Today we’d like to introduce you to Praveen Penmetsa.
Hi Praveen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Hello. Thank you for having me and yes, I’m Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and co-founder at Monarch Tractor, a company that makes the MK-V fully electric, driver-optional smart tractor. Background on myself, I grew up in India and come from a long family line of rice farmers, where my dad moved to the city from the village having leased our family farms. From there, my career path took me toward automobile transportation (I studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati) and later to electric and autonomous vehicles.
In 2013, while visiting India, I came to realize that electric and autonomous technology could be used for tractors and ultimately benefit not just farmers but impact the world we live in. I put together a world-class team of tech, automotive, and agriculture experts to focus on providing the latest and greatest tools for farmers and help make farmers more profitable and farming sustainable by bringing to market a truly groundbreaking tractor, the MK-V, that is electric, autonomous, and smart, and stands to transform farming as we know it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As in any transformational endeavor, there have been many challenges from solving the technology challenges that enable a no-compromise electric autonomous tractor for farmers to ensuring that the technology we are developing is affordable for farmers while providing tremendous value and convincing investors that agriculture is worth investing into. That being said, we stand here today having overcome a number of those challenges and now are focused on scaling the technology and gaining the trust of the farming and agriculture community. Education of how our tractor can not only increase profits for the farmer but also make the farm more sustainable is another challenge. While most conventional farmers would like to adopt sustainable practices, traditionally, it comes at a higher cost that they aren’t willing/able to take. Monarch Tractor not only bridges the economic gap between organic and conventional farming but also solves the carbon footprint associated with organic farming by being 100% electric.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Monarch Tractor is the industry’s smartest, fully electric autonomous tractor. It offers an industry-first trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis that results in maximum value from a farmer’s perspective, helping to cut their carbon footprint, improve field safety, streamline farming operations, and increase their bottom lines. Monarch Tractor is disrupting traditional farm technology as we know it. In addition to being 100% electric and driver-optional, Monarch has incorporated cutting-edge technology and deep learning capabilities not found on any other tractor. The tractor’s deep learning and sensing suite provides actionable intelligence that can be used for increased precision and efficiency in the fields. The Monarch Tractor can be trained to carry out various tasks autonomously and can be integrated with additional implements and technologies, resulting in an around-the-clock operation that ultimately frees farmers from traditional laborious tasks and instead allows them to expand their responsibilities and increase productivity. The end result is a more productive, precise, and profitable sustainable farming operation that benefits all of us.
We’re especially proud of consistent farmer feedback that Monarch Tractor could become a vital part of a farmer’s successful farming operation and be a game-changer by offering solutions to their key challenges, like reducing their environmental impact and making farming safer.
Monarch Tractor is meeting farming’s most pressing needs. The tractor was built for today’s farmers looking to maximize profitability in the face of numerous challenges, including labor shortages, effects of climate change, safety concerns, increased customer scrutiny for sustainability demands, government regulations, and more. Monarch Tractor addresses these issues by combining electrification, automation, machine learning, and data analysis to enhance farmers’ existing operations, increase labor productivity and safety, and maximize yields while cutting overhead costs.
Monarch Tractor is reducing farming’s carbon footprint. Annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture production are estimated between 5.0 – 5.8 gigatons of CO2 equivalent per year. The average diesel tractor alone produces roughly 14 times the CO2 emissions as the average car. Monarch Tractor helps cut greenhouse gasses, improving air quality not just on the farm but also the surrounding community and beyond. Monarch’s autonomous capabilities are also environmentally friendly. Farmers have the flexibility to conduct more passes and engage in more organic farming practices like under-the-vine weed management, reducing herbicide use. By being all-electric, farmers can utilize these organic farming practices without worrying about the increase in greenhouse gas emissions associated with more tractor driving during mechanical weed management.
Monarch Tractor is making farming safer. The tractor is packed with unparalleled safety features, including artificial intelligence, roll, and collision prevention, vision-based Power Take-Off safety, and 360° cameras to keep operations running smoothly and employees safe, day or night.
Monarch Tractor’s 360° vision systems can stop at a moment’s notice if someone or something were to come in its path, making it a safer tractor period, with or without a driver.
Monarch Tractor is supported by leading ag equipment companies and technology companies ranging from CNH Industrial, the world’s second-largest tractor manufacturer to Trimble, a large software, sensor, and data provider for farms.
We’ve recently announced a partnership with Foxconn to manufacture our award-winning tractors in Lordstown, Ohio. Foxconn is the world’s largest consumer electronic contract manufacturer and solutions provider, and with its seasoned team of experts and a world-class manufacturing facility with 6.2M square feet of available production space, we’re thrilled that our tractors will be built with precision and care right here in the USA.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.monarchtractor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monarch_tractor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monarchtractor/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/monarchtractor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXTMxlbskEgOw0V75RRGTg
Image Credits
Monarch Tractor
