tractor rental scheme for the small and marginal farmers with the administrative support of the respective state governments from the Agriculture Departments of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.The benefit received by JFarm Services through tractor rental has been directly given to the farmers by TAFE. Thishas considerably helped in enhancing the revenue of tractor owners and has been welcomed by both the owners and the small farmers.

Shri. Om Prakash (IAS) – Agriculture Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan said, “This unique initiative by TAFE of providing Massey Ferguson and Eicher Tractors on free rental basis to the farmers of Rajasthan was deeply appreciated by the farming community. Small farmers looking at harvesting their crops and planting for the new season were in a state of distress due to the Corona lockdown, and this scheme came to their rescue at the most opportune moment, helping them with their farm operations and generating income through tractor rental.”

Jetharam, a small farmer from Nagaur, Rajasthan said, “I had 2.5 acres of my wheat field ready to be harvested when the lockdown was implemented, and I lost all hopes of getting my crops this season. One of the farmers in my village who owns a Massey Ferguson tractor helped me register on TAFE’s JFarm Services App for free tractor rental to harvest and thresh the crops on time. My sincere gratitude to TAFE for helping me and several other farmers in these difficult times.”NandlalKumawat, another farmer from Ajmer, Rajasthan, said, “We received enormous help from TAFE during the Coronavirus pandemic. Under TAFE’s free tractor rental scheme, my field was ploughed for free. This scheme has also helped in ploughing and harvesting of farms of many small farmers from my village Pisangan, ensuring that our crops were harvested at the right time and the field was ready for the next cropping season. This thoughtful initiative by TAFE has been of great support to a lot of farmers.”

Vijendar Singh, a farmer from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, who owns a Massey Ferguson tractor said,“TAFE’s free tractor rental scheme is very innovative. Under this scheme, I rented my Massey tractor through the JFarm Services App and ploughed 15-20 farms from my village. All the farmers are very happy and appreciated the scheme. I would like to thank TAFE on behalf of all the farmers of Rajasthan, who have been greatly benefited by this free tractor rental service by TAFE”. Kailash Chand, another farmer and an Eicher Tractor owner from Jhalawar, Rajasthan said,“Under the free tractor rental scheme by JFarmServices, I have been able to provide service to more than 50 farmers with my Eichertractor and thresher,cultivator, mouldboard plough and other implements. I have received my rental amount directly to my account from TAFE. Because of this scheme, my rental earning has increased considerably, even in this adverse situation of COVID-19. I would like to thank TAFE and JFarm Services for this great initiative.”

About ‘JFarm’ and ‘JFarm Services’: JFarmServices.in

TAFE established JFarm India in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 1964 with an objective of empowering farmers with advanced farm technologies to increase farm productivity and meet India’s growing food demands. Over the years, JFarm focuses on sustainable agriculture, adapting existing technologies in farming for local farming conditions and sharing this knowledge with farmers.

JFarm Services is an initiative by TAFE to increase easy access to farm mechanization solutions through rental of tractors and farm equipment for small and large farms, latest mandi prices, agri-news alerts and advisory.Small and marginal farmers, who hold about 85% of the land holdings in India may not be able to afford ownership of tractors or implements. JFarm Services bridges this gap by connecting these farmers with tractor and equipment owners through its Farmer-2-Farmer platform. Farmers can explore and book nearby equipment through:https://bit.ly/JFSAppLite

JFarm Serviceshas impacted the lives of over 1 Million farmers across 11 states in India since its inception. Currently, JFarm Services (JFS) operates in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Gujarat – making farm mechanization viable and affordable to all.

About TAFE: tafe.com

The world’s third largest tractor manufacturer and second largest in India by volumes with an annual sale of about 150,000 tractors; TAFE is one of the leading exporters of tractors from India with a turnover in excess of INR 93 billion. TAFE manufactures a range of tractors, in both, the air-cooled and water-cooled platforms, and markets them under its four iconic brands – Massey Ferguson, TAFE, Eicher, and the recently acquired Serbian tractor and agricultural equipment brand – IndustrijaMašinaiTraktora (IMT). Acclaimed for its quality and dependability, TAFE’s products and services are present in over 100 countries across the world, including developed countries in Europe and the Americas.

Besides tractors and farm machinery, TAFE manufactures diesel engines, silent gensets, agro-engines, batteries, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, gears and transmission components, and has business interest in vehicle franchises and plantations. TAFE is committed to the Total Quality Movement (TQM). In the recent past various manufacturing plants of TAFE have garnered numerous ‘TPM Excellence Awards’ from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM), as well as a number of other regional awards for TPM excellence. TAFE became the first Indian tractor manufacturer to win the Frost & Sullivan Global Manufacturing Leadership Award in 2018, being recognized with the ‘Enterprise Integration and Technology Leadership Award’ and two ‘Supply Chain Leadership Awards’. In recognition of its outstanding contribution to engineering exports, TAFE has been named the ‘Star Performer – Large Enterprise (Agricultural Tractors)’ at the 40^thEngineering Exports Promotion Council of India – Southern Region Awards (2015-16), for the 21^sttime in a row. TAFE has also been conferred the ‘Regional Contributor Award’ for quality supplies from Toyota Motor Company, Japan, and the ‘Manufacturing Supply Chain Operational Excellence – Automobiles Award’ at the second Asia Manufacturing Supply Chain Summit for its supply chain transformation in 2013. TAFE’s tractor plants are certified under ISO 9001 for efficient quality management systems and under ISO 14001 for environment friendly operations.