Tractor deficit stalls mechanisation drive

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Zimbabwe has a fifth of its national tractors requirement, which has slowed mechanisation leading to reduced output, and the country losing breadbasket status, it has emerged.

Output has dropped since the advent of the fast-track land reform exercise

Business Times can report that Zimbabwe has 7895 tractors from a national requirement of 40 000.

It is understood that of the 7895 tractors, only 5500 tractors are functional.

The disclosure comes as the government is concentrating on conservative farming better known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, which does not require modern equipment except a hoe.

Analysts say Pfumvudza/Intwasa is mainly for food security but mechanisation is needed to ramp up production to become a recognised player in Africa and beyond.

In the 2022/2023 summer cropping season state of preparedness report, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka said mechanisation is the missing link in the ramping up production in the agriculture sector.

“The country has 7895 tractors out of the required 40 000 tractors. This summer cropping season we are targeting to acquire 3127 tractors with the Belarus facility providing 1337 tractors, John Deere providing 440, William Bain 750 and smallholder mechanisation providing 600 tractors,” Masuka said.

A number of farmers are facing tillage, cultivating, spraying and transport challenges as most growers like modern equipment, which is more efficient.

Analysts say even in the face of erratic rainfall patterns, farmers could use their equipment to harvest water and use it when it is needed.

It is not only the tractors that Zimbabwe has a deficit. It has 176 combine harvesters against a demand of 600 and 1026 planters against a requirement of 20 000.

Zimbabwe National Farmers Union vice president Edward Dune told Business Times that agriculture should be highly mechanised to attain an upper middle income economy by 2030.

“The country has huge deficiency in terms of farm mechanisation and we are performing way below 10% of what is expected.

“The Pfumvudza programme we are carrying out is not enough to carry the nation forward as the utilised land is too little to turn the country’s economy.

“Mechanisation is not only linked to tractors, planters and combine harvesters, only there is more that should be done to ensure that the farmers  have access to the latest equipment to increase production and productivity,” Dune said.

“If we wish to attain 2030 vision and leave no one behind we should not be using hoes by 2030 and technology will be detecting the tempo.

“Even the national requirement figures of tractors, planters and combine harvesters don’t add up given that we have more than 3.5m smallholder farmers plus A2 and commercial farmers, more should be done to equip our farmers to grow the economy through agriculture,” he said.

Zimbabwe National Farmers Union chairman Stewart Mubonderi said it is high time the government prioritises mechanisation to increase output.

“The mechanisation figures I am seeing here show that the agricultural revolution is yet to take place and we still have a long way to go,” he said.

Zimbabwe has embarked on various mechanisation programmes but the numbers remain low.

Under the Brazilian Food for Africa programme, farmers in different provinces have benefited from the latest farming equipment.

The government has struck another deal with Belarus, which has pledged to aid the country with the very latest equipment in the agricultural sector.

The government has urged the private sector to complement government efforts in reviving the economy.

A local firm Southern Region Trading Company has heeded this call and vowed to ensure that farmers get the very best from their land.

The firm is providing agricultural equipment with the capacity to transform the country’s agricultural sector.