Farm Power and Machinery Availability on Indian Farms

Transcription

1 Vol. 39(1), 2015 Farm and Machinery Availability on Indian Farms R S Singh 1 (LM-10492), Surendra Singh 2 (F-143) and S P Singh 3 (LM-10002) 1 CIAE, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal Ex Project Coordinator, AICRP on FIM 3 Division of Agril Engg, IARI, New Delhi rssingh12@gmail.com Manuscript received: July 4, 2014 Revised manuscript accepted: January 12, 2015 ABSTRACT Farm mechanization has been helpful to bring about a significant improvement in agricultural productivity. Thus, there is strong need for mechanization of agricultural operations. The timeliness of operations has assumed greater significant in obtaining optimal yields from different crops, which has been possible by way of mechanization. The quality and precision of the operations are equally significant for realizing higher yields. The various operations such as land levelling, irrigation, sowing and planting, use of fertilizers, plant protection, harvesting and threshing need a high degree of precision to increase the efficiency of the inputs and reduce the losses. With the increase in intensity of cropping the turnaround time is drastically reduced and it is not possible to harvest and thresh the standing crop, on one hand, and prepare seed bed and do timely sowing operations of subsequent crop, on the other hand, in the limited time available, unless adequate farm power and matching implement is available. As such there is a strong need for more authentic figures relating to the items pertaining to agricultural implements and machinery. In the changing scenario, it has become more important to have projection estimates of total number of agricultural machinery and implements. An attempt has been made to use available yearly data and make the projected population of agricultural machinery and implements. Key words: Farm mechanization, agricultural productivity, farm tools, cropping intensity, agricultural operations INTRODUCTION Indian agricultural implement market is experiencing an unprecedented growth. The significant decline in the availability of labour for farm activities owing to their migration to industrial jobs and government support to the farmers in the form of high subsidies has given strong boost to the agricultural implement market in India. The Indian agriculture sector has witnessed a considerable decline in the use of human and animal power for agricultural activities in recent years. This has paved a way for range of agricultural equipment that has been introduced in the market. For instance, land development, tillage and seedbed preparation which earlier used the power of animal driven plough and blade harrow now utilize the power of tractor through tractor driven implements. Similarly, the irrigation of farmland has become widely automated by the use of diesel and electric motors and pumps. In FY 2011, the agricultural equipment market of India was estimated at 812,269 units by sales which grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.3% during FY FY The high demand for key segments such as tractors, power tillers, threshers, combine harvesters and rotavator have been mainly responsible in driving this growth. The easy availability of credit from banking institutions as well as Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in the country has encouraged Indian farmers to buy agricultural machinery on credit. The government schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) have led to a huge shortage of the labour for agricultural activities and have also increased labour cost. Moreover, other schemes by government such as Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) which provide 45

2 Agricultural Engineering Today monetary assistance of upto 50% to the farmers for the purchase of agricultural implements have given considerable thrust to the farm mechanization process in the country. Subsidies by both Central and state governments as well as easy financing by financial institutions have added impetus to the farm mechanisation sector, which is witnessing significant year-on-year growth. STATUS OF FARM POWER IN India The time series population of agricultural workers during the period to is given in Tables 1. While the population of agricultural workers as percentage of rural population has gone down from about 69.4% in 1951 to about 55% in 2012 but in absolute terms, due to increase in overall population, the number of agricultural workers available in rural areas has increased from million in to 272 million in and thereby registered an annual compound growth rate of 1.38% during the last 53 years. These agricultural workers are engaged in different farm operations and depend on agriculture for their livelihood, even Table 1: Population of Farm power sources in India Year Agricultural Workers when they are not fully employed throughout the year. Due to too much involvement of labour in different farm operations, the cost of production of most of the crops in our country is quite high as compared to developed countries. Human power availability for agriculture had been kw/ha in and reached to kw/ha in registered an annual compound growth rate of 1.53% (Fig. 1). Share of agricultural workers in total power availability in was 14.7% reduced to 4.66% in (Fig. 2). Time series trend suggests that share of power from agricultural workers to total power available will further reduced in near future. Availability of different farm power sources with respect to the numbers/1000 ha of net cultivated area was also worked out and given in Table 2. Availability of agricultural workers in was /1000 ha of net cultivated area increased to /1000 ha and thereby showed a continuous increasing trend during the period of 53 years. Draught animals, particularly bullocks, are still the predominant source of mobile power on about Population of farm power sources, million Draught animals Tractors Tillers Diesel Engines Electric Motors * * * CAGR, % : to to to (CAGR = Compound Annual Growth Rate) *Estimated Source: Singh (2013); Singh et al. (2010); Singh et al. (2009); Live Stock Census; Agricultural Census 2011; Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA); Tiller Manufacturers Association (PTMA) 46

3 Vol. 39(1), % of the cultivated area consisting of about 85 million ha. They are very versatile and dependable source of power and are used in sun and rain under muddy and rough field conditions. They are born and reared in the village system and maintained on the feed and fodder available locally. They are ideal for rural transport where proper roads are not available. They reduce dependence on mechanical sources of power and save scarce petroleum products. Their dung and urine are also used as indirect source of energy-farmyard manure and biogas. They also help in maintaining ecological balance. Under Indian conditions where majority of the people are vegetarian and even amongst non-vegetarians, majority of them don t eat beef, draught animals as by-product of milch animals; will continue to be available for draught purposes in future also. About 4-5 decades back most of the farm operations, water lifting, rural transport, oil extraction, sugarcane crushing, chaff cutting etc, were being done using draught animals only. But with the modernization of agriculture, development of concrete roads connecting village and availability of electricity, most of the jobs earlier being done using draught animals, except field operations, are now being done using other convenient and cheaper Table 2: Availability of farm power sources to net sown area Year Agril Workers options i.e. electricity and diesel. Over the years the annual use of draught animals is going down. While earlier a pair of animals was being used for about hours annually, their average annual use has now come down to about hour only, that too for tillage, sowing, weeding and rural transport. The time series population of draught animals during to has been going down (Table 1). This declining trend of draught power was more visible especially in those states where the demand of tractors and power tillers has gone high. It has been observed that on an average a tractor is replacing about 5 pairs and power tiller about 2 pairs of animals. Draught animal population, mainly derived from bovines, was million in and reduced to 52 million by with a negative annual compound growth rate of -0.82% during the period of 53 years. Share of draught animal power was 78% of the total farm power in reduced to 7% only in (Fig. 2). Draught animal power availability in India decreased from to kw/ha between 1960 and The power availability further reduced to kw/ha in 1980, kw/ha in 2000 and 0.14 kw/ha by (Fig. 1). Availability of draught animals during was /1000 ha of net Availability of farm power sources (no/1000 ha of net sown area) Draught animal Tractors Tillers Diesel Engines Electric Motors Estimated from following sources: Note: 1 Human= 0.05 kw; draught animal = 0.38 kw; tractor = 26.1 kw; tiller = 5.6 kw; Electric motor = 3.7 kw; Diesel Engine = 5.6 kw Source: Singh (2013); Singh et al. (2010); Singh et al. (2009), Agril Statistics at a glance 2012,

4 Agricultural Engineering Today cultivated area and continue in declining trend and reached to /1000 ha in (Table 2). The trend suggests that it would be further declining in near future. For meeting the increased demand of mobile power for timely farm operations and increased intensity of cropping (Table 3), additional power is available mainly from tractors and power tillers. Self-propelled reapers and combines also provide mobile power specially for harvesting operations. India presently is the largest manufacturer of tractor in the world. There are more than 20 manufacturers of tractors in the country producing about 60 models of tractors in different hp ranges. Tractor population in India has grown from million in to million units in the year at an annual compound growth rate of about 10 per cent (Table 1). Farm power availability from tractor has consequently increased from kw/ha in 1960 to kw/ ha in 1990 at an annual compound growth rate of 12.14%. The growth rate in the next decade decreased to 8%. Farm power availability in the year 2000 was 0.47 kw/ha, reaching to 0.97 kw/ha in at an overall growth rate of 9.80% during the last 53 years (Fig. 1). tiller, or two-wheel tractor, came in India with import of two units from Japan in 1961.There are mainly 2 manufacturers of power tillers in the country producing about 6 models in the range of kw (8-12 hp). In addition to them there are many others who are importing power tillers and selling in the country. Contribution of tractors and power tillers was only 2.54% of the total farm power in increased to about 50% in (Fig. 2). Sale of tractors and power tillers has constantly increased during last 10 years with some exceptions (Fig. 3). Tractor availability scenario is continuous increasing during last 53 years, which increased from 0.26 units/1000 ha of net cultivated area increased to about 37 units/1000 ha during the period of to (Table 2). tillers availability also increased from 0.07 units/1000 ha to 3.11 units/1000 ha of net cultivated area during the period of to Stationary power sources in agriculture comprise of diesel engines and electric motors used for irrigation equipment, operating threshers and other stationary machines. The populations of these prime movers have increased tremendously since the green revolution. Diesel engine population in the country increased about 37 times between and (Table 1), while the annual compound growth rate had been 10.66% during the period to , with increased availability of electricity it reduced to 7.04% during the period of to Farm power from diesel engines increased from kw/ha in to kw/ha in and kw/ha in , registered an annual compound growth rate of about 7% during the last 53 years (Fig. 1). Diesel engine availability registered an increasing trend during last 53 years, which increased from 1.62 units/1000 ha of net cultivated area increased to units/1000 ha during the period of to (Table 2). The rural electrification programme launched by the Government of India in the mid-sixties undertaken through the Rural Electrification Corporation has helped in making available electricity to 18.5 per cent villages in and increased to 100% villages by Preferential supply to rural sector at subsidized price has led to rapid increase in use of electric motors in the agricultural sector. Electric motor population thus increased 85 times between and at an impressive annual compound growth rate of 8.7% (Table 1). Farm power availability consequently increased exponentially from kw/ha to kw/ha with an annual compound growth rate of about 8.74% during the same period (Fig. 1). Farm power availability consequently increased exponentially from kw/ha to kw/ha with an annual compound growth rate of about 8.74% during the same period. As like diesel engine, electric motor availability also increased to a tune of 1.41 units/1000 ha of net cultivated area in to about 120 units/1000 ha in and shown a continuous increasing trend during the last 53 years (Table 2). For adoption of higher level of technology to perform complex operations within time constraints and with comfort and dignity to the operators, mechanical power becomes essential. Thus, the extent of use of mechanical power serves as an indicator of acceptance of higher level of technology on farms. Over the years the shift has been towards the use of mechanical and electrical sources of power, while 48

5 Vol. 39(1), 2015 in about 92.30% farm power was coming from animate sources. In the contribution of animate sources of power reduced to about 11.80% and that of mechanical and electrical sources of power increased from 7.70% in to about 88.20% (Fig. 4). It is apparent from Table 3 that the cropping intensity increasing with increase in per unit power availability. It was 114% with power availability of 0.32 kw/ha during that increased to about 142 per cent with increase in power availability of 2.02 kw/ha in Net sown area per tractor shows the reverse trend during the same period, which observed 2162 ha/tractor in reduced to 27 ha/tractor in Table 3: Cropping intensity and power availability on Indian farms Year Cropping intensity (%) Food grain productivity (t/ha) available (kw/ha) per unit production (kw/t) Net sown area per tractor (ha) Source: De et al. (2000); Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Agricultural Census Fig. 1: available from different power sources on Indian farms 49

6 Agricultural Engineering Today Fig. 2: Share of different power sources in total power availability Fig. 3: Tracor and power tiller sales data for last 10 years Source: Singh et al. (2009); Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA); Tiller Manufacturers Association (PTMA) 50

7 Vol. 39(1), 2015 Fig. 4: Animate and mechanical power scenario in Indian agriculture Fig. 5: availability and food grain productivity over the years Source: Tyagi et al. (2010); Singh et al. (2010) Fig. 6: Food grain productivity and power availability relationship in Indian agriculture 51

8 Agricultural Engineering Today Farm power availability and food grain productivity relations Food grains productivity in India has increased from t/ha in to 2.11 t/ha in , while farm power availability has increased from kw/ha to 2.02 kw/ha during the same period (Fig. 3). Thus, food grains productivity is positively associated with unit power availability in Indian agriculture (Fig 6). The relationship between food grains productivity and unit farm power availability for the period to were estimated by linear function, with highly significant value of coefficient of determination (R 2 ): Y fgs = x; R 2 = Where, Y fgs = food grains productivity, t/ha, and x = power availability, kw/ha This indicates that productivity and unit power availability is associated linearly. It is also evident that farm power input has to be increased further to achieve higher food grains production, the composition of farm power from different sources to be properly balanced to meet its timely requirement for various farm operations. State-wise sale of tractors Monsoon season is a key driver for sales of tractors. A series of good or bad monsoon can affect the sales. In recent years the industry has registered a good growth in sales, both domestic as well as exports. This is also partly because of the initiative of the government to boost up agriculture and agricultural machinery industry. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana together shared more than 68% of the total tractor sale during the period of to The share of eastern states namely Odisha, West Bengal and Assam had been consistently low (4.84%) so for as the sale of total tractor units are concerned due to various socioeconomic, agro-climatic and other reasons. The credit availability to the farmers in these States has been another major reason for the slow growth in the eastern states. Bihar has receiving increasing trend during last 4-5 years in tractor sale. Tractor sales in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been showing consistent growth since last fourteen years and it will further increase at a faster rate due to the fact that the farmers in this region have been adopting high value cash crops and latest crop production/ management practices (Table 4). The Tractor sale shows that the demand is region specific. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat constituted the major tractor market. The states fall under 10-11% of the CAGR are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. States like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh registered their sale as CAGR range of 5-10%. Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam & Jammu & Kashmir fall under the category of more than 11% CAGR during the period. Overall CAGR of all the States was found 3.03% during the same period. Domestic sale trend revealed a continuous upward during last ten years (Fig. 7). Domestic sale during was 2,41,757 units increased to 4,82,237 units during and registered CAGR of 12.20%. Rising sale trend was again maintained up to with 6,33,846 units and shown a CAGR of 7.13% during the overall period of to Export trend of tractor during the period to was also analyzed (Fig. 8). Export of various horse power of tractors during was 20,076 units increased to 70,772 units in with CAGR of %. Export units shown a declining trend in (62,890 units) and (62,677 units) while overall CAGR was 12.05% during last ten years. NUMBER YEAR Fig. 7: Domestic tractor sale trend in India Source: Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) 52

9 Vol. 39(1), 2015 NUMBER YEAR Fig. 8: Tractor export trend Source: Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) Among all the tractor manufacturers of the country top five manufacturers in sale of tractors during the last five years were the M & M Group, TAFE Group, ESCORTS, SONALIKA & John Deere. These five manufacturers constituted 91-92% of total tractors sold during the period to and 85.5% in M & M Group ranked first being 38 to 40% of the total tractor sold as far as the individual Table 4: Stat-wise sale of tractors during to States manufacturer is concerned. The shares of other manufacturers were TAFE GROUP in the range of 22-25%, ESCORTS 10-13%, SONALIKA 8-10% and John Deere 7-10% of the total tractor sold during the period of last five years (Table 5). The share of other manufacturers namely New Holland, SAME DEUTZ-FAHR, VST, HMT & FORCE MOTORS together contributed 9-15% of the total tractor sold during the period of to Horse power wise tractor sold by different manufacturers was also analysed (Table 6). In the range of < 20 hp, M&M GROUP ranked first followed by VST and SONALIKA during In the range of hp, M&M GROUP again registered first rank followed by TAFE GROUP & FORCE MOTORS. M&M GROUP again ranked first with sold units of 91,828 followed by TAFE GROUP, ESCORTS & SONALIKA during in the hp range. Range of hp are the most preferred range in which M&M GROUP stood first followed by TAFE GROUP, ESCORTS, John Deere & SONALIKA. In high hp range >50, John Deere ranked first followed by SONALIKA, M& M GROUP and New Holland for the year Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Rajasthan Gujarat Maharashtra CAGR% Punjab Haryana Karnataka Bihar Tamil Nadu Odisha West Bengal Chhatisgarh Jharkhand J&K Uttarakhand Assam HP Kerala Others Export Total CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate Source: Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) 53

10 Agricultural Engineering Today Table 5: Leading tractor manufactures during last five years ( to ) Manufacturers Share in production, % M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP ESCORTS SONALIKA John Deere New Holland SAME DEUTZ-FAHR VST HMT FORCE MOTORS Source: Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) Table 6: Horse power wise tractor sale by different manufacturers Manufacturers HP range VST < 20 HP ESCORTS M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP SONALIKA TOTAL FORCE MOTORS HP ESCORTS HMT M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP SAME DEUTZ-FAHR SONALIKA TOTAL FORCE MOTORS HP ESCORTS HMT M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP John Deere New Holland SAME DEUTZ-FAHR SONALIKA TOTAL FORCE MOTORS HP ESCORTS HMT M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP John Deere New Holland SAME DEUTZ-FAHR SONALIKA TOTAL ESCORTS > 51 HP HMT M&M GROUP TAFE GROUP John Deere SAME DEUTZ-FAHR SONALIKA New Holland TOTAL Source: Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) 54

11 Vol. 39(1), 2015 Agricultural MACHINERY AVAILABILITY AND PROJECTIONS Keeping in view the importance of mechanization in agriculture, a project entitled Study relating to formulating long term mechanization strategy for each agro climatic zone/state, funded by DOAC, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India was conducted at the IASRI New Delhi. Out of so many issues identified and recommendations made on long term mechanization strategy, one of the recommendations was that the data pertaining to agricultural implements and machinery should be collected regularly in an objective manner. Data related to population of agricultural implementsfor the years to were compiled (Tyagi et al., 2010). Using these data, the projected population of agricultural implements was obtained up to For this purpose, different models were fitted to the data. Consequently, best among the fitted models was identified based on sound statistical procedure. Using this model, data related to number of other agricultural implements e.g. sprayers & dusters (power ), harrows, threshers, tillers, seed drills, wooden plough, steel plough, puddler, seed drills & planters, carts, cane crushers, sprayers & dusters (hand ), planters and levellers were projected. The projected figures of sprayers & dusters (power ) for the years to were in the range of 5,61,300 and 10,54,800; for harrows 9,12,600 and 16,41,300; for threshers 53,09,400 and 1, 04, 88,000; for tillers 9,49,200 and 14,13,300; for seed drills (animal ) 9, 63, 380 and 20,28,120; for plough-power 8,52,111 and 18,31,250; for Table 7: Availability of power implements with respect to the net cultivated area Year Sprayers & Dusters- Harrows- Threshers- Tillers- Plough- Planters- Levellers Source: Tyagi et al. (2010) & Agricultural Statistics at a Glance Table 8: Availability of animal implements with respect to the net cultivated area Year Animal seed drills Animal wooden plough Animal steel plough 55 Animal Puddlers Animal seed drills & planters Carts - animal Cane Crushers - animal Source: Tyagi et al. (2010) & Agricultural Statistics at a Glance

12 Agricultural Engineering Today planters 74,650 and 1,08,974; for levellers 18,27,090 and 23, 92,250; for wooden plough 4, 42,67,000 and 4,58,00,000; for steel plough 1,96,22,000 and 3,29,57,000; for seed drills & planters 99,95,420 and 1,42,35,700; and for sprayers & dusters (manually ) 20,46,450 and 28,65,550 (Tyagi et al., 2010). Availability of these implements with respect to the numbers/1000 ha of net cultivated area was also worked out & given in Tables 7 & 8. It has observed that the availability of power and animal implements are continuously increasing during the period under study. CONCLUSIONS Agricultural machinery industry in India is expected to grow at a rapid pace owing to the government efforts to bridge the supply and demand gap of agriculture through R & D and technology efforts in next five year plan ( ). Shrinking farm holdings also demands the need for mechanization so that the agricultural yield can be maximized with optimal efforts through mechanization. Agricultural equipment sector in India has been witnessing robust demand and stands to gain maximum due to the need to use technologically advanced equipment in the farms in the future.the Indian tractor industry has experienced strong volume growth during last five years on the back of favourable cyclical and structural demand drivers. While tractor volumes remained robust through most of & despite macro-economic headwinds; the domestic tractor market is showing some signs of weakness over the last couple of months. The demand-side economics in the tractor industry continue to find favour from factors such as support from the Government of India towards rural development and agri-mechanisation; scarcity of farm labour especially during the sowing season; increase in credit flow to agriculture; increase in non-agri application of tractors as in infrastructure projects; growth in niche power segments (<20 HP and >50 HP) and untapped territories; besides healthy export sales. However, off-late there are some concerns emerging over the earnings of farmers from the crops grown; growing NPAs of tractor loans with public sector banks; and demand fatigue after strong sales growth during the last fiveyears. REFERENCES Agricultural Census Agricultural Statistics at a Glance. 2011, 2012, De D; Singh R S; Chandra Hukum Availability in Indian Agriculture. Technical Bulletin No. CIAE/2000/83. Live Stock Census, 2012, 2007, 2002 Tiller Manufacturers Association (PTMA) Singh R S Custom Hiring and Scope of Entrepreneurship Development in Farm Machinery, AMA, 44 (2): Singh R S; Singh S P; Singh Surendra Sale of tractors of different makes in India. Agricultural Engineering Today,33 (3): Singh S P; Singh R S; Singh Surendra Tractor production and sales in India. Agricultural Engineering Today, 33 (1): Singh Surendra; Singh R S; Singh S P Farm Availability and Agriculture Production Scenario in India. Agricultural Engineering Today, Vol. 34 (1): Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) Tyagi K K; Singh Jagbir; Kher K K; Jain V K; Singh Surendra A project Report on Study on Status and Projection Estimates of Agricultural Implements and Machinery. IASRI New Delhi. 56