The Coimbatore region is known for its unique agricultural practices. In the absence of round-the-year facilities for irrigation, farmers were dependent on rains and therefore rain-fed cultivation was prevalent in a big way. The hardy farmers of this region worked hard in order to reap results. Not surprisingly therefore, there were a lot of agriculture-related innovations from this region. The creation of the Sugarcane Breeding Institute and the Agricultural University encouraged this further and many farmers and businessmen contributed to agriculture in a big way.
One of them was V.Krishnaswamy Naidu of Pappanaikenpalayam. He was a born innovator and he founded an engineering firm in 1914. He established a bus transport company with two buses around 1917. But 1918 was a landmark year for him as he received a testimonial from the Viceroy for his skill in casting a water jacket in cast iron for the car engine. He lived up to the age of 96 and trained a number of youngsters. His son K.Ramaswamy worked in the sales department of PSG before he founded the famous LCT – Land Cultivating Tools, in 1956.
LCT Industries was located on Trichy Road in Singanallur and eventually it grew into a leading manufacturer of modern farm machinery and equipment. It was the first in India to produce a multicrop grain and paddy thresher. Other products included the power thresher for cereals, sugarcane crusher, tractor mountable sugarcane weeder, sugarcane seed drills, hay baling press, tractor mountable sugarcane harvester, portable platform scales, bund formers, electric motors and centrifugal pumps, etc.
K.Ramaswamy was greatly influenced by Pandit Nehru who had one declared, “Only if we produce modern agricultural implements will our food production increase in a big way and feed the millions of our vast country”. According to Ramaswamy’s son R.Aravind, “It was in 1959 that Central Minister Deshmukh spoke about the need for developing a paddy thresher and wanted to know if it was possible to produce it in our country. My father created it within a short span and in this he was ahead of the Ford and the Rockfeller Foundations. A number of USAID engineers gave ideas for his research.”
The bund former developed by LCT could do the work of 30 people in just four hours. The company made standardised interchangeable products and delivered them to the customers after a thorough test run. The research essays of K.Ramaswamy were read out in all major agricultural conclaves.
The company had visitors from USA, USSR, UK, Thailand, Iran, Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan and Philippines and the visitors’ book is full of encomiums showered on it by the delegates. LCT was in constant touch with experts involved with agricultural research. K.Ramaswamy was part of several committees including the State Advisory Committee on Agricultural Implements, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Indian Standard Institute on Agricultural Implements, Project Advisory Committee of UNSCOPE at Manila and the Tamilnadu Agricultural University besides being the Secretary of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association.
K.Ramaswamy received letters of appreciation from the Consultant for Agricultural Implements - Ford Foundation, Moscow Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Utilization - Korea and from a number of leading researchers and institutions from around the globe. T.K.Sakthidevi, the author of Kovai Nagara Varalaaru (1979 ) recognizes Ramaswamy as an entrepreneur who put Coimbatore on the agricultural implement map of the country.
Ramaswamy’s work was greatly appreciated by the National Seeds Corporation, Planning Commission of India and also by statesmen such as Raja Sir M.A.Muthiah Chettiar. He was among the several pioneering citizens whose engagement with industry brought prosperity to the farmers of our country.
Rajesh is passionate about his city and is always looking for ways of documenting its history
