CHENNAI: In a country where farmers still pull the plough, a tractor is an important vehicle for faster and better tilling of land. However, many states are experiencing a severe labour shortage and not many know how to drive a tractor. Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday unveiled its first ever driverless tractor, unfolding new possibilities in farming. Redefining the mechanisation activity for farmers, the autonomous tractor will aid precision farming, increase productivity, improve quality and facilitate coverage of large tracts of the land.
The first-of-its-kind product is developed at Mahindra Research Valley in Chennai and is slated for launch in February next year. The tractor can be programmed to carry out specific tasks and can also be operated remotely via a tablet. The first launch, however, would house only an automated steering assist.
The fully driverless product will be ready by 2018-end and eventually be deployed across all tractor platforms, ranging from 20 HP models to 100 HP products, said Pawan Goenka, MD of the firm.
Goldman Sachs had in 2016 predicted that farm technologies could become a $240-billion market opportunity for agriculture suppliers with smaller driverless tractors, which they estimated is a $45 billion market. Last year, at the company’s annual general meeting Anand Mahindra, CMD of Mahindra Group had said, “I have stressed in the recent past… we must focus on developing autonomous, driverless commercial vehicles.”
In one of many initiatives of M&M’s goal of becoming a global tractor player, Goenka said the company has collaborated with several technology companies, including overseas players. The new technology will also be available across international markets such as the US and Japan, he added.
The target price of the autonomous tractor is less than one lakh per unit and the company is working on reducing costs. India being a cost-sensitive market, the manufacturer expects only seven per cent of total tractor sales to come from driverless versions in 5 years, he said.
On the company’s electrification efforts, Goenka said driverless tractors, rather than electric tractors, are the need of the hour. Emphasising on its focus on passenger vehicles, he said research and development into electric tractors is currently at preliminary stages.