Farmers’ groups question new tractor emission norms

As an expert committee appointed by the Union government, headed by agricultural scientist and academic Indra Mani, recommended ‘Tractor Emission Norms (TREM) Stage V’ from October 1, 2026, farmers’ organisations urged the Centre not to treat tractors as commercial vehicles.

In a meeting with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here on Monday, they said stricter emission norms should apply only to tractors above 70 horsepower (HP), which are often used for non-agricultural purposes.

Mr. Chouhan convened the consultation with farmers, tractor-tiller industry representatives, scientists and officers of various government departments for discussing the report prepared by Prof. Mani. Farmers expressed concern that most of the tractor brands they used may not fall within the TREM Stage V norms, and urged the Centre for the relaxation of the norms. The industries had also earlier requested that tractors below 50 HP could be exempted from following the proposed norms. The sale of tractors had posted an increase in the last two months.

Talking to The Hindu after the meeting, Samyukt Kisan Morcha-Non Political (SKM-NP) leader Dharmerndra Malik said the meeting discussed recommendations of the expert committee and said Mr. Chouhan too agreed that tractors used by farmers could not be compared with commercial vehicles.

“The Minister asked the officers to carry out a detailed assessment of the pollution levels caused by tractors used by farmers, and compare it with the emissions of other vehicles. We were told that the Agriculture Ministry will provide an opinion after this report,” Mr. Malik said.

The SKM-NP and other farmers’ organisations opposed TREM-IV and TREM-V emission norms for tractors as they may severely increase economic burdens and hardships for farmers, they said. “The new emission regulations would compel farmers to buy new tractors, and it would add to their debt. The only beneficiaries will be manufacturers,” Mr. Malik said. “We agree that strict emission norms are appropriate for tractors above 70 HP, which are mostly used for commercial or industrial purposes. But smaller farmers using lower HP tractors should not be affected,” he said in his presentation before the meeting.

Crop insurance

In another meeting, where Mr. Chouhan interacted virtually with some groups of farmers from Maharashtra, the issues related to claim payments under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana came up. Mr. Chouhan said farmers would not be troubled under any circumstances. “Receiving claims of ₹1, ₹3, ₹5, or ₹21 is a mockery of farmers, and the government will not allow this to continue,” the Minister said. Mr. Chouhan ordered an investigation into the issue and gave instructions to insurance companies and officials that claims must be paid quickly and simultaneously. “The damage assessment must be done through an accurate system, and he instructed officials to make necessary amendments to the scheme provisions to remove inconsistencies,” a government release said.