Mahindra Rolls Out Krish-e Digital Era Technology Centres In Karnataka

* Krish-e - Mahindra’s new ‘Farming as a Service’ (FaaS) business kicks off a digital era in Indian agriculture.

* Offers farmers a wide variety of technology-driven services customised to crops and stages in the crop cycle.

* Leverages the power of Agronomy, Mechanisation and Digitisation to raise farmers’ income per acre of land. 

* Roll out of the first set of Krish-e centres in Karnataka to offer Agronomy, Equipment Rental and Digitisation services, supported by three farmer facing apps – Krish-e, Krish-e Rental and Krish-e Nidaan

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES), a part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, today rolled out Krish-e Centres in Jamkhandi, Mysore, Bijapur, Bidar and Gulbarga in Karnataka as part of Mahindra’s new ‘Farming as a Service’ business.

With the tag line – ‘Expert Takneek. Naye Upay. Parinaam Dikhaye’ – Krish-e is a business vertical that provides technology driven services which 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 farming costs and improving crop output and consequently the farmer’s income.

In addition to Karnataka, Krish-e centres are now operational across all major states of India including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Commenting on this historic launch, Hemant Sikka – President, Farm Equipment Sector (FES), M&M Ltd. said. “Although investments and technological innovations in agriculture have improved output levels in India, productivity and farm incomes have great scope for further improvement. At Mahindra, we want to do our part by making a difference in the way farming is done. With an increase in farmers’ incomes as the core focus, our vision is to provide technology at competitive costs to Indian farmers and thereby enable them to Rise!”

Mr. Sikka further added “We are happy that Krish-e is rolling out its centres in Karnataka in the 75th year of the Mahindra Group. Krish-e is an innovative new business vertical conceived with the idea of ushering in a new digital age of farming in India. It aims to transform the lives of farmers, by helping them adopt better more effective farming techniques powered by AI, IoT and digital solutions that are affordable and accessible paving the way for increased productivity and profitability. Through Krish-e, we at Mahindra are engaging with our farmers more deeply and creating stronger relationships.”

Ramesh Ramachandran – Senior Vice President, FES Strategy & FaaS, M&M Ltd., said, “Krish-e is already making a difference to farming outcomes through its services which amalgamate agronomy, mechanisation and digitisation. Through Krish-e, we have already impacted over 1 lakh farmers, with solutions tailored to demonstrate impact on cultivation costs, crop health and productivity. Krish-e currently has approximately 1,900 demo plots, where we work alongside farmers to showcase visible impact through a combination of agronomy inputs and advanced mechanisation solutions. Through Krish-e, we are working to create a nation of Champion Farmers.” 

Kicking off a Digital Era in Farming

Krish-e will leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to benefit the farming ecosystem and bring the power of precision farming to farmers, affordably and in an accessible manner. To enable this, M&M has made strategic investments across the globe including in Resson – a Canadian predictive analytics company, Gamaya – a Swiss hyperspectral image analytics company and Carnot – an Indian AI enabled Agri IoT company.

Krish-e Precision Farming solutions use a variety of sensors and cameras on the farm, on drones, on satellites and on farm equipment to collect soil, crop and machine data. AI algorithms transform this data into user friendly and insight rich field maps, enabling farmers and agronomists to run variable rate farming operations, using intelligent machines. Such operations are already helping potato, grape and sugarcane farmers reduce their costs of cultivation and improve their yields. 

Krish-e has launched three apps to deliver advisory and rental services in a differentiated and farmer focused manner. Advisory services are crop specific and farm specific. They include a customised and dynamic crop calendar and real time diagnosis and resolution of pest & diseases.

The rental app leverages an AI powered IoT kit that tracks equipment and work performed. Targeted at rental entrepreneurs with a fleet of equipment, the kit is designed to be Plug and Play, intuitive to use and extremely affordable. Already used by almost 2,000 rental entrepreneurs, the kit increases the efficiency and profitability of rental operations.

These three apps are available as Krish-e, Krish-e Rental and Krish-e Nidaan to download from the Google Play store.

About Mahindra

The Mahindra Group is a USD 19.4 billion federation of companies that enables people to rise through innovative mobility solutions, driving rural prosperity, enhancing urban living, nurturing new businesses and fostering communities. It enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume.  It also enjoys a strong presence in renewable energy, agribusiness, logistics and real estate development. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,56,000 people across 100 countries.