Last reviewed 1 Oct 2026 · Facts as of 1 Oct 2026 · 8 min read
Farm-power and machinery numbers are published with a lag and revised. National values below are rounded, dated reference points or targets; Odisha figures are given qualitatively and marked (verify) wherever the exact number is not firmly known. Check ICAR–CIAE (Bhopal), the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Agricultural Census Input Survey, and Tractor and Mechanization Association (TMA) data before quoting.
Sources of farm power
| Source | Examples | Typical power per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Farm workers (men, women) | About 0.05–0.1 kW (sustained work); 0.1 kW is often used per worker |
| Animal (draught) | Bullocks, buffaloes, camels, horses, mules, donkeys | About 0.4–0.5 kW per animal (roughly 0.5–0.7 hp; the value used depends on the animal and the data source) |
| Mechanical | Tractors, power tillers, combine harvesters, engines (diesel), reapers, threshers | Tractor: 15–75 kW (20–100 hp); power tiller: 5–10 kW |
| Electrical | Electric motors for irrigation pumps, dairy, threshers, processing | Pump: 2.2–7.5 kW (3–10 hp) |
| Renewable/other | Solar pumps, wind, biogas engines | Small but growing |
Trend: over the decades the share of animal and human power has fallen, and mechanical and electrical power have become the main farm power sources — mechanisation has risen steadily since the Green Revolution. (Typical statements: mechanical + electrical power now provide the great majority of farm power, with animal power only a small share — verify the exact split in the latest CIAE/ICAR report.)
Farm power availability — definition
(The cultivated area may be the net sown area or the gross cropped area — note which one a source uses, because the value changes.)
Total power for human, animal, tractor, power tiller, electric motor/pump, diesel engine and other machines, with a utilisation factor in some studies.
A district has a cultivated area of 40,000 ha with:
| Source | Number | Power per unit | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tractors | 800 | 30 kW | 24,000 kW |
| Power tillers | 2,000 | 8 kW | 16,000 kW |
| Draught animals | 6,000 | 0.4 kW | 2,400 kW |
| Electric pump sets | 5,000 | 3.7 kW (5 hp) | 18,500 kW |
| Total | 60,900 kW |
Farm power availability . Share of mechanical + electrical power . (Adding human power, say 20,000 workers at 0.1 kW kW, would raise the total to 62,900 kW and the availability to 1.57 kW/ha.)
Why it matters
- Timeliness of operations, higher cropping intensity, yield (a positive link of farm power to productivity), reduction of drudgery, labour saving as labour becomes scarce and costly. Agricultural productivity correlates with farm power availability across states.
- A level of about 2–3 kW/ha has been considered a target for India, with some states (Punjab, Haryana) far above 4 kW/ha and eastern and north-eastern states much lower.