M&M's Krish-e has redefined the art of bonding with farmers

The effort to boost farm incomes through a unique sense of collaboration driven by technology is paying off rich dividends for the tractor maker. Ramesh Ramachandran, Senior Vice-President (Farming as a Service), Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, tells Murali Gopalan how Krish-e came into being and why he is bullish on its prospects.

- Murali Gopalan

Its definitions are diverse ranging from a digital tool that helps farmers increase their yield right up to farming as a service business. However, from Ramesh Ramachandran’s point of view, Krish-e means a lot more.

“It is a brand that was born with a purpose. So, we are not sort of floating around trying to attach ourselves to some cause — we were born with the purpose and when all these entities came together, we defined what Krish-e stands for as a service, to improve farmers’ income per acre. So we single mindedly focused ourselves on that and that is where the brand exists,” says Mahindra & Mahindra's Senior Vice-President (Farming as a Service), Farm Equipment Sector.

And what then are all these entities whose fusion led to Krish-e? Ramachandran rewinds a bit to explain this in greater detail. He admits that “agriculture was fascinating” as a subject when he first took charge at M&M seven years ago after a long stint overseas. He realised that there was a “huge opportunity” for improvement in the farm sector where the company could participate by way of bringing in more creative operating models and technologies.

“The first few years in Mahindra, before Krish-e actually began, were interesting because it was about making the farm equipment sector much more alive to these possibilities. When I came in 2015, it was not all that switched on to new technology,” recalls Ramachandran.