EIMA Agrimach: Machinery and services for Indian agriculture
On the second day of the international exhibition of agricultural machinery in New Delhi, which attracted huge numbers of the general public, discussions covered the requirements of Indian agriculture and instruments for supporting enterprises aiming to acquire new generation machinery and equipment.
The second day of EIMA Agrimach, the international exhibition of agricultural mechanization underway in IARI quarters in Pusa, on the Delhi outskirts, featured stands packed with visitors and great turnouts of the public in the area dedicated to trials of tractors and other agricultural machinery. The review, which opened yesterday and comes to an end tomorrow, is thus being confirmed as a point of reference for farmers, workers in mechanization and businesspeople intent on learning about the finest solutions on offer for all types of farming. Of special importance were meetings with official delegations, set up Unacoma Service and the Italian Trade Commission, ICE, arriving here from all the Indian states and of following foreign countries Iran, Korea, Thailandia and Vietnam.
The schedule of conferences unfolded alongside promotional initiatives and the demonstration trials of machinery. The first, Challenges Faced by Farm Machinery Manufacturers in India, was chaired by Indian Ministry of Agriculture Undersecretary Shri S.K.G. Rahat and moderated by the president of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineering, Gajendra Singh, for an analysis of the mechanization requirements on the sub-continent.
Among the points made was that agriculture is evolving quickly and aside from traditional food products it will be necessary to develop new agricultural commodities. In this connection special attention will have to be trained, other than on tractors and combines, also on equipment and machines for plant treatment and on irrigation components and systems, a sector of great importance in the nation which will be forced to optimize the use of water resources as never before in this current phase of the growth of agriculture.
Attention was also focused on the issue of machinery leasing in a meeting given the title, Institutionalizing Custom Hiring of Farm Equipment, led by Director of SFAC, the Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium, in which information was provided on formulas alternative to the purchase of machinery and equipment, a matter of great importance in the setting of production in which prospects for investments are limited.
These issues were given further coverage in a conclusive Wrap-Up Session which included the participation of the secretary of the India Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Shri P.K. Basu, and the head of the committee which organized the conference, Rohtash Mal. Among the conclusions reached was that alongside the need to prepare a system of services in support of agriculture, an efficient credit system must be set up and investments in research will have to increase as must the capability to forge cooperation between the Indian manufacturing industries and those abroad to speed up the development of specific technologies for the various agricultural areas on the sub-continent.
New Delhi, December 9, 2011
Agricultural machinery: India a leading player on global market
The first day of EIMA Agrimach was packed with the public and conferences on technical, policy and financial issues. Analyses of international trends highlighted the front-rank role played by the great South Asian country which is also working on the preparation of financial instruments for furthering the spread of agricultural mechanization. Attention was also focused on safety with a contribution from ENAMA, the Italian Agricultural Mechanization Agency, for extending standards valid around the world.
There was a great turnout for the opening day of EIMA Agrimach, the specialized review of agricultural machinery and equipment inaugurated this morning at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, IARI, on the Delhi outskirts. Farmers, agricultural technicians, producers’ cooperatives and businesspeople crowed into the trade fair quarters from the early hours of the morning for visiting the stands and watching the demonstration trials of machinery held out-of-doors.
There were also substantial numbers in the official delegations arriving, organized by FederUnacoma in cooperation with ICE, the Italian Foreign Trade Institute, from all the Indian states as well as from South Korea, Iran, Thailand and Vietnam heading into B2B meetings with the representatives of exhibiting companies.
Then too there are the conference sessions held throughout the day for detailed discussions on technical, policy and financial issues. A morning conference, chaired by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR, Director General M.M. Pandey, drew a focus on the agricultural machinery market in India and related growth trends and in the afternoon the president of the Agricultural Finance Corporation, Y. C. Nanda, led a meeting on financial instruments for the agricultural machinery markets in the various country’s states.
The third meeting of the day, coordinated by FederUnacoma Secretary General Marco Pezzini, was dedicated to analyses of mechanization trends in world markets to provide a panorama of the new geography of markets witnessing, after India, strong growth also in China, Brazil and Russia. In his remarks opening the work session, Pezzini said, “Meetings held by Agrievolution, the forum of the major nations’ agricultural machinery manufacturers associations, underscore the way the machinery market is being strongly globalized with increasingly heavy trade among nations and with greater differentiation in technological supplies, also in light of the evolution of agricultural production systems in many countries.”
Time was also given to the issue of safety, in connection with global market trends, in a statement made by ENAMA chief Sandro Liberatori who said, “With globalization moving forward fast, it will be important also for the agricultural mechanization sector to agree that regulations and safety play a leading part as regards workers, the environment and the quality of agricultural production.” He went on to say, “ENAMA has been at work for some time in Italy, in Europe and in the world through relations with ENTAM, the OECD and UNESCAP in which (our agency) holds down roles of management and coordination.” Liberatori’s references were to the European Network for Testing Agricultural Machines, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Special attention was trained on the activities of UNESCAP in developing, in cooperation with Asian and Pacific governments, systems for minimum safety requirements to adopt for rationalizing financing by member states for reducing accidents on the job. Drawing conclusions on the issue of safety, it was pointed out that ENAMA certification is operative and stands as an example of good practice for the correct development of mechanization.
Rome, December 8, 2011
Mechanization in India: a challenge for the Italian system
The second edition of the international exhibition of agricultural machinery is opening this morning in New Delhi. The event is organized by the Indian FICCI federation and FederUnacoma of Italy and is hosting 250 exhibiting industries, including 80 Italian manufacturers. Also present is a substantial representation from the Emilia Romagna Region which is putting together a cooperation agreement with the State of Punjab.
Indian agriculture has embarked on its mechanization race. Demand for tractors, combines and other agricultural machinery and equipment has grown phenomenly in recent years to lift the South Asian nation’s market to world leadership in the sector. Domestic tractor demand was already estimated at 250,000 units per year in 2008 and this figure was strongly overtaken in 2010 when 370,000 units were sold with the market still in robust growth in light of the 545,000 tractors sold in the country in the period April 2010–April 2911.
These data were reported this morning in New Delhi during the EIMA Agrimach inauguration ceremony to cut the ribbon for the international exhibition of agricultural machinery opening at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, IARI, on the Delhi outskirts. The three days of this EIMA Agrimach event were organized through an Italian-Indian partnership forged by FICCI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and FederUnacoma, the Italian federation of agricultural machinery manufacturers.
In his statement at the inaugural session, FICCI President Harsh Mariwala pointed out that agriculture carries great responsibility for ensuring food security for the nation and affirmed that this responsibility can be fulfilled only by offering workers in the primary sector better wages and more acceptable working conditions through the more widespread use of mechanized means.
The FederUnacoma president, Massimo Goldoni, stressed the importance of the trade fair event for providing not only commercial and promotional opportunities but also for giving throught to the economic and policy aspects for the development of the country’s agriculture. “We are witnessing new definitions of the planet’s economic geography and in this new setting India represents an impressive laboratory where it will be possible to reconcile technological development and a model of agriculture which is ethical and sustainable,” he declared. This is a production context in which the Italian industries, represented here by 80 manufacturers exhibiting at EIMA Agrimach, can find important market outlets.
Also of great significance was the arrival here of Commissioner for Agriculture Tiberio Rabboni of the Emilia Romagna Region for wrapping up a cooperation agreement with the State of Punjab to become operative in 2012. The purpose of the accord is the set-up of technical and commercial joint ventures, opening training courses for farmers and pursuing research work in the field of mechanization.
In his statement, Rabboni said, “We are ideal partners for the real conditions in Punjab because of our heritage of specific experience gained in the management of small and medium-size industries which can be made available to our Indian counterpart for the development of farming techniques. Consider especially the struggle to achieve organic and integrated agriculture which is precious for a country like India in need of adopting methods as eco-compatible as possible.”
Rome, December 8, 2011
