News | CSR

TAFE Farmers’ Day in Khammam, Telangana brings together Farmers and Agri-Experts

Continuing its efforts to engage and empower the farming community, TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited recently organized its Farmers’ Day event at Khammam, Telangana. Over 500 farmers from various districts around Khammam participated in this event. Dr. P Jagan Mohan Rao, Associate Director of Research, Regional Agricultural Research Station from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) was the Chief Guest for this event.

The farmers were introduced to the best practices in cultivation, right from sowing to post-harvest processing through knowledge-sharing sessions and workshops. These sessions were filled with information specific to the region, besides demonstrating the correct usage of tractors and farm machinery to enhance the efficiency and productivity of the farmers. Progressive farmers from the state were also recognized for their contribution to agriculture. A multi-implement demo and an MF Tech Zone were also setup at the venue, where farmers were educated on the latest technology and developments in the field of agriculture.

One of the key CSR initiatives of TAFE – Farmers’ Day celebrates this special occasion, dedicated to the farming community, providing them a platform to interact with renowned agricultural scientists and experts from leading universities and agri-research institutes. The experience-rich agri-scientists of TAFE’s own adaptive agricultural research centre – JFarm, based at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and Bhawanimandi, Rajasthan, play a significant role in this event.

Over the past 14 years, TAFE has been engaging with the farming community in various parts of India, including Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and Telangana, through this platform. Farmers’ Day has led to farmers adapting newer cultivation methods resulting in higher yields and productivity. Topics likes best practices in cultivation, irrigation, soil preparation, crop protection, crop management and seed technologies, along with modern farm mechanization practices are covered in the event.

The first Farmers’ Day was conducted in 2006 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It is noteworthy to mention that TAFE has been organizing Farmers’ Day for 14 consecutive years and has impacted the lives of thousands of farmers across India.

News

TAFE Chairman appointed to the Global Board of 
U.S.-India Business Council

Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), has been appointed to the Global Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC). This appointment takes immediate effect as she joins a prestigious list of CEOs and executives on USIBC’s 35-member board.

On her induction to the board of USIBC, Mallika Srinivasan said: “USIBC has been the premier voice of the industry, forging strong connections between businesses and Governments in India and USA. Fostering strong and inclusive growth in trade and investment relations between both the countries, USIBC has been a key catalyst of positive bilateral engagement and transformative reforms. With TAFE’s demonstrated belief in the benefits of a stronger economic cooperation between American and Indian corporates and our focus on mechanization and agricultural development, I look forward to the opportunity of engaging effectively in USIBC’s initiatives towards a continuously strengthening  eco-system that promotes stronger economic partnership between India and the US.”

Mallika Srinivasan, is additionally on the boards of the AGCO Corporation – USA, TATA Steel Limited and TATA Global Beverages Limited. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, the Governing Boards of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy.

Shekar Ayyar from VMware, Rajan Navani from Jetline Group of Companies and David Taghioff from Library Pictures International have also been appointed to the Global board of USIBC along with
Mallika Srinivasan.

Formed in 1975 at the request of the U.S. and Indian governments, the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) represents top global companies operating across the United States and India. USIBC serves as the premier voice of industry, creating connections between businesses and governments in both countries. The Council works with members to identify, advance and advocate key policy priorities. Through its work, USIBC supports strong and inclusive growth in trade and investment relations between India and the United States.

News | CSR

TAFE signs MoU with PJTSAU to setup J-Farm & Product Training Centre in Telangana

TAFE signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), the only Farm University of Telangana State, to set up an adaptive research & agricultural extension centre and Product Training Centre, similar to “J-Farm” in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

The university will be providing 30 acres of its land on a ‘right-to-use’ basis to setup ‘J-Farm & PTC Telangana’. Through this, TAFE aims to educate farmers on promoting organic farming in line with its focus on sustainable agriculture through an emphasis on soil conservation, use of natural inputs, long-term productivity, increased farm income, health and well-being.

The adaptive research and agricultural extension centre will facilitate the implementation of appropriate agro-technology through active participation and collaboration with farmers. It will also promote specialized agriculture-related education and vocational skills and the growth of employment opportunities in the field of agriculture.

TAFE through its Product Training Centre aims to help educate the farmers on the integrated mechanization model of TAFE that combines the use of tractors and relevant machinery in farming. The farmers will be trained on operation and servicing of tractors, equipment and machinery. It will also promote the adoption of relevant mechanization in agriculture using locally suited equipment especially suited for the terrains of Telangana.

News

Farmers witness MF Tech Zone and Multi-Implement Demo at TAFE Madurai Plant

A group of farmers were invited for an MF Experience at TAFE’s Madurai Plant, recently. During the first half of the day, the farmers were taken on a factory tour where they got to witness the quality process and the end to end manufacturing processes. This was followed by a classroom session, explaining TAFE’s history, legacy, international footprint, and milestones. A free medical checkup camp was organized for the farmers. They also had a photo opportunity with Massey Ferguson tractors.

Following these sessions, the farmers were taken into the MF Tech Zone, a combination of stalls where the latest technology unique to Massey tractors were showcased using demo kits and prototypes. After this session, the farmers witnessed a demonstration of all models of tractors with different implements followed by a Multi-Trolley Demo. The farmers were also given an opportunity to test-drive our products in the field, following which some of the farmers booked the tractors on the spot.

TAFE’s CEO Mr. Sandeep Sinha interacted with the farmers and got to know about their experience visiting our factory. This experience was highly appreciated by the farmers as they got to witness the prowess of the superior range of Massey Ferguson tractors.

News | CSR

Massey ‘Vriksha Roshan’ – Tree Plantation Drive by TAFE’s Team in Rajasthan

Keeping up with TAFE’s inherent commitment towards environment and sustainability, the team from Rajasthan recently started a tree plantation drive called ‘Massey Vriksha Roshan’ across the state. This activity happens every Sunday with a minimum of 5 trees being planted per Tehsil. Post plantation, it is critical for the trees to be maintained as well. Hence, the team has resolved to not just plant, but also nurture them over time.

The team targets to plant over 500 trees across this region. All TAFE dealerships in the area and several customers have also extended their commitment to this cause. The teams from Jaipur and Gangapur districts have already planted 150 trees in their territory.

News | Milestones

TAFE Wins 10 Awards at ACEF Asian Leaders Forum & Awards 2019

As a testament to its brand building, communications and community outreach initiatives, TAFE bagged 10 awards including 6 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze at the 8th ACEF Asian Leaders Forum & Awards held at Mumbai on September 28, 2019. The event was organized by the Asian Consumer Engagement Forum (ACEF) in association with CNN News 18. TAFE Corporate Communications team secured pole position in terms of total number of awards under the Branding & Marketing, CSR and Rural Marketing categories at this event.

More than 120 corporates had participated in this event and there were more than 300 applications under various categories. The application process was detailed and exhaustive. The jury which evaluated the applications was a mix of leading industry experts, academicians and creative directors which included the likes of Pops KV Sridhar – Chief Creative Officer, Hyper Collective, Sujan Roy – Head International Business, TATA Motors, Dr. Swati Padoshi – Director IIBM and Santhosh Nair – VP Business & Strategy, Grey RC&M.

TAFE has always been committed towards contributing to the community by helping improve the social landscape in an effective and sustainable manner. It has an instilled sense of caring and sharing at the very core of its business ethics. This commitment was duly rewarded at the event where TAFE Corporate received two Grand Prix Gold Awards in the CSR Category including the ‘Overall Excellence in Social Responsibility’ and the ‘Asian Good Company of the Year’.

Awards won by TAFE Corporate Communications for Brand Building:

  • Gold : Most Admired Organization for Social Cause – TAFE Corporate
  • Gold : Asian Good Company of the Year – TAFE Corporate
  • Gold : Overall Excellence in Social Responsibility – TAFE Corporate
  • Gold : Best use of Digital Media – Massey Ferguson India
  • Gold : Best Media Relations / PR Campaign – JFarm Services
  • Bronze : Most Admired Brand of the Year – TAFE ‘Cultivating The world’

Awards won by TAFE for JFarm Services and Farmers’ Day (CSR):

  • Gold : Most Admired Activity for Sustainable Development in Rural Area – JFarm Services
  • Silver : Most Admired Activity for Community Uplifting – JFarm Services
  • Silver : Rural On-Ground New property of the year – JFarm Services
  • Silver : Best CSR Event – Farmers’ Day

Other participating companies included TATA Motors, TATA Power, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC Limited, Schindler, Gulf Oil, Philips, DHL, Reliance Foundation, Dell India, Sony Entertainment, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Glenmark, Yes Bank, PNB Metlife, Motilal Oswal, DCB Bank, Sony Music, Radio Mirchi, Fab India, Max Life Insurance, ACC Cement, Birla White, FCB Ulka, Grey Advertising, Dentsu Aegis Network and Publicis Media.

Founded in 2012-13, Asian Consumer Engagement Forum and Awards are organized by a team of professionals from India, Sri Lanka and UAE, guided by Advisory Members from leading Branding, Marketing and Creative Agencies based in India, USA, Australia, Singapore, UAE, and Sri Lanka. Their programs are focused on customer engagement and consumer connect activities, branding, marketing, CSR, rural marketing, properties (hospitality and real estate), HR, and are planned for India, Sri Lanka, GCC Continent, and the Asia Pacific Regions.

This event is being telecasted on CNN News 18 on October 12, 2019 at 5:30pm

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TAFE’s Sembiam Plant Wins Industrial Safety Awards from the Government of Tamil Nadu

 

The Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, Government of Tamil Nadu, awards companies excelling in Industrial Safety under Textiles, Metals, Engineering, Transport and Miscellaneous categories. In an event organized recently, TAFE’s Sembiam Plant received four Safety Awards in the Engineering category, for the assessment years 2014 and 2015. Dr. Nilofer Kafeel, Minister for Labour, Government of Tamil Nadu, presented the awards to the winners.

For the year 2014, in Group ‘B’ that included Factories which have worked between 5 to 10 lakh manhours per year, TAFE’s Sembiam Plant stood at the 1st Place for the Lowest Weighted Accident Frequency Rate, and at the 2nd Place for Longest Accident-free Period in Manhours.

For the year 2015, in Group ‘B’, TAFE’s Sembiam factory stood 2nd in the category for Lowest Weighted Accident Frequency Rate, and in the Longest Accident-free Period in terms of Manhours category.

News

TAFE’s JRehab wins Gold Award for Quality at CCQC 2019

TAFE’s JRehab team has won the Gold Award for Quality in the 5S category at the Centre Convention for Quality Concepts (CCQC), organized by the Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI), Madurai Chapter. JRehab is TAFE’s manufacturing unit which employs orthopedically challenged women to make wiring and fender harnesses, battery cables, trailer sockets and toolkit bags for TAFE’s tractors.

It was heartwarming to see the team receiving a standing ovation from the members of QCFI and the jury during the event. Jobbers Ms. Rani, Ms. N Geetha and Ms. RK Selvi, along with Mr. Srikanth, Ms. Shanmugasundari, Mr. Karthik and Mr. Arumuga, represented JRehab at the event. This is the first time, JRehab participated in a competition hosted by an external organization. JRehab has been recognized internally for maintaining high-quality standards with Zero PPM. We at TAFE are extremely delighted about this committed and dedicated team winning the Gold Award.

Know More about JRehab here: https://lnkd.in/ehbrajT

News | Events

Dealer Development Team Wins the TAFE Indoor Cricket Tournament 2019

The TAFE Sports and Recreation Club had recently organized an indoor cricket tournament for all employees. This tournament saw 160 players from 16 teams participating with complete enthusiasm. The format and rules of this tournament were in similar lines of the popular box cricket league. A round-robin format was followed at the league stage with the 16 teams separated into two groups of 8 teams each. The top 4 teams from each group played knockout games in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the finals.

All games were played with 6 overs per innings with each team comprising of 6 players with atleast one woman player. This encouraged the women employees to prove their cricketing skills with many of them showcasing match-winning performances both with the ball and the bat. Some of them proved to have a natural ability with their exceptional fielding skills.

Dealer Development and Product Training Centre qualified for the Grand Finals which was held on 9th September 2019. Team PTC scored 36 runs in 6 overs. The Dealer Development team won the match by chasing down the target with 5 wickets remaining.

Mr. Ravindra Gupta, Vice President – Network Strategy & Allied Business Development and Mr. Ramgopal Panigrahi, Senior General Manager – Customer Support were the guests present at the finals and they presented the trophies to the winners and runners-up. They encouraged the Sports and Recreation Club to organize more such sporting events which would motivate employees to be active and fit.

The club has recently announced its next tournament, the TAFE badminton league which will begin this month.

 

News | CSR

TAFE’s free of cost tractor rental platform – ‘JFarm Services’ launched in Gujarat by Shri. Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat

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 was formally launched in Gujarat in partnership with the State Government by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri. Vijay Rupani in the presence of Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Rural Development,  Panchayati Raj, Government of India and Shri. Ranchhodbhai Chanabhai Faldu, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development & Transport, Government of Gujarat.

TAFE’s JFarm Services aims to increase easy access to farm mechanization solutions through rental of tractors and modern farm equipment to small and marginal farmers, enhancing their productivity and increasing their income significantly.

It facilitates the hiring of tractors and modern farm machinery to farmers, free of cost, through its Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) rental platform. TAFE’s JFarm Services will collaborate with the agricultural development officers of the Gujarat Government to ensure wide outreach and successful roll-out of the platform.

Agriculture continues to be the primary occupation for the majority of rural people in Gujarat. About 52% of the working population in the state is dependent on agriculture as a source of livelihood. With majority of them being small or marginal farmers, there is tremendous potential in the state for growth and increase in productivity through farm mechanization.

Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman – TAFE, said: “India is a land of small farms. A majority of farmers in our country, almost 85% of them have no access to farm mechanization 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 reach out to the farmers of Gujarat, touch the lives of millions of farmers across the country and achieve our Honorable Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.”

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 fulfil their respective requirement. With this pioneering platform, TAFE brings the benefits of the technology-enabled sharing economy to boost the income of farmers.

Mr. T R Kesavan, Group President (Corporate Relations & Alliances) – TAFE, said: “TAFE, in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat, has launched JFarm Services to create sustainable agricultural productivity and growth for the state through the shared economy model. This initiative will support the state in making farm mechanization available to small and marginal farmers. JFarm Services is completely transparent and is free of any hidden charges or commissions.”

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, is designed to run on very little data and can be used in English and Hindi apart from the various other regional languages. 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.

JFarm Services, besides Gujarat, has a presence in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Assam, and has directly benefitted about 314,000 users resulting in over 825,000 hours in hired farm machinery usage. In a short span of time, JFarm Services has become one of India’s largest farm equipment aggregation operators.