November 29, 2018 | Ranchi, Jharkhand: TAFE’s ‘JFarm Services’ is a CSR initiative aligned to TAFE’s vision of Cultivating The World to enrich the lives of farmers across India. This initiative has been launched in Jharkhand in partnership with the state Government, in the presence of Shri. Raghubar Das, the Honorable Chief Minister of Jharkhand. JFarm Services facilitates the hiring of tractors and modern farm machinery to farmers free of cost through its Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) rental platform and will be available across all 24 districts in the state.
Jharkhand is one of India’s fastest growing agricultural states with about 67% of the total working population dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. However, with the current level of agricultural mechanization being lower than the national average by nearly 55%, there is tremendous potential to power farm sector, improve yield and sustain the growth of agricultural sector in Jharkhand by increasing the level of farm mechanization.
About 84% of the land holdings in Jharkhand are with small and marginal farmers and over 83 lakh farmers in the state have limited or no access to farm mechanization. JFarm Services aims to increase easy access to farm mechanization solutions through rental of tractors and modern farm equipment to these small and marginal farmers, provide localized weather forecast, latest mandi prices, agri-news alerts and advisory, enhancing their productivity and increasing their income significantly.
JFarm Services proposes to launch its services across all cities and districts in Jharkhand. TAFE’s JFarm Services will collaborate with the agricultural development officers of the Jharkhand government to ensure wide outreach and successful roll-out of the platform.
The JFarm Services App will connect tractor owners and Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) operated by tractors and equipment owners directly to farmers seeking farm mechanization solutions, thereby facilitating a fair and transparent rental process while focusing on quality, dependability and timely delivery. JFarm Services offers the farmers and renters a wide range of prospects for hiring and renting of farm equipment and connects them directly to negotiate and fulfill their respective requirement. With this pioneering platform, TAFE brings the benefits of the technology-enabled sharing economy to boost the income of farmers.
Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & CEO – TAFE, said: “India is a land of small farms. A majority of our farmers, almost 85% of them, have no access to farm mechanization which has the potential to improve their yields and income. JFarm Services is a CSR initiative that allows both – farmers offering their tractors and farm equipment on rent, and smaller farmers seeking this service, to benefit directly from the JFarm Services app. It is our aim to touch the lives of millions of farmers across the country as we progress towards the Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farm income by 2022.”
Farmers can hire tractors and equipment via the JFarm Services Android App or by contacting the toll-free helpline 1800-4-200-100 / 1800-208-4242. The App can be used on low-cost Android phones and is designed to run on very little data. The JFarm Services App is a stellar example of the Digital India initiative, tailored to benefit the Indian agricultural landscape. This service by TAFE will foster digital empowerment of Indian farmers while creating a breed of new rural entrepreneurs and significant job opportunities.
Mr. T R Kesavan, President & COO, Product Strategy & Corporate Relations – TAFE, said: “TAFE through JFarm Services has collaborated with the Government of Jharkhand to support the state in making farm mechanization available to small and marginal farmers through the shared economy model, to create sustainable agricultural productivity and growth for the state.”
With presence in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar and Odisha, JFarm Services has directly benefitted and impacted around 65,000 users resulting in about 125,000 orders, adding up to about 300,000 hours in hired farm machinery usage. In a short span of about 20 months, JFarm Services has become one of the largest tractors and farm equipment rental platforms in India.
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