Innovation continues to drive John Deere’s 20-year success in India

HYDERABAD: Over the past two decades in India, John Deere has invested in state-of-the-art factories, innovative products, and new services to help Indian farmers be more productive. The latest example is the four-wheel-drive 3028EN tractor, which offers advanced technology and features suited for orchard and paddy farming.

The introduction of the new tractor is the latest example of Deere providing Indian farmers with technologically-advanced products that offer a wide range of farm solutions including tractors, harvesters and implements.

“Our journey in India began 20 years ago with the introduction of advanced product features such as power steering, oil immersed disk brakes, planetary reduction, force feed lubrication and high torque machines,” said Satish Nadiger, managing director. “John Deere was the first to introduce these features in India and they have now become industry standard.”

Nadiger said Deere is proud to have helped lead India from subsistence farming to Agri-entrepreneurship. “We have partnered with crop value chain partners for a wholistic farm solution and have also introduced important safety features such as roll over protection and seat belts. Our product advances have been immensely valued by our farmer customers.”

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Over the 20 years, John Deere has shown significant commitment to investment in manufacturing and product development in India:

• Tractor manufacturing locations in Pune (Maharashtra) and Dewas (Madhya Pradesh).
• Harvester manufacturing in Sirhind (Punjab).
• Electronics system manufacturing in Pune (Maharashtra).
• Engineering Centre in Pune (Maharashtra).
• Technology Centre in Pune (Maharashtra).
• Parts Distribution Centre in Nagpur (Maharashtra).
• Captive finance company to provide financing solutions to John Deere customers.

Nadiger said John Deere is also meeting the need to bring new technologies to tractors and farm equipment that lower the overall cost of farm operations, reduce the number of operations needed in the field, and improve the speed of seeding and fertilizing equipment.

For instance, he said, introduction of technologies such as a front PTO (power takeoff) and specially designed front farm implements have helped reduce the cost of some operations by more than 25 percent.

John Deere Technology Centre Pune, provide services and solutions adding value in areas of product engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, IT solutions and customer support services to various John Deere businesses globally.

John Deere’s Engineering Centre in Pune has responsibility worldwide for Deere’s design and innovation in utility tractors. Nadiger said product features such as perma-clutch, front PTO, power reverser, telematics and airconditioned cabin have been welcome features for customers. Adding ‘Green System’ farm implements and John Deere combine harvesters have created wholistic farming solutions, he added.

Rajesh Sinha, director, sales and marketing, said, “We provide John Deere products for a variety of agro-climatic conditions and crop types and this has been key to our growth in India. Our product portfolio serves individual farmers, contract farmers and entrepreneurs who are in the business of custom hiring.

Sinha added that John Deere Financial services provides transparency, speed, and convenience, which is an advantage for customers. “With a 5-year warranty and easy access to parts and services, our customers truly feel it’s their “Zindagi ka best decision,” he added.

Nadiger said John Deere’s investments over the past 20 years have been successful. In fact, he said, tractors and harvesters made in India are exported to more than 110 countries worldwide and John Deere India has been an award recipient of the Export Excellent Promotion Council award for 15 consecutive years.

Nadiger also explained Deere’s commitment to developing the entire agricultural industry for the long-term. Deere launched a program in 2011 with the Government of Gujarat to provide technologically-advanced equipment on a pay-per-hour basis for small farmers. Since then, Deere has advocated for policy reforms in Central and state governments for establishing more private-public partnerships.

In addition, John Deere encourages the youth to acquire skill on farm machinery operations and maintenance to meet their aspirations in the agricultural sector or run their own farms professionally as agricultural entrepreneurs.

John Deere also promotes employee volunteerism and focusses on economic empowerment of women by sponsoring and supporting rural programmes such as Samruddhi, JIVA, Integrated Development project, Model School and STEM.

Mukul Varshney, director, Corporate Affairs, said, “The current environment and priorities of the central and state governments are to bring agricultural reforms and increase farmers’ income. Precision and advanced technologies in the agriculture crop value chain are critical. Industry, academia and governments are coming together to have a far-reaching impact on productivity and farmer profitability. John Deere will continue to be a leader in these efforts and work on behalf of our customers.”

One additional item that strengthens John Deere’s presence in India is the 2017 acquisition of the Wirtgen Group, which has a factory in Pune. The Wirtgen Group is the world’s largest road construction company.