Press release - India

35000+ tons of harvest in a season is a new record

2022-08-29

As most of you might be aware, sugarcane harvesting in the field, transporting it to the factory, crushing it, and producing the Sugar is a seasonal job. The demand for Sugar is ever-increasing. Hence, the mechanization of this activity will lead to high productivity, bring speed, and offer a reliable sugarcane harvesting solution. This story is about driving change, bringing prosperity to the customers, and fulfilling sustainable ambitions through mechanizing Indian agriculture through our Volvo Penta engines.

About Shakthiman

Above all, in a vast country like India with hugely polarized living standards, there are many challenges faced by our farmers. Uncertain weather conditions, non-availability of labor, lack of adequate information, and limited access to technology. There is a general lack of awareness among local farmers about new concepts of farm mechanization. Thus, offering them solutions that help productivity is significant. Shaktiman is a company that manufactures Agricultural equipment in Rajkot, Gujarat. In 2016, they developed the sugarcane harvester TEJAS powered by Volvo Penta – TAD551VE rated at 175Hp. This mighty harvester picks, chops, cleans and converts sugar cane into billets for processing at sugar mills.

The Tejas harvester is a tough worker in all field conditions. Employing the Volvo Penta engine means Shaktiman can pass on power and fuel economy benefits to many end customers in various regions of India. In addition, Volvo Penta engine service intervals, i.e., oil and filter change, is half of those of other competitor engines in the same application, which led to increased uptime of the machine. Tejas can be utilized continuously for 15 to 18 hours a day during the peak season without hassle. In simple terms, farmers and end users invest less in diesel, oil, and filters and get even more productivity with the Tejas, powered by Volvo Penta Engine.

The states of Maharashtra and Karnataka produce the highest sugar cane, and we have 250 Tejas machines in operation in these areas. This year, we expect to supply many more Volvo Penta engines to power Shakthiman Tejas. This machine, even with its premium price, is flourishing as it scores high on Total cost of operation, meaning the highest productivity and fuel efficiency. Also, these machines are supported by customized service market solutions by Volvo Penta and Shaktiman, creating customer delight!

Celebration of record harvesting of 35000 tons by Tejas

Shaktiman (Tirth Agro) had recently organized an event to celebrate the record-breaking harvest by the Tejas machine in one season. This event felicitated its customers and their team for using the machine to its maximum capacity and proving the benefits of mechanization. During this milestone event, customers set a benchmark of harvesting 35000+ tonnes along with 10+ customer teams harvesting more than 25000 tons of sugarcane in a season using Tejas machine powered by Volvo Penta D5 engine were felicitated by Shaktiman. On average sugarcane, harvesters can harvest up to 20000 tons in a season, but this time it is a record-breaking year for the farmers.

Shaktiman Management Team had invited the Volvo Penta team, represented by - Miron Thoms, Vice President & Head of Volvo Penta India, R Sethumadhavan, Director of Industrial Segment, and Vikram Kate, Business Development, and our dealer partners. The event was graced by 1200+ customers/ farmers, Sugar mill owners from Maharashtra and Karnataka. The program was hugely successful for Shaktiman and secured orders for new machines to support the upcoming harvesting season.

Later, Shaktiman and the Volvo Penta Management Team traveled to various customer locations in Latur, Beed, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad. The farmers (customers) were happy to welcome management teams of both organizations and genuinely shared feedback on Tejas machines and the Volvo Penta engine. The Farmer's expectation of service support requirements is well received and an action point of the service touch point close to the customer is already initiated by the Volvo Penta team at Latur, Kolhapur, and Ahmednagar.

Miron Thoms and R Sethumadhavan concluded this visit as highly successful and expressed “Customer success is one of our values, and we listen and talk to the customer to understand the requirement and implement them to create happiness!”

Here are a few quotes from our customers from the farming community

"I am so obsessed with the brand Volvo, and finally I own it in some form (Volvo Penta engine in Tejas Harvester)

"Whenever we want to buy a harvester next time, we will ensure a Volvo Penta engine powers it."

"We are waiting to buy a harvester with a Volvo Penta BS4 engine."