John Deere is building on customer needs. Prateek Pardeshi checks on the utility enhancements of its tractor range.
john Deere India Pvt. Ltd. (John Deere India) turned 25. To commemorate the silver jubilee, the company displayed a total of 13 products as a range. From a 35-130 hp tractor in its universe, the 3000 and 5000 range of tractors were broadly the two series on the show. The company also displayed its international range manufactured out of India as part of the range on display. A testimony to the focus on breakthrough development, investment, and harnessing of advanced manufacturing processes, the focus is on enhancing the utility of a tractor of John Deere make. It is to increase farmer productivity through the next generation of tractor implements. Shailendra Jagtap, Managing Director at John Deere India stated, “John Deere continues to innovate and introduce these advanced features in India which are now becoming an industry standard. The farmer’s outlook is progressive, and they adapt technologies when they see value and cost benefits.” Jagtap mentioned John Deere remains committed to supporting the food security mission of the country as well as the changing dietary requirements of the growing populations supported by the farmer community.
Leading subsistence farming to agri-entrepreneurship, he added, “Our efforts for a holistic farm solution and inclusion of women farmers in the farm mechanisation journey have been immensely valued by our customers.” Tractors registered a 12 per cent Year-over-Year (YoY) growth and domestic volumes are pegged at ~9.4 lakh units in FY23. They clocked an all-time high retail of 8.27 lakh units in FY23 and over 7.82 lakh units in FY22. In the same year, John Deere sold 60,450 units to command a 7.31 per cent market share.
For India and the globe
A total of 13 products were on display out of which 12 were tractors and one was a harvester. John Deere on the whole has a wide portfolio ranging from 20-75 hp in India. Globally John Deere sells these products to more than 110 countries. It caters to the 40 hp output with the 3000 series while the 5000 series caters to the 100 hp tractors. The tractor comprised the 3000 series including 3036 EN, 3036 E, 3043 D and 3043 D ASABE. At the same time, the party was joined by the 5000 series too, inclusive of 5310, 5075 E, 5045 D, 5210, 5405, 5115 M, 5075 E, and 5050 D. A few products are exported to the US market, European market and few as common to both the USA and European market out of India and exported to global customers. Shailendra drew attention to the 187-year-old legacy of the company. He mentioned, “Our journey in India began 25 years ago with the introduction of advanced product features such as power steering, oil-immersed disk brakes, planetary reduction, force feed lubrication, high torque machines and value-add technologies such as front PTO, perma clutch, AutoTrac™, PowrReverser™ and JDLink™.” The product lineup stands out with its Multi-Application Tillage (MAT).
Farm Implements
MAT contains a variety of implements that may be mounted on a tractor. Ploughing, tilling, sowing, and harrowing, for example. A V-notch Ridger was attached to 3036 EN; it is used for constructing ridges for row crops such as sugarcane, potato, and chillies. The 3036 E tractor was coupled with a Paddy Rotary Tiller (RT 5216), efficiently preparing the seedbed for paddy transplantation. This farm equipment is best suited for paddy crops such as rice. The 5310 was coupled with two bottom reversible (MB 3112H) ploughs boasting of less tyre slippage, and up to 33 per cent, faster ploughing. The 5075 E boasted an AC Cab as the industry’s first. It was attached to Rotary Tiller (RT1020) manufactured by the GreenSystem. The 5045 D was attached with Rotary Rake (RR0133), a light frame suited for low-hp tractors (30-hp) and above. The 5210 was attached with Square Baler (SB1179) one of the features is the versatility of getting the same baler used for different crops like rice and sugarcane. The 5405 tractor was unique as it was fitted with a front hitch PTO, and a rotary tiller while at the rear, a multi-crop Vacuum Planter (VP 1014) assists in sowing and planting. It provides high accuracy in the sowing of multiple crops like cotton, corn, soybean and grains.
A 5050 D was attached with a rotary mulcher, it can be equipped with hammer-type blade provision used for sugarcane mulching, and Y+ straight types blades effective for crop residue mulching.
Lowering carbon footprint
John Deere is working on various sustainable production models to lower its carbon footprint. Jagtap also claims that the company is currently making use of 35 per cent renewable energy like wind and solar. Other initiatives include reduced utilisation of wood. Water recycling is undertaken across manufacturing facilities at Pune in Maharashtra and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh known as the zero-discharge facilities. All manufacturing processes are also closely monitored where the focus is efficiency on power consumption which can be reduced. The company has a total of 1200 touch points under 580 channel partners across the country, 22 Branch Offices and four zonal training centres.
IoT-based solutions
Digital platforms are acceptable platforms across all industries. IoT solutions like the ‘Anubhuti App’ and ‘John Deere Financial,’ are advantageous to farmers. The Anubhuti app puts John Deere dealers and tractor local technicians on a digital platform. It enables examination of the products on sale at the nearby dealerships. Customers can further reach out to these dealerships for additional information on prices and special offers. It is simple to register a tractor or harvester in the app and schedule service appointments. The app provides a lot of information regarding implements and applications too. The John Deere Financial app. is used for tracking all financial transactions. “These two apps are widely used by the customer base, they get a sense of transparency in transactions finding it easy to operate,” he claimed.
Future outlay
The Asian vertical of John Deere has noticed a slight dip in progress, keeping the sales and profits similar to FY22 and so has the Indian market. Commenting on the progress made, Shailendra explained, “As a result, the Asian market dipped ~five per cent with exceptions where the company broke even. But when we look at the quantum and size of the market, the pace remains significant. We intend to deliver customer value addition through power and technology and that is how we are trying to get to the market and see if you can get more customers.” he concluded.
