Increasing cost of cultivation in most parts of India has led to the realisation that mechanisation of farm operations is one of the ways to tackle it as mechanical solutions are more efficient as well as cost effective compared with human labour based activities in most situations. However, given small farm dominance of Indian agriculture, it is not possible and viable for small farmers to own farm machinery and equipment for its use. Therefore, what they need is access to it, and not ownership. This has led to a new phenomenon of custom rental services of farm machinery and equipment in many parts of India by a range of players like co-operatives, private entrepreneurs, organised sector players and even producer companies. In this context of changing landscape of farm mechanisation, the paper examines the small holder inclusiveness of agro machinery rental service channels and the nature and the level of their effectiveness in helping the farmers access better services. It compares the performance of co-operative, private organised and local informal service providers in Punjab and identifies major issues and challenges in delivery of such services across types of farmers and examines the possible policy and enabling provisions to promote cost and quality effective custom rentals of farm machinery in India.
