Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said it has agreed to license technology and the brand from Belgium-based agricultural equipment maker Dewulf to make potato planting machinery in India.
Dewulf is the world’s leading full-liner in potato and root crop machinery and has three manufacturing locations in Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania.
“With the ever increasing focus towards processing of potato, the demand for quality potatoes is expected to go up. This will require Indian farmers to use better machinery for potato planting,” Mahindra & Mahindra said.
“The potato planter, co-branded, Mahindra and Dewulf, will enable the Indian potato farmer to perform even and precise planting, thereby leading to higher yield, reduction in cost and improved quality of output.”
Potato is the world’s fourth largest food crop, with India being the second largest producer.
Each year, over 2 million hectares of potato is planted in India, yielding a production of about 40 million tonnes.