TAFE Cultivates 100,000 acres Free of Cost for Farmers during COVID-19

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 Services platform. 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 TAFE aimed 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.

TAFE launched the JFarm Services free tractor rental scheme with 18,000 Massey Ferguson and Eicher Tractor customers, and about 75,000 farm implement owners, to offer implements like the cultivator, rotary tiller, duck-foot cultivator, disc plough, disc harrow, mould board plough, thresher and several others. Owing to popular demand, the JFarm services platform saw an increase in the registrations to 38,900 Massey Ferguson and Eicher Tractors 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. This has considerably helped in enhancing the revenue of tractor owners and has been welcomed by both the owners and the small farmers.

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." Nandlal Kumawat, 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 JFarm Services, I have been able to provide service to more than 50 farmers with my Eicher tractor 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.”