Get more work done at minimal cost with a tractor

With agricultural mechanisation, one can get more work done compared to relying on manual power. Not only can technology be used for processing your harvest but it is also useful when preparing your land for planting. A case in point is the 25 horsepower ploughing tractor.
Wander tractor
According to Tom Sawyer, the managing director of Mzanzi Tractors and Equipment Uganda Limited, a supplier for these machines, the reason one should shift from the costly and labour-intensive ploughing, irrespective of the location of your farm, is not only to cut costs but also to get a lot more work done within a short time, normally in days.
“The 25 horsepower ploughing tractor is one which a group of smallholder farmers can use to mechanise their various farms. It can plough but also carry farm inputs such as fertilisers, water and seeds for planting and pesticides. It can also be used for harvesting and carrying produce to the store,” Sawyer explains.

Multipurpose
While it can be used by a farmers’ group, Sawyer recommends that an individual can mechanise his farm to a degree where the tractor carries the excess labour or inputs to the farm. On the reverse, one could also use it to transport produce from the garden to their homes especially if the farm is far from home.
The tractor reduces the farmer’s expenditure on labour at the ploughing stage, and the cost of transporting inputs to the farm as well as the harvest to the storage facility.

Cost of the machine
At a cost of Shs18m, Sawyer says the 25 horsepower ploughing tractor is a reliable tool to have on your farm. There are a number of ways in which you can acquire the machine. If you are unable to buy the tractor as an individual farmer, there is an alternative of buying it as an organised farmers’ group or cooperative, where you pool or contribute resources for one common cause.
Alternatively, as an individual, you can make deposits for the tractor until you complete payments. You can also purchase the tractor in form of a credit facility from the bank where the bank buys it for you and you pay to the bank over an agreed time period.
Partner banks include Centenary, Pride Microfinance, Uganda Development Bank (UDB) and MSc bank or any other bank as per your arrangement. It’s a stepping stone to agricultural mechanisation in a broader sense to run away from traditional ways of ploughing land.

Production capacity
Since it is small in capacity, the ploughing tractor can plough two to three acres per day. It uses 1.6 litres of diesel fuel an hour. Within four hours, it can plough an acre and this means within a day, depending on the soil type, you can plough a hectare a day.
It comes with a trailer, two 240-litre tanks and a plough, all of which can be connected and disconnected from the tractor, depending on the use you wish to put it to.
Besides ploughing, you can also connect planters and spray broom to aid in spraying of your crops at the right stage. Besides the 25 horsepower, the ploughing machines come in 40, 50, 60 up to 110 horsepower.
Besides using it on your farm, you can also utilise it by hiring it out to other farmers within your jurisdiction. This means you can earn extra without relying on sales from the harvests.

Service and maintenance
The plan is to set up an assembling workshop per district or region in the country so that one does not have to travel to Kampala when the machine needs any kind of service or maintenance.
Upon buying the tractor, it is recommended for farmers to get training on how it works. The way you handle it determines how long it will last on your farm. On average, when handled well, it will serve you for more than 10 years.