India, July 15, 2025: Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), India’s second-largest tractor manufacturer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The agreement, signed on July 11 at ICRISAT’s campus in Patancheru, Hyderabad, aims to set up the “JFarm Adaptive Agriculture Research & Extension Centre.” As TAFE looking step towards advancing sustainable agriculture and mechanization.
The upcoming centre will serve as a collaborative hub for research, training, and dissemination of mechanized and sustainable farming practices. It will leverage ICRISAT’s agricultural innovations — such as the development of machine-harvestable chickpeas — and combine them with TAFE’s expertise in farm mechanization to address the diverse ecological needs of Indian agriculture. The initiative also emphasizes gender and social inclusion while promoting agricultural innovation across the Global South through the Centre of Excellence for South–South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA).
TAFE’s JFarm initiative, started in 1964 as a CSR program, has steadily expanded through various partnerships. Notable milestones include the establishment of centres in Bhawanimandi (2016), Telangana in collaboration with PJTSAU (2019), and Maharashtra with VNMKV (2023).
The new centre will play a crucial role in farmer education, with a focus on sustainable practices such as soil conservation and efficient water use. It will promote scale-appropriate mechanization, crop-residue management, and encourage farmer entrepreneurship through agricultural service models. The facility will also offer training in handling tractors and equipment, and showcase the successful Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Digital Custom Hiring model, helping small farmers access machinery without ownership burdens.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. T R Kesavan, Group President and Board Member at TAFE, said,
“Our goal is to implement precision agriculture while safeguarding land and water resources. With ICRISAT’s expertise, we aim to reach the last-mile farmer through effective knowledge-sharing and advanced mechanization.”
ICRISAT Director General Dr. Himanshu Pathak echoed the sentiment, stating,
“Mechanization is pivotal in modern agriculture, and without it, we cannot achieve the goal of a Viksit Bharat (Developed India). This partnership is also focused on reducing chemical use, labor dependency, and environmental impact — with a vision to scale these solutions across Africa.”
The JFarm Adaptive Agriculture Centre is expected to act as a convergence point for farmers, startups, experts, and institutions — enabling the transfer of lab-based innovations to practical field applications and creating a model for sustainable agriculture transformation in India and beyond.
