Crop establishment in South Asia continues to be a labor-intensive endeavor with hand broadcasting or dibbling being the normal practice among smallholders who cultivate wheat, maize, and pulses. This decreases profitability by increasing labor costs while reducing yields to due improper crop row-to-row and plant-to-plant spacing. Farmers who rely on small tractor platforms have not had the option of mechanized planting due to an absence of scale-appropriate equipment in South Asia. With manufacturers in India, CSISA has addressed this gap by designed 'commercially ready' multi-crop drills. In Bangladesh and Nepal, CSISA has also adapted commercially available drills to improve their field performance

Other multi-crop planters for 2-wheel tractors in South Asia are typically poorly designed, heavy, and too costly.