Acknowledgements

The Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) is a regional institution of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The need for a market study was voiced during the 4th Member Meeting of the CSAM-led initiative titled Regional Council of Agricultural Machinery Associations in Asia and the Pacific (ReCAMA), wherein the network members expressed a need to better understand the dynamics of individual country markets, levels of penetration of mechanization; gaps in mechanization for specific applications; opportunities for growth, and sustainability and gender related issues. In response, this study was carried out to analyze the market status in respect of agricultural machinery in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Nominees of the respective agricultural machinery associations in these countries carried out the study as part of the research team under the guidance of the lead consultant.

The study was conducted under the overall guidance of Dr. Li Yutong, Head of CSAM and Mr. Anshuman Varma, Deputy Head/Programme Officer of CSAM. The efforts of Mr. Lasantha Wickremesooriya, the lead consultant of the research team and President of Sri Lanka Agriculture Machinery Manufacturers and Suppliers Association, are duly acknowledged for providing overall guidance for this study and leading the research team comprising of Mr. Ru Yi of China Agricultural Machinery Distribution Association (CAMDA), Dr. Surendra Singh of the Agricultural Machinery Manufactures' Association of India (AMMA-India), and Ms. Dares Kittiyopas of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand (MOAC) who contributed their wealth of knowledge, experience, and competencies to produce a comprehensive study.

Mr. Ma Zheng from CAMDA, Mr. Amjad Rajap, Ms. Milinda Fernando, Mr. Nishantha Ekanayake, Mr. Vajira Priyankara, numerous field officers from the Department of Agriculture from Sri Lanka. Mr. Jiraphat Dean Kittiyopas from Thai Society of Agricultural Engineering all contributed substantially to this study. Special thanks also go to Mr. Anshuman Varma, Ms. Yuee Feng, Ms. Carter Cheng and Ms. Yanni Dong of CSAM for providing tremendous support towards the development and editing of this study. We are also grateful to Ms. Ruiquan Chang for lay-out and design of the report.