Farmers in Ngenge Sub-county Kween district have been urged to embrace technology and mechanized agriculture to boost production and increase the quality of their farm produce.
The remarks were made by Moses Mugeni, the Senior Sales Consultant New Holland tractors.
“The best ways of improving productivity on the farm is through mechanization, use of quality seeds, fertilizers and irrigation,” Mugeni said. He noted that Cooper Motor Corporation (CMC), the distributors of New Holland tractors in Uganda, has equipment that meets needs of both small- and large-scale farmers.
“CMC offers a wide range of tractors ranging from 40HP to 180HP. The New Holland tractors are intercooled, economical, fuel efficient and have long maintenance intervals which allow users to spend more time at work and less in the service workshop,” Mugeni said adding that the tractors offer a high degree of performance and efficiency.
Mugeni also explained to farmers that they can now acquire a New Holland tractor and other farm equipment after paying an initial deposit of either 30% or 20% to CMC partner banks.
“Our primary objective is to support farmers with the right equipment at favourable financial terms and thus increase productivity and incomes,” Mugeni said noting that the farmers have a repayment period of up to five years which will either be quarterly or bi-annual depending on the client’s cash flow cycleand an interest rate of 12% under the Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF). He also noted that as part of New Holland’s strategy to increase efficiency and performance on the farm, new tractor owners and farmers are trained on how to maximize the use of the tractors and implements on their farms.
While demonstrating to the farmers on how best to plough and use a tractor on the farm, Patrick Kamwaka, a seasoned tractor technician at CMC cautioned farmers to service their tractors at the right time.
“You should have a maintenance checklist to help you keep your tractor operating smoothly. The tractor uses several consumable products to operate, and they don’t last forever. Besides fuel, we have different oils, grease points and filters among others. All these things have a service life we need to observe because if we forget or ignore them, they will certainly break at the least convenient time,” Kamwaka said.
He said CMC has service centers across the country, with the nearest to Kween being in Mbale. “Aside from those service centers, we also have a mobile service team, so you do not have to travel. We will get you to your farms and service the tractor there,” he said.
Recently, government procured New Holland tractors through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) which have since been distributed throughout the country.
