| Advocacy and Rural Mechanization in India |
From our earlier work in India we noticed that small farmers
there were paying over 2 times the amount of money for two-wheel
tractors than Nepalese or Bangladeshi farmers. We found several
factors for this. One the Indian made two-wheel tractors Kamco
and VST were tie-ups with Japanese manufactueres Kubota and
Mitsubishi and therefore products were prices similarly as
they were in Japan. The Chinese 2-wheel tractor importers,
mostly congregated in Kolkata area, did face high tarrif charges
upwards to 25% but their prices were nearly the same as the
Japanese (2000 USD) as compared to half the price in nieghboring
Bangladesh. With a bit more investigation it became appearant
they charged higher prices simpl because they could as there
was few importers and high demand. And lasty as several importers
related the prices were higher because the Government of India
had put a subsidy on the power tillers which manufacturers
and importers alike took as an opertunity to push the price
up even higher. NAEF held a meeting in Kolkata in June 2003
of manufacturers and importers to: 1) see if they would like
to create an association of importers and manufacturers; and
2) look for ways to reduce the costs of two wheel tractors
for the farmers to similar levels in nearby Bangladesh and
Nepal. See report on this meeting below. Though these specific
efforts generally failed there is still an informal network
of information sharing supported by NAEF of importers and
manufacturers. Though these contacts we are finding that retail
prices are falling mostly due to increased competition.
Report
of of June 2003 Meeting Kolkata
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