Mahindra & Mahindra is focusing on inorganic growth opportunities in the farm equipment space by endorsing clean and green technology. The automaker picked up a 20 per cent stake in the Indian-arm of US-based Vayugrid Marketplace Services last week for Rs 1 crore essentially to create a business model whereby farmers can ensure better productivity and offtake, Pawan Goenka, president of automotive and farm equipment business at M&M, told FC. Vayugrid’s core area of business is contract farming and promoting alternative energies to the rural community — helping farmers to get access to energy to drive productivity and thereby create wealth. In India, Vayugrid is headquartered in Bangalore while in Pune, it has 1,000 acres of farm and agricultural land under cultivation for farmers. “Vayugrid has a business model that ties in very closely to what we want to do in the longer term in our farm equipment business –create opportunities and give knowledge to farmers to make them able to manage their crops much better, get better productivity, thereby guaranteeing a better offtake,” Goenka said. […]