An Indian company has launched an ultra-cheap, ‘inverter tractor’ — a multi-purpose vehicle used as a tractor for agri-operations with an in-built battery system to generate electricity, helping farmers light up their homes at night. The inverter can also power other items such as a cell phone charger.
“More than 40% of the Indian population, or approximately 1,250,000 villages have no access to reliable electricity,” said Rohtash Mal, CEO of Escorts Limited Agri Machinery Group — India’s leading tractor maker.Existing energy options such as diesel generator sets and kerosene lanterns are too expensive for rural communities.
“Power is critical to creating a new reality for rural Indians and it is our endeavour to enable rural India by providing technology that not only helps increase agri yields but also provide them with modern energy services that are financially viable,” said Mal.
“Now farmers do not have to dismantle the system to charge the battery as the system enables the batteries to charge automatically when the tractor is in use thus providing comfort, ease of operations and increased performance to the farming community, said Mal.
The inverter tractor also comes with a no-load auto shut down feature which protects power consumption of the battery when not in use. The technology is currently deployed on Escorts’ popular models Powertrac 434 (PT 434) and Powertrac 439 (PT 439) and will be later introduced in other Powertrac and Farmtrac variants, he said.
