At the onset of the New Year, Total Agro started planning for the months to come.
In January, their executives visited several communities to decide where they could organise successful demo shows in April and May. They also visited existing customers to identify places where events could be hosted.
In February, Total Agro participated in the IV Agricultural Field Day Cetabol Foundation where Japanese farmers were the primary target group. They also visited Mennonite colonies in California, Nu Land, Belize, Riva Palacios and El Cerro.
For the month of March, a demonstration day was planned in Bella Victoria where tractors of existing customers were used to showcase their capabilities. Neighbouring farmers were invited and there’s a good chance of this activity yielding positive results. More Mennonite colonies like Nueva Italia, Nuevo México and La Esperanza were visited, since Mahindra tractors have already made their way into the lives of many Mennonite farmers.
Though the weather has been unfavourable and there are several other challenges, Total Agro is leaving no stone unturned in connecting with the farmers and showcasing the benefits Mahindra tractors can bring them.
Mahindra and Mahindra Limited (M&M) is expanding its presence in Cebu as it plans to bring its top-selling tractors to the province.
Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Vice President and Head of International Operations, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, M&M sees good potential in bringing Mahindra tractors to the Philippines because of the country’s vast agricultural land. “There is a market for tractors here,” said Mr. Kumar. Mahindra tractor units are expected to arrive in Cebu in the next two to three months. Cebu-based Gateway Motors Group will be the first dedicated Mahindra Tractor dealership in the Philippines. The group has a former association with the company as they carry other passenger and commercial vehicles of Mahindra.
Mr. Kumar said the company has full confidence that the Philippines market would be one of the strongest in Asia, on the back of the country’s efforts to boost its agriculture sector. The Department of Agriculture (DA) aims to attain farm modernization at four horsepower per hectare (HP/ha) to meet the requirements of regional integration and be at par with its ASEAN neighbours. This would provide the necessary impetus for business growth. He, however, declined to disclose the sales projection as they are still assessing market acceptance. “We are quite confident that our tractors would spur growth in the agriculture sector here, particularly in industries like sugarcane, corn, rice and other crops,” said Mr. Kumar.
Mr. Manoj Dalvi, Deputy General Manager, International Operations, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, M&M, said, “Our tractors can help increase farm productivity by 20 to 25 percent as they are powerful agri-equipment tools with fuel efficient and longer-life capability.”
This is a new beginning for Mahindra and the company is poised to make a difference in the Philippines market.
In Bangladesh, the scale of activities was remarkable. From customer engagement events, service camps to training programs, all endeavours made covered a significant part of the country and reinforced the trust Mahindra tractors enjoy. 22 customer meets and over 40 road shows across 20 districts provided an enormous opportunity to closely engage with the farmers. Nearly 5000 customers were reached through these extensive initiatives. Free service camps with health check-ups were organised across 9 major districts by Karnaphuli, Mahindra’s distributor partner in Bangladesh. This effort was successful as it reached out to over 340+ participants. Specialised tractor training was given to over 100 mechanics and 140 drivers across 8 key districts which played an important role in improving their skill sets.
The Samriddhi Utsav, a Mega Customer Connect campaign, was kick-started by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s Farm Equipment Sector (FES), a part of the Mahindra Group, together with the Karnaphuli, its tractor distributor partner to promote Arjun NOVO and provide agri-counselling. It was spread across 20 districts covering over 300 villages with the aim to deliver farm-tech prosperity to farmers in Bangladesh. Sanjay Jadhav, Vice President, Head of International Operations – AFS (South Asia), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “Mahindra is the World’s No.1 tractor brand by volumes, with a vision to become the pioneer in providing technology-driven farming solutions to farmers across the countries.” A.K. Sarkar, Executive Director of Karnaphuli Ltd. said, “It’s a first of its kind mega customer connect event in Bangladesh and we want to extend our care and concern to the agrarian heroes – our farmers – with the latest technology.” This event got substantial media mileage with leading newspapers covering it. Taking the visionary approach, liaisons were forged with local agricultural bodies to promote farm mechanisation. As more and more people become favourably inclined towards the idea of farm mechanisation, farming will transform into a more prosperous occupation.
DIMO Agri gave Mahindra tractors the marketing push by holding a demonstration of 595 tractors and initiating a mega promotional campaign during the festive season. The promo upped the excitement around the tractors amongst the farmers. DIMO made dedicated efforts to capitalise on the current upswing in the industry growth rate which has made everyone very optimistic.
This quarter, Service Managers, Workshop Managers and Dealers’ Technicians got a quick refresher course on all the models including the recently launched 6560 2WD and 4WD models at the Product Champion Training Program.
It was a 10-day program (1st February 2016 – 12th February 2016) which was attended by 7 enthusiastic participants, 6 from Nepal and 1 from Afghanistan. Held at the Mahindra Excellence Centre, Nagpur, the training was organised by Mr. Prashant Mahamuni (Asst. Manager, Customer Care – IO), and conducted by Mr. D. N. Kale (Asst. Manager – MEC) from the Nagpur plant.
The training included in-depth presentations on the features and functioning of all the models. Participants were given information on how the tractor needs to be installed, its maintenance schedule, dismantling of various tractor aggregates and reassembling along with a demonstration of critical settings. Also, there was an extensive session on how to troubleshoot complaints received on different tractors. Their electric circuit and critical components were explained as well.
A plant visit was made part of the program to demonstrate the hi-tech manufacturing facilities there. To give the participants a hands-on experience they were made to drive the tractors with various implements on field. During the driving session, the participants got trained on the critical settings of the different implements.
At the end of the training program, there was a Certificate Distribution ceremony which was graced by Mr. Soumitra Choudhary (DGM – MEC, Nagpur). Along with their certificates, the participants were handed over training material and promotional items. The program proved to be advantageous with participants getting thoroughly updated on the tractors.
Agni Incorporated dedicated a week in the month of February to interacting closely with customers and reinforcing their confidence in the Mahindra brand. They did so by organising Free Service Camps across 5 locations in Nepal, namely Rajapur, Bhurigaun, Gulariya, Kohalpur and Nepalgunj.
During the service camps, dealer representatives and technicians diagnosed and solved technical problems relating to the tractors and also made genuine spare parts available to the customers at a discounted price. Customers were also given the provision of door-to-door service and free health check-up for the drivers at specified locations. Sessions were organised to give customers information on the importance of safe driving, effective use of implements and demonstrate the working of a tractor.
The service camps proved to be a fruitful exercise with over 90,000 tractors being attended to and close to 50 units of spares and lubes being consumed. With this activity, Agni Incorporated enabled customers to take good care of one of their most prized possessions – their tractors.
In the face of the strengthening Indo-African business relationships, Mahindra made a definitive effort to set the stage for increased collaboration in the field of agriculture.
Top level Mahindra representatives met key government officials from Zanzibar in India to have an in-depth discussion on the total agribusiness solution capability of the Mahindra Group. Mr. Ashok Sharma, President & CE (Agri, Africa & South Asia) accompanied by Mr. Sandesh Parab, General Manager & Zonal Head and Mr. Subrato Ghosh, Manager, Sales – East Africa shared qualitative and quantitative information about the various aspects of the company with Hon. Dr. Sira Ubwa Mamboya, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Mohamed Ramia Abdiwawa (Ambassador), Adviser to the His Excellency, The President of Zanzibar, Mr. Affan Othman Maalim, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Omar Hassan Omar, Accountant General, The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar and Mr. Mohd Omar Mohd, Mechanical Engineer. Forming the foundation of productive discussions were presentations on Mahindra Samruddhi as well as Farm Mechanization, EPC case studies on rice productivity improvement and the roadmap on tractors.
This conclave was undoubtedly a stepping stone to the future progress of both the continents.
In February, Mr. Parambir Singh, Manager, Customer Care – North Africa, visited Algeria to conduct after sales training. GDMS portal, product training, field visit, interaction with customers relating to product issues were some of the topics covered during this training session. It was a well-rounded session which proved highly beneficial for all the participants.
Mr. Singh also visited customers having tractor models 8000 4WD, 7030 4WD, 705 DI and 7005 DI in Tizi Azouou for some after sales relationship building.
Mahindra & Mahindra has been consolidating its footprints in the African continent over a period of time, taking brand Mahindra to new heights and parallely contributing significantly to the African growth story.
Mr. Ashok Sharma, President (Agri and Africa & South Asia Operations), MD and CEO of MASL and Member of Group Executive Board, recently visited Algeria. Mr. Sharma’s visit was one more step in realising the company’s aspiration of becoming a leading player in the Algeria tractor industry. “We are working towards this goal and have a strategy of growing along with our partners, who understand the local market”, said Mr. Sharma. His two day visit began with a warm welcome by Mr. Azouaou, Mahindra’s distributor in Algeria. During his visit, Mr. Sharma packed in a lot of interactions with the distributor’s team, important dealers, media, government officials and bankers.
“In Algeria, we are working on setting up a state-of-the-art assembly plant for Mahindra tractors through our distributor partner M/s Eurl LD Azouaou. The assembly plant once operational in July 2016 will have the latest and modern tractors being rolled out. This will also result in generation of local employment and will become a sustainable module for agri mechanisation by boosting automation in agriculture”, informed Mr. Sharma in one of his media briefings. “We are not only looking at growing our tractor business but also providing end-to-end solutions in the agri business to the farmers by leveraging the group strengths and synergies. We are now focusing on capacity building across the agri value chain — from activities like agronomy and soil testing; to pesticides, micro-irrigation and farm mechanisation”, he added.
With such foresight and determination, Mr. Sharma is sure to successfully take forward the achievements of Mahindra & Mahindra that has been working with African farming community for more than two decades now. It’s one of the major manufacturers, and among the few in the world that have helped set up tractor assembly facilities in Africa and made consistent efforts to fuel growth in the continent that urgently needs to realise its agriculture economy’s full potential.