By Victoria Nampala Bugembe
For farmers to boost their production to serve their clients and expand their products further, they are supposed to embrace labor-saving tech means like tractors which ease their garden work.
Sam Mutesasira, Technical manager of Wash and Wills Agric Mechanization says that the use of Agro Machinery and Equipment highly increases farm productivity and profitability with a focus on capacity building and maintenance enabling sustainability and reliability on products and services.
“We equip small to medium farmers in Uganda and the East African region with walking tractors dubbed Farm Utility Vehicle (FUV). It helps farmers to grow more crops in less time and with greater efficiency”, he adds.
Importance of a walking tractor
The walking tractor was functionally designed to bridge the gap between hand hoe or animal draft technology and conventional agricultural tractors for small to medium farmers.
These perform primary tillage operations like plowing, planting, tilling, and hauling, making them indispensable for various stages of crop cultivation.
Malinzi JohnBosco, the manager of the Tabula demonstration farm at Nakawuka adds, the walking tractor operates on low operating costs during ploughing, a farmer needs 2 – 2.5 liters of diesel fuel to finish an acre irrespective of field condition and operator skills compared to a conventional tractor which requires 8 – 10 liters of diesel fuel.
The maintenance costs are low when it comes to the procurement of spare parts used during the execution of the service.
“At Wash & wills, farmers are not charged a labor fee if the spare parts are bought here”, says Mutesasira.
They have a Power Take Off (PTO) system that mechanizes farm operations straight from green fields through seedbed preparation, crop planting, crop management, crop harvesting to post-harvest operations.
The tractor can run water pumps and assist in irrigating agricultural fields adds, Malinzi.
“If a farmer wants to improve crop yields, investing in modern farm equipment is the worth an alternative”.
Benefits of Modern Farm Equipment
Farming has come a long way from the days of manual labor and rudimentary tools to now, where modern farm equipment is helping farmers meet farming challenges head-on.
Increased Yield
This is achieved through accurate planting and harvesting techniques that allow farmers to improve their crop yields and improve productivity.
Cost Savings
Modern farm equipment can also help farmers save money. With these tools, farmers can reduce input costs like seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides.
Mutesasira says, that if a farmer uses planting equipment with an adjustable seeding rate, one will use fewer seeds in planting while still achieving high yields during the harvesting time.
He adds that modern farmers can save money by optimizing various operations with other equipment to reduce resource usage and operational costs.
Environmental Sustainability
Modern farm equipment promotes environmental sustainability through reduced carbon impact. This is through some tools like tractors that are fuel efficient but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable Agricultural practices.
