2018-02-15 Thu

The tractor is the best friend of a farmer; it is used in ploughing, harrowing, sowing and transportation. This machine has nearly lowered the efforts of our farmers making their work more easy and fast. Tractors are not commonly seen in the cities but these giant red colour machines attract our eyes whenever seen. As farmer’s best friend and the helper, ‘tractor’ has gained the popularity since the time India got its Independence.

In 1892, the idea of first gasoline tractor was put forth and designed by US engineer John Froelich with the forward and reverse gears. However, the most commercial-successful tractor was built by Dan Albone in 1901. In the time period, the tractor went through various changes.

India in the mid-1940’s used to import tractors for land cultivations and constructions. The local production began in 1961 with five manufacturing companies in India. In 2000, India became the world’s largest producer of tractors, leaving the USA behind. In 2013, nearly 6,19,000 tractors were produced in India, covering 29% of worlds output. We have currently 16 domestic and 4 multinational co-operations manufacturing tractors.

1960 to 2018, India has made an outstanding progress in terms of producing this farmer friendly machine. This increase in the production not only shows the power of the machine but indirectly highlights the growth of Agriculture since decades. India also ranks second in the world in the farm output.

India Post issued two stamps, one in 1955 and another 1985 having the face value of 3 Piesand 25 Paisa respectively depicting the tractor as the central theme.

The story of a tractor from its invention to today is mesmerizing! Isn’t it?