JFarm

Established in 1964, alongside the establishment of the company, on a barren, marginally rain-fed scrub land near Chennai, JFarm is an adaptive agri-research centre spread over 200 acres of land, dedicated to the memory of the Amalgamation Group’s founder, Mr. S. Anantharamakrishnan. TAFE's Product Training Centre – a nationally recognized centre by the country's leading agricultural universities is also located in this facility. JFarm demonstrates how traditional, labour intensive, low productivity farming can be transformed into a profitable enterprise through the adoption of an integrated farming approach. Through this approach, an increase in farm income is achieved by integrating various agricultural practices such as multiple cropping, animal husbandry, agro-forestry, orchard farming and other innovative practices. Integrated farming takes a balanced approach to nutrient management by emphasizing the optimal utilization of resources, recycling of waste for productive purposes and low cost in farm input creation supported by mechanization, proven soil and water management practices, appropriate crop and seed selection, advanced crop production and protection technologies. The propagation of this approach for adoption by small and medium farmers has made a significant impact on making these farms feasible business enterprises.

JFarm's support to the farming community has included the launch of large varieties of rice; the notable ones being J13 - a super fine rice variety, J66 - an ultra-short duration variety, J18 - a super fine organic variety, JR21 and JR22 - high yielding varieties, and the successful model implementation of dry cultivation of mango. These varieties have found wide-scale adoption across hundreds of thousands of acres of farm land. JFarm has supported farmers by providing farm advisory services using radio, television, news articles, publications and farm journals, participation in seminars and symposia by government institutions and personal interaction through farm visits and farmer visits to JFarm. It has also established and manages a multilingual portal for the benefit of farmers. It disseminates valuable information on pests and diseases, cultivation of medicinal and aromatic crops, forest trees, trends in the use of farm implements and equipment, rainfall data etc.

Manned by a team of dedicated scientists and agricultural economists, JFarm has made a transformational impact across a large section of small and marginal farmers in the country.

In more recent years, JFarm has concentrated on organic farming in line with its focus on sustainable agriculture through an emphasis on soil conservation, use of natural inputs, long-term productivity, increased farm income, health and well-being.

The Product Training Centre, which is one of the earliest institutions of its kind in India, offers multilingual training in operation and maintenance of farm machinery and tractors, both at JFarm as well as on the field through classroom sessions, workshops and field training for farmers, mechanics and students from agriculture universities. The Product Training Centre currently trains around 10,000 people on an annual basis.