Hyderabad: Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector, part of the $19.4 billion Mahindra Group and the world’s largest manufacturer of tractors by volumes, launched a new range of rice transplanters in Telangana.
A rice transplanter is a specialised machine to transplant paddy seedlings into paddy fields, to make sure unvarying transplanting, which helps in high yield, labour and time saving as compared to manual transplanting. The new technology can help farmers control and overcome issues related to labour shortage especially during these difficult times.
Mahindra launched the Mahindra PlantingMaster Paddy 4RO, India’s first four-row ride-on type rice transplanter. The company had previously introduced the Mahindra MP461 walk-behind rice transplanter. Mahindra’s rice transplanters are lay out by Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery of Japan and are customised to the specific needs of Indian rice farmers.
At a price of Rs 7.5 lakhs, the Mahindra PlantingMaster Paddy 4RO, is suited for farmers with larger holdings and rental entrepreneurs and comes with advanced features such as four-wheel drive technology, power steering, smile U-turn – 180 degree turning radius, and a host of features for driver comfort and convenience. For smaller farms, Mahindra offers MP461 rice transplanter a walk behind model priced at Rs 2.8 lakhs.
Hemant Sikka, president – Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Inspite of India being the second largest rice producing country in the world, our rice cultivation continues to be under-mechanised. While mechanisation in land preparation and rice harvesting is widespread, less than one per cent of rice transplanting is mechanised. Mechanisation of rice transplanting will allow timeliness and speed of operations, lower cost of cultivation and increased yields.”
“With the introduction of our new portfolio of rice transplanters, with our partners Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery of Japan, we want to enable income growth for millions of Indian rice farmers, including in Telangana, where farmers are also experiencing challenges related to labour shortage due to Covid,” he added.
Talking about the launch of the Mahindra PlantingMaster Paddy 4RO, Kairas Vakharia, senior vice president, Farm Machinery, M&M, said, “Farmers in Telangana who have tried this new technology last season, reported a growth in crop yields of 10 per cent and more.”
Mahindra’s rice transplanters have adjustments to accommodate different paddy varieties, agronomic practices, and field conditions. Farmers can set the machine for plant-to-plant distance and planting depth.
