Tractor major TAFE to train women farmers

·        To expand footprint of Lab-to-Land initiative

·        Farmers’ Day in Karnataka draws huge response

BENGALURU, March 15, 2013: Close on the heels of the success of its lab-to-land initiative to train the farming community, India’s second largest tractor company TAFE has decided to extend the programme to women peasants.

A pilot project to train women farmers in farm management - soil conservation, pest management, yield improvement, tractor driving and implement usage will soon be launched, TAFE said today at during a Farmers' Day event organized by the company at Doddaballapur, near Bengaluru called ‘Raithara Dhinachanarane’, TAFE focused on horticulture, the flavor of the region with a variety of fruits and vegetables, and conducted sessions on best farm practices leveraging technology and equipment.

Over 350 farmers, including women farmers, participated in the day-long programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr K Srinivasan, Senior Chief Agri- Economist, TAFE said “Through this Farmer’s Day event, we encourage farmers to accelerate the pace of horticultural development in fulfilling the national task of achieving self reliance in fruit production. Our mission is to lead farming communities at the local and national levels towards sustainable, organic stewardship of land, food and fiber while respecting nature, upholding social justice and protecting natural resources.”

Farm scientists and experts from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Indian Institute of Horticulture, Bengaluru and TAFE,  touched upon improving the output of fruits like mango, grapes, sapota, banana, guava and papaya, and vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal and tomato.

Mr V Srinivasan, Associate Vice President, TAFE Doddaballapur Plant, Mr S Ramakrishnan, CITO, TAFE, Dr K Srinivasan, Sr Chief Agri Economist, TAFE, Dr N Nagaraja, Director of Extension, UAS, Bangalore, Dr R Chithiraichelvan, IIHR, Dr M Prabhakar, IIHR, Dr Y T N Reddy, IIHR, Dr P Sampath Kumar, IIHR, and Dr A Rekha, IIHR, were among those who guided the farmers.

TAFE honoured progressive farmers in the region and recognised them for their outstanding practices. Two women farmers were also honoured for their significant efforts in integrated farming practices.

TAFE also conducted an impromptu quiz and felicitated meritorious students from farmers’ families.

Farmers’ Day is one of the unique outreach initiatives undertaken on TAFE’s ‘J’ Farm. J Farm, a 200-acre property on the outskirts of Chennai, is an adaptive research and agricultural extension centre, devoted solely to the purpose of developing better farming techniques and crop varieties for maximizing the yield of farmers.

TAFE has already covered Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Uttrakhand touching the lives of over 6,000 farmers.

The first Farmer’s Day event was held in Madurai, at TAFE’s Kalladipatti plant in May 2006. The practice has been observed every year since then and is celebrated across vivid geographies and cultural mixes in India.

Under its CSR charter, TAFE conducts various medical camps and donates books and other study material to needy students.

TAFE has recently been felicitated with the Corporate Citizen of the Year Award at PR Council of India’s Global Conclave held at Hyderabad.

About ‘J’ Farm:

‘J’ Farm was established in 1964 to provide better returns to farmers through adaptive research and to strengthen the hands of the government in achieving self sufficiency in agricultural production. The farm has been managed as a voluntary not for profit organization as part of TAFE’s overall Corporate Social Responsibility to its key stakeholders viz., the farmers and has rendered yeoman service to farmers in this part of the country. ‘J’ Farm is recognized as an adaptive research center by both the State (Tamil Nadu) & the Central Governments

About TAFE:

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), the Chennai based global tractor major, is the third largest manufacturer of tractors in the world, and second largest in India, whose products meet exacting customer demands in over 77 countries worldwide. With a history of over 50 years of serving farmers in different geographies in India and the world, and experience in developing products to work in different crops and agro climactic/ operating conditions, TAFE’s products have earned a name for themselves for their quality, ruggedness, dependability, low cost of operation and long life. It has an ongoing collaboration with Massey Ferguson (now owned by AGCO Corporation, USA) for over 50 years, an industry record. TAFE is well known for its design, styling, prototyping and manufacturing, including a complete range of tractors for sale by AGCO in North American markets under the Massey Ferguson brand. TAFE’s products are market leaders in several South Asian markets.

TAFE has four tractor plants in India, besides an oversees plant in Turkey, that produce a variety of tractors in the sub 100 HP range in both the air cooled and water cooled platforms under the TAFE, Massey Ferguson and Eicher brands. Additionally, through wholly owned subsidiaries, it manufactures diesel engines, engineering plastics, gears and transmission components, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, panel instruments, and batteries and owns vehicle franchises and plantations.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Vijaykumar Browning, General Manager (Corporate Communications), TAFE

Phone: +91-9840342 845 | Email: browning@tafe.com