Herald Reporter
Local agricultural implements supplier, Agricon Zimbabwe says it is committed to helping small-scale farmers mechanise to realise maximum yields. Mechanisation is one of the pillars of modern conservation agriculture, which falls within the 10-Point Plan enunciated by President Mugabe. To expedite the mechanisation of the agricultural sector, Government is also in the process of acquiring equipment from friendly countries such as Belarus, to enhance yields.
Agricon Zimbabwe chief executive officer Mr Faizul Materia told The Herald yesterday that they were complementing Government efforts and for the past three years, they had been rewarding outstanding farmers with tractors during the annual Zimbabwe Agricultural Show.
Agricon Zimbabwe, which is a leading agricultural and construction equipment supplier, is the local agent of CNH Industrial. For the past three years, we have been awarding tractors to outstanding farmers during the Agricultural Show,” said Mr Materia.
“The motivation behind this is the desire to empower the small scale farmers to reach commercial level.
“We feel that will increase agricultural output. We should go commercial and we thought to empower the small scale farmers with mechanisation equipment. We do not just donate the tractors, but we provide them with total solutions such as implements that include ploughs and disc harrows.”
To ensure that the farmers were fully empowered, Mr Materia said they also serviced the tractors for a year.
He said those who had benefited from their empowerment initiative were delivering impressive harvests.
Mr Materia said as Agricon Zimbabwe, they would continue to support farmers in every possible way within their means.
“We will continue with our tradition this year and as this year’s Agricultural Show draws closer, I want to say we have other innovations that we will disclose when the time comes,” he said.
Last week, Agricon Zimbabwe chief operating officer Mr Jason Smith said: “With regards to production of crops in Zimbabwe, we provide full solutions to any horse power tractors.
“We have expertise to assist our farmers whenever they need our assistance in terms of advice. When they walk through our door and say they need particular equipment, we don’t just give them that equipment because that is what they want, but we look at the application for the equipment, we look at the size of the land and we try to assist with our expert advice with the help of our principles internationally, they would fly out specialists to look at the particular land and give the correct advise.”
Mr Smith said Agricon Zimbabwe was keen to work with farmers to improve crop production and ensure food security for Zimbabwe.