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TAFE partners with CII as the event sponsor for CII Agri Tech South 2018 held in Telangana
 News | Events

TAFE to improve farm productivity and mechanization in Telangana

TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, India’s second largest tractor manufacturer partnered with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the event sponsor for CII Agri Tech South 2018 held at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) from February 9-11, 2018. TAFE, with its expertise in agriculture, aims to help farmers in Telangana increase farm productivity and farm output through farmer training, integrated farming practices, and popularizing cost effective soil and water management initiatives, and reducing cost of farm inputs through appropriate mechanization solutions.

Incorporated in 1960, TAFE has been at the forefront of agri-mechanization in India. Established with the aim to alleviate Indian farmers from subsistence to profitability, it has been TAFE’s corporate philosophy to go beyond the sale of products and add value to customers’lives by empowering them to become a vibrant, self-sustaining, and prosperous agri-community.

Mr. T. R. Kesavan, President & COO – Product Strategy & Corporate Relations, TAFE said, “TAFE’s mission is to empower farmers to build a sustainable livelihood by helping them become self-sufficient by increasing farm productivity. TAFE hopes to launch its ‘Farmer2Farmer’ initiative – a farmer community building initiative that encourages farmer-owned and operated services to promote farm mechanization among small and marginal, through a mobile app, to help farmers connect with each other, collaborate and network in improving farmer prosperity.”

He added that, “TAFE’s association with the farmers of Telangana stretches back to several decades and we strive to constantly improve their lives as they have placed their valuable trust in TAFE and its products. TAFE further hopes to strengthen its association with the Telangana government and improve agricultural productivity in the state”.

TAFE’s expertise goes beyond providing farm mechanization solutions with an established competency in providing integrated farm solutions via JFarm. JFarm was first established by TAFE in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in 1964 with an objective of improving the well-being of farmers by empowering them with advanced farm technologies to increase farm productivity and meet India’s growing food needs. TAFE’s Product Training Center trains farmers, dealer, dealer employees, mechanics and students in understanding and applying agriculture-mechanization at its best.

TAFE seeks to replicate the JFarm success story across India and is exploring opportunities of working with several states including Telengana to realize this objective.

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TAFE employees on a journey of constant learning
 News | Initiative

TAFE helps employees speak Hindi, promoting constant learning

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE) as an organization has learning imbibed in its DNA, supporting and encouraging its employees to constantly develop and upgrade themselves. With a strong commitment to nurture the lives of its people, TAFE has several initiatives that are a catalyst to its peoples growth.

TAFE regularly engages with its employees through workshops and discussions to understand their needs and requirements. Through L3 workshops and employee engagement sessions conducted across the organization with respective functional heads; requests for Hindi spoken classes emerged, as employees wanted to be able to fluently converse with teams all over India.

The HR team based on this request, partnered with Mrs. Vimala Radhakrishnan to design the language course curriculum. Mrs. Radhakrishnan was also the facilitator for these Hindi classes, which were scheduled over two months, comprising 40 hours of learning and spread across three days a week post office hours from 6 pm to 7 pm.

Mrs. Radhakrishnan is known for her unique approach to teaching Hindi, as she teaches the language using English and the native language – Tamil in this case. Her approach was to focus on pronunciation through sounds – Phonetics (Tamil and English), and consciously avoid grammar first, as it would not be applicable to learning spoken Hindi.

TAFE teams that have already been through the classes include, the IT and Finance teams based out of TAFE Head Office, and a few R&D teams from TAFE Sembiam.

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TAFE – ‘Be a #FarmDost’ organizes ‘Day at a Farm’ for the residents of Bengaluru

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), has been deeply committed to the well-being, prosperity, and success of farmers world over. It has undertaken several initiatives to ensure that the farmers and the profession of farming is respected and given its due credit. With an aim to help the urban and semi-urban population understand the importance of a farmer in their lives, TAFE launched the ‘Be a #FarmDost’ initiative in April 2015 to encourage people to empathize with farmers and step into their shoes, even if for just a few moments.

Within a short span, the #FarmDost community grew to become 1 million strong on Facebook and is steadily growing. For the past two years, the initiative has focused on encouraging the urban and semi-urban population to become farmers in a small way and activities were conducted throughout the country to introduce people to the profession of farming. Seed kits were distributed which the #FarmDosts could take home, plant and grow on a small patch of land which gave them a glimpse of the hard work farmers do in order to nourish and sustain the world.

Taking the initiative forward and to celebrate National Farmers’ Day, #TAFE – Be a #FarmDost organised ‘Day at the Farm’ on 17 December, 2017. Held in the outskirts of Bengaluru, the celebration was a unique opportunity for the residents of Bengaluru to interact with the farming community and get insights into their life by participating in farm activities and live the life of a farmer for a day.

The participants were selected on a first come, first served basis from in and around Bengaluru city and the day-long event which was completely free for the participants, aimed at giving them a taste of farming and the rural life. Farmers from the local community were also part of the event playing the lead role by sharing their insights about farming and inspiring the participants.

More than 100 participants of all ages were present, and were divided into different teams and engaged in activities like, planting of saplings, tractor ride, organic fertilizer making, farm tour, farm tending and ‘Build-a-farm’ challenge. Participants were taken to a farm and shown how to plant a sapling. Participants then got the opportunity to plant pomegranate, teak or sandalwood saplings in the farm. Participants then proceeded to the vegetable farm where some harvested radish plants, some harvested red chillies and some tended to the farm by de-weeding.

After the farm activities, participants were in for a tractor ride. Participants boarded a trailer hitched to the back of two tractors and were taken through the farm to the organic fertilizer making area. At the organic fertilizer making area, all participants were given a run through of how the fertilizer is mixed and made. They were also invited to join in making the organic fertilizer. From the organic fertilizer making area, the participants indulged in a farm walk on their way back to the main event area.

While the participants were engaging in all these activities, the farmers in attendance were engaged in a session with Dr. T N Shivananda on better farming practices to increase yield and productivity. Post lunch, Dr. Shivananda briefed all the participants on the ‘Build-a-Farm’ activity, where the farmers and participants were clubbed into different groups.

The ‘Build-a-farm’ contest required the teams to build their own miniature farm with the guidance of the farmers, keeping in mind the practicalities associated with setting up a real farm. It exposed the participants to farming challenges, the vagaries of nature and the intense planning and hard work involved. The teams were totally engrossed in strategic discussions with the farmers about the choice of crops to plant, combination of millets, grains, vegetable and fruits and inter-cropping suggestions. They planned their water sources, came up with solar panels to generate electricity and worked together to build mini mock farms that were based on realistic farm scenarios. The groups discussed amongst themselves and planned every detail of their farm from scratch; from irrigation to the boundary of the farm. They had to calculate the input cost and arrive at the annual earnings. The winning teams were then awarded, and the farmers were felicitated for joining the TAFE – Be a #FarmDost ‘Day on the farm’ event.

The event saw an eclectic mix of people – students, professionals working in IT, textile, banking, HR, construction and manufacturing. Children as young as 4 years gleefully participated in all the activities with ease. We had 4 spritely senior citizens who put the younger generation to shame by leaping off the tractor while alighting, planting saplings and harvesting vegetables like professional farmers.

All the activities of the day were planned such that the participants got a deeper understanding of the farmers’ life and hence, renewed respect for them and the profession of farming. Post the activities an interaction was held between the participants and farmers, where the guests spoke of their perception of farmers and farming – before they attended the event and after spending the day on the farm. The day ended with a performance by the Vasu Dixit Collective, who performed songs in Kannada with a rural appeal that had both the farmers and urban residents singing along.

One of the participants, Aishwarya – a student, along with her family decided to celebrate her birthday by participating in the #FarmDost event. She cheerfully remarked that it was the best birthday she ever celebrated and she’d remember this for a life time. Pawan, a young IT professional said that the #FarmDost event was beyond his expectations and said it made him realize how much the farmer is to our society and nation.

People who had come to spend a day on the farm from Bengaluru returned as #FarmDosts for life with a new found respect for the farmer and the profession of farming. They truly realised that the farmer is deserving of all our gratitude and admiration.

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TAFE Doddaballapur has a bumper vegetable harvest!

For over 50 decades, TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited has been #CultivatingTheWorld, helping farming communities around the world prosper. It has been TAFE’s constant endeavor to provide innovative and relevant farm mechanization solutions to ensure sustainable farming becomes a common practice. A values driven organization, TAFE has always prided itself in being a responsible corporate citizen and being environment friendly and green conscious.

Taking a leaf off their customers’ daily life, the employees at TAFE’s Doddaballapur plant to encourage sustainable farming, inaugurated a kitchen garden on June 4, 2016, on the eve of World Environment Day. The employees participated with great fervour and began by planting saplings of Brinjal and Tomato. The small patch of land has since seen a harvest of about 1,329 kg of Brinjal, 206 kg of Tomato, 128 kg of Raddish, among others.

Kudos to TAFE’s Doddaballapur plant for making excellent use of a small patch of land by cultivating organic vegetables and reaping gold from green. This will serve as an inspiration to others to cultivate in their own small way and empathize with the farmers whose efforts sustain and nourish us.

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TAFE wins EEPC India - Southern Region Awards for the 21st consecutive year
 News | Spotlight

TAFE wins EEPC award for the 21st consecutive year

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited – TAFE, is the third largest tractor manufacturer in the world and the second largest in India (by volumes), and has been powering farms in over 100 countries. In recognition of its outstanding contribution to engineering exports, TAFE has been awarded the ‘Star Performer – Large Enterprise (Agricultural Tractors)’ at the 40th Engineering Exports Promotion Council of India – Southern Region Awards – 2015-16. The award was presented by the Honorable Minister for Minister for Industries, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sri. A C Moideen, Government of Kerala on October 25, 2017 and received by Mr. N Sriram – Divisional Manager, Exports and Mr. N Anantharamakrishnan – Deputy Manager, Exports on behalf of TAFE.

TAFE is one of India’s leading tractor exporters. The awards were decided on the basis of FOB value of export of engineering goods in agricultural tractors. The award is a remarkable achievement for TAFE as it has won this prestigious award 21 years in a row. TAFE’s success can be attributed to many factors like the extensive range of products and features it offers to its customers and the synergy between TAFE & AGCO teams to take the brand forward. TAFE will continue to strive in its endeavor to provide the best farm mechanization equipment to farmers world over in its journey of #CultivatingTheWorld.

The EEPC India is a premier trade and investment promotion organization in India, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. It caters to the Indian engineering goods sector that also acts as an advisory body that actively contributes to the policies of the Indian government and works to provide liaison between the engineering industry and the Government. The institution serves over 12,000 members ranging from large corporate, trading houses, small and medium scale units and more.

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TAFE range of tractors showcase their prowess in Bangladesh
 Watch | PHOTO STORIES

TAFE tractors cultivating prosperity in Bangladesh

Tractors from Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited – TAFE  have been powering farms in over 100 countries, and have a predominant presence in several African and South Asian countries. TAFE tractors are a favourite in Bangladesh, and TAFE is proud to be a partner in the growth and prosperity of the nation.

According to a World Bank report, “Irrigation, high-yielding crop varieties, more efficient markets, and mechanization, enabled by policy reforms and investments in agriculture research, human capital, and roads have driven growth.”

Tractors from TAFE are versatile and have been engineered keeping in mind the varied soil conditions and requirements of any given task. Apart from agriculture, they are used for haulage in various industries like agriculture, mining, infrastructure, fisheries, construction etc. and have proven their mettle around the world.

Here is a photo story of TAFE tractors cultivating Bangladesh!

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 Read | CSR

TAFE Doddaballapur Plant Hosts Free Eye Care Camp

TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited has been committed to making meaningful contributions and accelerating the growth of the community it operates in. TAFE’s CSR activities stretch across domains like agriculture, education, healthcare, community development, conservation and tribal welfare, disaster relief, and preservation and propagation of traditional art forms.

Contributing towards the well-being of the community and in an effort to provide its employees and the general public access to quality eye care without any cost, TAFE’s Doddaballapur plant organized a free eye care camp in association with Narayana Netralaya, Bengaluru, on October 11 and 12, 2017. The camp was organized in TAFE’s Doddaballapur facility for its employees and in the Bashettihalli Government School for the general public.

The camp was inaugurated by Mr. Krishnappa, Ex-President Bashettihalli Gram Panchayat and was well appreciated and received by the people. The camp saw participation from 368 people, of whom 180 were recommended to wear spectacles while 12 were referred for cataract surgery and successfully operated at Narayana Netralaya without any fee.

TAFE reaches out to the society in three different ways:

  • Through philanthropic acts
  • By working with local communities through direct intervention and dedicated resources, both in terms of manpower and financial support, or through strategic partnerships with government and non-governmental and professional networks to develop a sustainable model for inclusive growth
  • Through initiatives that are closely aligned to the broader vision of the company which is about being an active partner and enabler of the agricultural development of the country

As a responsible corporate citizen, TAFE is committed to:

  • Enable the farming community to achieve higher productivity and prosperity
  • Contribute to the health and welfare of employees and the community it operates in
  • Conserve the environment through the propagation of sustainable practices
  • Empower the differently-abled by creating meaningful opportunities
  • Preserve and perpetuate the rich Indian heritage of art and culture

As with all TAFE’s CSR initiatives, the TAFE Doddaballapur Plant, like its other facilities, aims to make a consistent and lasting contribution towards the well-being of the community and its people. It has been actively engaged in improving their lives and making meaningful contributions towards their development by cultivating joy and #CultivatingTheWorld.

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i3 – TAFE’s unified internal idea management platform

On Tuesday, October 3rd 2017, all desks at the TAFE offices had an interesting object on their desks… a crumpled sheet of bright yellow paper! Most employees wore a puzzled look on their faces and were scratching their heads wondering whether to keep it or trash it. And, of course, almost by default each one of them opened it to find a very interesting message –

“Don’t trash your ideas – Let them land in the right place.”

Excellent organisations recognize that innovation can apply to products, processes, marketing, organizational structures and business models. Over the years, TAFE has strived towards achieving organizational excellence by establishing a culture of continuous improvement and learning. In the last few years, we have been focusing on harnessing creativity and inculcating a culture of innovation across the organisation through a systematic approach to manage innovation driving:

  • Product innovation through Small Innovation Group
  • Cost saving initiatives through Prospero and Vridhi
  • Process excellence through e-CIMP and DiscoverI

Furthering our efforts to harness creativity and innovation, TAFE’s unified platform for idea management – i3 – was launched on September 30, 2017, on the auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dasami, in the presence of TAFE’s Chairman & CEO, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan. The event was attended by several senior management executives and project team members. The event was broadcast through a webinar for outstation participants to attend.

The launch event started with traditional lighting of the lamp followed by a prayer song and the TAFE Anthem. Ms. Shobhana Ravi, Chief Information Technology, Innovation and Learning Officer (CITILO), gave a brief overview of the new platform and its features. Mr. S Jaishankar, Sr. GM (Cost Control) posted the first challenge in the new platform and Mr. Jones Sunder Singh, Sr. AVP (Treasury) posted the first idea in response to the challenge. The launch event was successful and closed with a special keynote by TAFE Chairman & CEO, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, who addressed the gathering on the importance of innovation, cost saving and how this platform can be leveraged.

i3 – An overview
TAFE’s unified idea management platform will provide an opportunity to get inspired, ideate and implement your ideas and get rewarded through a gamified experience. Key highlights of the unified platform are:

  • Ideas and challenges can be posted under the broad categories – Cost Saving, Technology Leadership, Customer Solutions and Process Excellence, each of which will further have sub-categories
  • Idea evaluation is done by a 3 member workflow team
  • Every idea is evaluated based on a set of defined parameters on impact, uniqueness and feasibility
  • Based on evaluation scores, ideas will be classified as Just Do It / Kaizen / Innovative Idea / Breakthrough Idea

The team invites all TAFE employees to login and contribute their ideas, as it could be the next big idea! The real gamechanger.

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Eicher Engines from TMTL at Amarnath
 News | Spotlight

TMTL Engines aids pilgrims reach Amarnath Temple

TMTL Engines Division, part of TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited (TMTL) the wholly owned subsidiary of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE) has installed its Eicher gensets for the comfort of pilgrims visiting the Amarnath temple located in Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 3,888 m above mean sea level.

Visited by over 600,000 pilgrims every year from across the world, TMTL Engines – Eicher Engines has proven that they always go the distance to meet the seamless power requirements of customers irrespective of the conditions, difficulty and challenging terrain.

Fully committed to ensuring customer satisfaction, TMTL Engine’s network is 68 service dealers and 621 technicians strong, strategically placed in various cities across India who ensure a 99.9% uptime for the gensets. Going a step further to fulfil their promise, the company has a dedicated 24×7 customer support number and also collects post service feedback.

With a strong customer base of over 1000,000 spread across various segments, TMTL has proven its reliability and lives up to their promise of “You can rely on us…”.

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Mallika Srinivasan awarded Honorary Doctorate by TNAU

TAFE Chairman & CEO, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan was awarded the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) today at Coimbatore. This was conferred in recognition of her contribution to global agriculture, machinery business and academia. She is the first lady from the Indian Tractor Industry to be conferred this honour at the 38th convocation ceremony of TNAU.

Ms. Mallika Srinivasan was awarded the Honoris Causa by the Chancellor of TNAU and Hon. Governor of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Vidyasagar Rao. The ceremony was graced by the presence of Mr. K. Ramasamy – Vice Chancellor of the University, Mr. R. Doraikkannu – Pro Chancellor of TNAU and the Agriculture Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the chief guest of the ceremony, Dr. C. D. Mayee – President, South Asia Biotechnology Centre along with the Professors and the new graduates of TNAU.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, said, “I am immensely privileged to have been chosen to receive the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from this prestigious world renowned institute that has been serving the farming community for over a century. I extend my gratitude and thanks to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) for bestowing this unique honour on me. This honour will, no doubt, be a great inspiration to me and my team at TAFE, as we continue to serve the farming community both in India and in other developing markets of the world.”

Personifying TAFE’s philosophy of ‘Cultivating the World’, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan has played a key role in the development of agriculture across the nation through initiatives that positively impact the lives of farmers. Taking forward the founder’s vision of empowering the Indian farmer, she has led the development of JFarm, TAFE’s adaptive agricultural research and training centre, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, established in 1964 by her father and TAFE’s first Chairman, Mr. A. Sivasailam. Under her leadership, JFarm has focused on developing an integrated farming model for small and marginal farmers, farm initiatives for soil, water and nutrient management to increase productivity through mechanisation. JFarm also advocates organic farming and its activities in developing a low cost modified hydroponics system have been widely appreciated.

Reacting to the news of her doctorate, Mr. Ravichandran a progressive farmer said, “I’m very pleased with this news. From the farmers point of view we don’t merely consider TAFE as yet another agricultural company. We consider it as the true friend of farmers. TAFE’s JFarm, has motivated many people to take up farming as their career including me. I’m sure under the able stewardship of Ms. Mallika Srinivasan and the dynamic management team and dedicated staff, we the farmers would continue to benefit from the century old group and farming gets transformed to an enviable profession. I truly believe ”TAFE is the pride of Indian Farmers” My very best wishes to the TAFE – CEO. She richly deserves such honor.”

Ms. Mallika Srinivasan has transformed agriculture in the Northern parts of India through the setting up of JFarm Rajasthan at Bhawanimandi, Dt. Jhalawer, which replicates the pioneering efforts of JFarm, TamilNadu, helping farmers of Rajasthan and subsequently those from nearby states.

Leading the way in global agriculture Mallika Srinivasan has also encouraged the extension of JFarm’s activities to other developing economies and TAFE is in the process of setting up such facilities aimed at improving farm productivity and sustainable farming, leveraging relevant mechanisation in association with several countries in Africa. It has established partnerships for skill training and development and piloting small farm sustainability programs in Malawi, Tanzania and Rwanda, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast and is involved in developing multipurpose farmer centers across the African continent.

Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, justifies the epithet ‘Tractor Queen of India’ transforming TAFE to become the world’s third largest tractor manufacturer and India’s largest exporter of farm equipment. A thought leader and a strategist, widely recognised for her business acumen, she has developed relevant technology to suit evolving needs of the farmers, optimised costs, and tapped global markets to establish TAFE as a quality mass manufacturer of tractors and a lean, resilient organisation that can weather the cyclicality of the business.

An excerpt from the citation read, “TAFE’s JFarm, located at Chennai and Rajasthan, established as a CSR initiative, engages in adaptive research and provides farm extension services, covering a variety of crops, as an advisory service to farmers to enhance yields and promotes among farmers, knowledge of cultivation practices and the latest technological advancements. It is this effort of many decades that has won her acclaim.

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University takes great pride in placing on record the exceptional achievements of Padma Shri Mallika Srinivasan and takes privilege in honouring her, in recognition of her contribution to global agriculture, machinery business and academia.”

She is one among the Board of Directors of AGCO Corporation, a global farm equipment major in the United States of America, Tata Steel Limited and Tata Global Beverages Limited. She is the first lady to have assumed the role of President of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A member of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Ms. Srinivasan has held prestigious board positions at IIT Madras and the Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy.

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