John Deere reiterated the commitment to farmers at an event held to mark the agri-equipment manufacturer’s 20th anniversary in India.
Having started operations in 1997, with production known to have commenced in the year 2000, John Deere is known for the introduction of advanced product features like power steering, oil immersed disk brakes, planetary reduction, force feed lubrication and high torque machines according to Satish Nadiger, Managing Director, John Deere. “We are proud to have helped lead India from subsistence farming to Agri-entrepreneurship,” he averred. “We have partnered with crop value chain partners for a holistic farm solution and have also introduced important safety features like rollover protection and seat belts, immensely valued by farmers,” he added.
Optimising agri-equipment
With a focus to bring new technologies to tractors and farm equipment that in turn lowers the cost of farm operations, and eliminate redundant operations thereby improving the overall efficiency, John Deere has made significant investments in India over its 20-year presence in the market. The major investments of the company include tractor manufacturing plants in Pune, in Maharashtra and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, harvesting manufacturing unit in Sirhind, Punjab besides an Electronics system manufacturing unit, Engineering centre, and a Technology centre in Pune. The Engineering centre, for instance, is responsible for Deere’s worldwide design and innovation in utility tractors.
Explained Nadiger that product features like perma-clutch, front PTO, power reverser, telematics and air-conditioned cabin among ‘Green system’ farm implements and combine harvesters have helped the company create holistic farming solutions. The company additionally has a parts distribution centre in Nagpur and operates a finance arm that offers financing solutions exclusive to John Deere customers. According to Rajesh Sinha, Director, Sales and Marketing, John Deere, the company with its product range built keeping in mind the diverse agro-climatic conditions and crop types have helped the company serve individual farmers, contract farmers and entrepreneurs (in the business of custom hiring). Drawing attention to John Deere Financial services, concluded Sinha, “We offer a five-year warranty and easy access to parts and services.” In other laurels for the company, the company has been an award recipient of the ‘Export Excellent Promotion Council award’ for 15 consecutive years. John Deere exports to 110 countries and is claimed to be the largest exporter out of India. Said to have a worldwide pre-eminent position in agri-equipment, John Deere, by catering to the sons of the soil is looking to build upon its estimated nine per cent market share in India going forward. Strengthening its presence in India is also the 2017 acquisition of Wirtgen Group, the world’s largest road construction company offering solutions in processing, paving, compaction and rehabilitation.
