Agricultural Mechanization in Viksit Bharat

Abstract

Indian Agriculture is feeding the world population not by filling stomach only but also providing nutritional and health securities. But, farmers are ageing, and new generations are not so interested in the traditional farming. The percentage of agricultural workers to total workers is likely to be about 30% with women share of 65 % soon, and this shall go down to about 10-15 % by 2047 with significant higher involvement of women in agriculture. The draft animals are also getting invisible slowly from the Indian farms. To keep pace therefore with population increase and changing world order, agriculture needs speed, scale and significance in prioritization. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food Processing has foreseen these situations and has set target to achieve the average farm mechanization level to 75% by 2047 from the current one of about 47-48 %. India has emerged though a net exporter of farm machinery including tractor recently, but the country need attention to increase marketing, export of small farm machinery, tools and machines to penetrate more among small farmers, which is highly scattered and unavailable in majority of the states. Mechanized solutions equipped with sensors, AI and robotics suitable for small farms are being developed for the purpose, but they too need speed and larger resource allocation.