Small Farmers Get Shared Access to Machines Through Custom Hiring Centres

Small and marginal farmers often need machines for short periods but cannot justify buying expensive equipment for individual farms. Custom Hiring Centres offer another option. Farmers can access machinery when required and pay for its use instead of bearing the full cost of purchasing and maintaining every machine.

In February 2026, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research opened a Custom Hiring Centre at the Tekmal Mandal Farmers Producer Cooperative Society in Telangana’s Medak district. The centre was established with support from the ICICI Foundation and is expected to initially benefit around 500–700 member farmers.

Farmers can use machines without buying them

A Custom Hiring Centre works much like a shared machinery facility. Instead of each farmer purchasing a planter, tiller, harvester or other equipment, the centre keeps machines that farmers can hire for their field operations.

This model can be useful for small farms where machinery remains idle for much of the year. A farmer may need a machine only during sowing or harvesting, making individual ownership difficult to justify.

The Tekmal centre was created specifically to improve access to farm mechanisation for small and marginal farmers. ICAR said the centre will allow members of the Farmer Producer Organisation to access agricultural machinery that many individual farmers may not be able to afford.

Machinery can also reduce labour pressure

Farm labour shortages have increased the need for smaller and more suitable machines. ICAR’s agricultural engineering programme lists machinery for activities ranging from land preparation and planting to weeding and other field operations. Its technologies include millet planters, direct-sowing equipment, multi-crop planters and animal-drawn implements.

In February, ICAR’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Ramgarh, Jharkhand, also organised a farm mechanisation fair focused on connecting marginal and women farmers with machinery and women-friendly agricultural implements. The programme aimed to reduce the physical workload involved in farm operations.

This matters for farmers who depend heavily on manual labour. Access to the right machine at the right time can help complete operations within a shorter window, particularly during sowing and harvesting.

FPOs can make machinery sharing easier

Farmer Producer Organisations can play a role in running such centres because several farmers can use the same equipment. This spreads the cost across a larger group and can improve machine utilisation.

ICAR has reported a wider push towards farm mechanisation. Its recent achievements include 278 new machines, equipment and technologies developed for farm mechanisation and post-harvest operations. It also reported 37,104 machine prototypes fabricated and distributed for testing and field use.

The model also creates scope for local rural businesses. A properly managed centre needs people who can schedule machines, operate and maintain equipment, train farmers and manage repairs.

For farmers, the main question is not whether they own a machine. It is whether they can get the right machine when the crop needs it.

Custom Hiring Centres can offer that access without forcing every small farmer to make a large upfront purchase. Their success will depend on the machines available, reasonable hiring charges, timely service and proper maintenance.

The Tekmal centre is one example of this shared approach. If similar centres expand through FPOs and farmer groups, small farmers could gain wider access to machinery while avoiding the cost of individual ownership.