How long is an FMTTI certification valid?

It depends on category. Under Office Memorandum No. 13-24/2018-M&T(I&P), the initial (ICT) test report is valid for 3 years for tractors and power tillers, 5 years for self-propelled machinery and manually/battery-operated plant protection equipment, and 7 years for most other categories — implements, combine harvesters, tractor/engine-operated sprayers, post-harvest machinery, and bullock-drawn equipment. Every subsequent batch test report is valid for 5 years, regardless of category.

What is the validity period specifically for power tiller testing?

3 years for the initial ICT test report, then 5 years for each subsequent batch report — the shortest initial window in the published schedule, shared only with tractors.

What is the validity period for battery sprayer testing?

Battery-operated plant protection equipment carries a 5-years-ICT / 5-years-batch validity — shorter than the 7-years-ICT bracket that applies to tractor- and engine-operated plant protection equipment.

Where do power weeders and power reapers sit in this schedule?

Neither is a named row on its own. A self-propelled power weeder would typically fall under 'self-propelled machinery' (5 years ICT); a tractor/tiller-operated weeder falls under 'inter-culture machinery' (7 years ICT) instead. A power reaper falls under 'harvesting machinery' within the Tractor/Power Tiller operated machinery category — 7 years ICT, 5 years batch. Confirm the applicable classification with the testing centre before assuming a figure.

What happens when a test report expires?

If the machine model is still in production without a change in specification or performance, it has to go through retesting. The 2018 Technical Committee's stated purpose in fixing validity periods was precisely to prevent a report from indefinitely certifying a machine that may have since changed.

How should validity appear on the test report itself?

The 2018 Office Memorandum requires it stated boldly on the report's cover page and again inside the report, as 'THIS TEST REPORT VALID UPTO: day/month/year.' If a report lacks this statement, raise it with the issuing centre before treating it as current.

Has this validity schedule changed since 2018?

The ICT/Batch structure is still the framework current testing regimes reference — the same terminology appears in later Ministry office orders governing the 'New Regime of Testing' for power tillers. Some individual figures may have shifted: publicly available tractor test reports issued 2023-2025 show validity spans closer to 5 years from the test date rather than the original 3-year ICT figure, suggesting at least the tractor category may have been extended by a later circular. Treat this table as the documented baseline and confirm the current figure for your category directly with the centre.

Guide

What is the validity of FMTTI certification? The complete category-wise table

FMTTI test reports expire on a fixed, category-specific schedule set by a 2018 Ministry Office Memorandum — 3 to 7 years for the initial report, 5 years for every subsequent batch report. Here's where power tiller testing, power weeder testing, power reaper testing, and battery sprayer testing each sit.

Devendra K JhaLast reviewed July 29, 20263 min read504 words

An SRFMTTI initial commercial test report showing a machine's stated validity date, alongside a shield-and-checkmark graphic

On this page

The Office Memorandum that fixed validity
The complete validity table
Power tillers, weeders, reapers, and sprayers, mapped
How validity appears on the report, and what happens at expiry
Where this fits

An FMTTI test report has a shelf life, and unlike most of what circulates about FMTTI testing, the shelf life is actually published — in a specific 2018 Ministry Office Memorandum that most guides to this topic never cite directly. This guide sets out that table in full, category by category, and is the companion piece to our What is FMTTI certification? glossary guide.

The Office Memorandum that fixed validity

Before 2018, FMTTI test reports carried no fixed validity period at all — a fact the Ministry's Additional Commissioner (Machinery) raised directly with a Technical Committee on 10 August 2018, chaired by Dr. K. Alagusundaram, then DDG (Engineering) at ICAR. The concern was straightforward: without an expiry, a manufacturer could keep relying on an old report indefinitely, even after the machine's actual specification or performance had moved on.

The Committee's recommendation was approved in Office Memorandum No. 13-24/2018-M&T(I&P), dated 19 September 2018, fixing the category-wise validity periods below, effective from the date of issue.

The complete validity table

Category of machine	Validity of ICT test report	Subsequent validity of batch test report
Tractor	3 years	5 years
Power tiller	3 years	5 years
Combine Harvester / Crop / Sugarcane / Cotton Picker	7 years	5 years
Self-propelled machinery	5 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — tillage implements	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — sowing & planting machinery	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — inter-culture machinery	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — harvesting machinery	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — thresher	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — baler, rake, reapers	7 years	5 years
Tractor/Power Tiller operated — post hole digger	7 years	5 years
Plant Protection equipment — manually operated	5 years	5 years
Plant Protection equipment — battery operated	5 years	5 years
Plant Protection equipment — tractor operated	7 years	5 years
Plant Protection equipment — engine operated	7 years	5 years
Post-harvest technology machinery (cleaner/grinder/washer/grader/polisher/separator)	7 years	5 years
Bullock drawn/manual driven (all types, incl. horticulture tools)	7 years	5 years

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Office Memorandum No. 13-24/2018-M&T(I&P), dated 19 September 2018.

Power tillers, weeders, reapers, and sprayers, mapped

Power tillers carry a 3-year initial validity — tied with tractors for the shortest on the schedule. Battery sprayer testing (Plant Protection equipment — battery operated) sits in the 5-year bracket, alongside manually operated plant protection equipment and general self-propelled machinery; tractor- and engine-operated sprayers sit in the longer 7-year bracket instead.

Power reapers and power weeders aren't individually named categories. A tractor- or tiller-operated reaper falls under "harvesting machinery" (7 years ICT); a self-propelled weeder falls under "self-propelled machinery" (5 years ICT), while a tractor/tiller-operated weeder falls under "inter-culture machinery" (7 years ICT) instead.

How validity appears on the report, and what happens at expiry

The 2018 Office Memorandum requires the validity stated boldly on the report's cover page and again inside, as "THIS TEST REPORT VALID UPTO: day/month/year." If a model is still in production, unchanged, when that date passes, the manufacturer has to submit it for retesting — the entire point of the rule being to stop a report from certifying a machine that may no longer match what was actually tested. A one-time, one-year grace period accompanied the 2018 rollout for reports already expired or close to it; that was specific to the transition, not a standing feature to assume today.

Planning around FMTTI validity

The initial ICT validity — 3, 5, or 7 years by category — applies once; every subsequent batch report is valid for a uniform 5 years regardless of category.
Power tillers and tractors carry the shortest initial validity (3 years) on the published schedule.
Battery sprayer testing sits in the 5-year bracket; tractor- and engine-operated sprayers sit in the 7-year bracket.
Power weeders and power reapers are classified under self-propelled machinery or the relevant Tractor/Power Tiller operated sub-category rather than named individually — confirm with the centre.
Check the report itself for the explicit validity statement rather than assuming currency.
Some figures — tractors in particular — appear to have been extended in practice since 2018; treat this table as the documented baseline and reconfirm the current period for your category with the centre.

Where this fits

Getting caught with a lapsed test report mid-sales-season is one of the more avoidable failure modes in this business — a dealer can't process an SMAM-linked sale on an expired report. See our guide to SMAM and state subsidy empanelment for how that gate operates, and our ARAI, ICAT & FMTTI homologation service for how we plan renewal timing alongside the original testing programme.

Explore our ARAI, ICAT & FMTTI homologation service →

Frequently asked questions

: It depends on category. Under Office Memorandum No. 13-24/2018-M&T(I&P), the initial (ICT) test report is valid for 3 years for tractors and power tillers, 5 years for self-propelled machinery and manually/battery-operated plant protection equipment, and 7 years for most other categories — implements, combine harvesters, tractor/engine-operated sprayers, post-harvest machinery, and bullock-drawn equipment. Every subsequent batch test report is valid for 5 years, regardless of category.
: 3 years for the initial ICT test report, then 5 years for each subsequent batch report — the shortest initial window in the published schedule, shared only with tractors.
: Battery-operated plant protection equipment carries a 5-years-ICT / 5-years-batch validity — shorter than the 7-years-ICT bracket that applies to tractor- and engine-operated plant protection equipment.
: Neither is a named row on its own. A self-propelled power weeder would typically fall under 'self-propelled machinery' (5 years ICT); a tractor/tiller-operated weeder falls under 'inter-culture machinery' (7 years ICT) instead. A power reaper falls under 'harvesting machinery' within the Tractor/Power Tiller operated machinery category — 7 years ICT, 5 years batch. Confirm the applicable classification with the testing centre before assuming a figure.
: If the machine model is still in production without a change in specification or performance, it has to go through retesting. The 2018 Technical Committee's stated purpose in fixing validity periods was precisely to prevent a report from indefinitely certifying a machine that may have since changed.
: The 2018 Office Memorandum requires it stated boldly on the report's cover page and again inside the report, as 'THIS TEST REPORT VALID UPTO: day/month/year.' If a report lacks this statement, raise it with the issuing centre before treating it as current.
: The ICT/Batch structure is still the framework current testing regimes reference — the same terminology appears in later Ministry office orders governing the 'New Regime of Testing' for power tillers. Some individual figures may have shifted: publicly available tractor test reports issued 2023-2025 show validity spans closer to 5 years from the test date rather than the original 3-year ICT figure, suggesting at least the tractor category may have been extended by a later circular. Treat this table as the documented baseline and confirm the current figure for your category directly with the centre.

Analysis by

Devendra K Jha· Director, AgriMachinery Consulting

Engineer-leader and founder of AgriMachinery Consulting. Works with India's small and unorganised farm-machinery manufacturers on certification, homologation, subsidy empanelment, supply chain and dealer-network strategy from offices in Pune and New Delhi.

Farm-machinery certification & homologation
SMAM / state subsidy empanelment
Manufacturing & supply chain