03 February 2021, Mumbai, IN: Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector, India’s leading tractor manufacturer and part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group announced the winners of the inaugural Krish-e Champion Awards on 30th January 2021. These awards take forward the spirit of the Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards (MSIAA) that were instituted in 2011. At the first edition of the Krish-e Champion Awards, 10 national awards were presented to winners in 4 categories.
A biannual event, aligned with the Kharif and Rabi seasons, the Krish-e Champion Awards recognize and felicitate individual farmers as well as institutions who have risen above the ordinary by accepting no limits, thinking innovatively & driving positive change in the agriculture sector. Through the Krish-e Champion Awards, Mahindra aims to inspire millions of farmers and agripreneurs to build a promising future for the country.
Farmers from 29 Krish-e centres of India participated in the regional round of the Krish-e Champion Awards, with the Regional Award winners nominated for the National Awards in the categories of: Takneek Champion, Mahila Kisan Champion, Yuva Kisan Champion and Rental Partner Champion awards.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Hemant Sikka, President, Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said “Taking forward the strong tradition of felicitating change-makers at the ground level and in a bid to build further on the huge success of the erstwhile Samriddhi Awards we are now pleased to launch the Krish-e Champion Awards. This builds on the legacy of nearly a decade of celebrating farmers and we are confident that these awards will inspire the champion farmers of tomorrow and accelerate the pace of change to India’s agri sector.”
According to Mr. Ramesh Ramachandran, Senior Vice President, FES Strategy & FaaS, M&M Ltd., “We launched the Krish-e brand to make a difference to farming outcomes by offering farming services that bring the benefits of superior agronomy, mechanization and digitization. To date Krish-e has increased the yield of farmers by upto 15%, brought down the cost of farming by about 8% -12% and increased profit by upto Rs 6000 rupees per acre. This reflects the passion of those progressive farmers who have adopted new practices to improve their outcomes. The Krish-e Champion Awards celebrate the progress of these farmers who took this first and very important step with us.”
Carrying the tag line – ‘Expert Takneek. Naye Upay. Parinaam Dikhaye’ – Krish-e is Mahindra and Mahindra’s Farming as a Service (FaaS) business vertical. Krish-e provides technology driven services that are progressive, affordable and accessible to farmers. Krish-e aims to increase farmer income through digitally enabled services, across the complete crop cycle. These include agronomy advisory, access to advanced farm equipment rentals and new-age precision farming solutions, all focused on bringing down overall costs and improving crop output and thereby farmer’s income.
Several Mahindra dealerships now house Krish-e centres, offering the farmers easy access to services such as advice on scientific practices, soil testing facilities, demonstration plots, equipment rental solutions and precision farming solutions along with the sales of crop inputs like seeds and chemicals, drip irrigation equipment as well as the sales and servicing of tractors, harvesters and other farm equipment.
National Winners of the Krish-e Champion Awards are as follows:
