3 000 Belarus tractors to bridge equipment gap

ZIMBABWE is expecting another 3 000 tractors and 80 combine harvesters in the middle of the year through the third phase of the Belarus equipment deal to narrow the mechanisation gap in the country’s agriculture industry as the Government presses ahead with modernising agriculture to boost production.

The programme has already helped the country achieve self-sufficiency and the focus is now on increasing exports and resuming exports.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said the equipment under this facility will add impetus to the Government’s mechanisation thrust.

“This will target winter wheat and other crops. The equipment will reduce the gap on the mechanisation deficit in the country which will ensure that farmers plant and harvest winter crops on time,” he said.

The equipment will be administered through banks such as AFC, CBZ Agroyield and Women’s Bank.

Mechanisation of the agriculture sector plays a pivotal role in setting the country’s agro-based economy on a positive growth with a target that agriculture will contribute 33 percent to the gross domestic product, up from the current 20 percent, with all farmers using mechanisation to move into the middle-income groups and so drive the country to the vision of an upper-middle income economy by 2030.

Recently, Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos said agriculture engineering and mechanisation were key drivers and enablers to transforming agricultural production in line with the Government’s push to revolutionise and industrialise farming in Zimbabwe.

“It is our aim to adopt innovative technologies and production systems to increase accessibility, availability and affordability of quantity and quality food for our people,” he said.

In February last year, President Mnangagwa commissioned 1 635 tractors, 16 combine harvesters and other farming equipment under the US$66million Belarus Phase 2 Mechanisation Facility.

The first phase of the facility saw the delivery of 474 tractors, 60 combine harvesters, 210 planters and five low-bed trucks to farmers.