Agriculture haitupi competitive advantage kwavile tupo juu zaidi ya all EAC member states as matter of fact we feed Kenya na isitoshe kuna funds zilitolewa na Poland ukiachilia mbali SAGCOT project! We need infrastructure first to expand the gain we have had so far! Tumeshinda bomba la mafuta na railway sasa tunatakiwa kushinda kuwa sehemu rahisi ya kufanya biashara.
Tractor assembly plant to transform agriculture
ABDUEL ELINAZA
27 October 2015
NATIONAL Service Corporation (SUMAJKT) Chief Executive Major General Raphael Muhuga, also the JKT Chief, tours one of the corporations after sale service centres for tractors. The army will start assembling Poland tractors locally. ( Picture courtesy of JKT)
NATIONAL Service Corporation (SUMAJKT) Chief Executive Major General Raphael Muhuga, also the JKT Chief, tours one of the corporations after sale service centres for tractors. The army will start assembling Poland tractors locally. ( Picture courtesy of JKT)
MODERNISATION of agriculture through mechanisation is of paramount importance in a bid to increase production and productivity in the sector. Without farm power and appropriate tools, implements and machines that can support production of marketable surpluses, farmers would struggle to move away from subsistence farming.
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Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says the essential role for sustainable mechanisation in production systems becomes increasingly obvious, since the demand for food and agricultural products is growing. ‘Thus,’ FAO says, “farm mechanisation forms an integral plank in the implementation of sustainable crop productionÉ.”
That on the background, Tanzania, which is tipped to become a bread basket of East Africa, geared on increasing production based on the mechanising farming. Modernising and mechanising farming has many forms but the best one is to make machines, equipment and implements affordable and if possible produce the machines locally. With that in mind the government thought it best that not to import farm machines rather assemble them locally.
This way cut prices and creates jobs. Thus, in accordance with organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regulations concerning tied aid, Tanzania and Poland signed an agreement for tractor supply at early stage and later an assembly plant. Under the OECD, the financier is a Polish government thus the company has to be from Poland.
The government of Tanzania picked National Service economic wing - SUMA-JKT and Poland’s Ursus S.A. The two companies, SUMA-JKT and Ursus S.A signed a US $55 million (over 110bn/-) deal for tractor supply and construction of an assembling plant. Premier Mizengo Pinda said the deal was the outcome of his last year’s visit to Poland where the east European country committed to provide 110 million US dollars (over 220n/-) for supply of tractors and construction of cereal storage facilities.
“Our visit to Poland was to seek assistance for construction of silos to solve the acute problem of cereal storage across the country. “Poland officials said they want to mechanise our agriculture as well and are ready to share knowledge,” Mr Pinda said.
Tanzania suggested that the tractor supply deal should not end at supply but also assembly them locally and Poland agreed. Former Polish president, Mr Lech Walesa, said he is committed to see the tractor project become a success story in a short period, as the parties concerned have the ability to do so.
“Tanzania (and Africa) has all the potential to grow faster than Europe and this is the beginning, but first we have to mechanise farming,” Mr Walesa said. He added:”The success of this project will open more doors to other opportunities to share between Tanzania and Poland.
Poland is one of the European success story after turning around its farming to become the number one producer of apple, corn and wheat. According to Mr Walesa 25 years ago, Poland experienced the same wave of youth from the rural migrating to urban centres looking for jobs.
“Things are quite different today as people are migrating from urban to rural as farming is paying well,” Mr Walesa said through an interpreter. Ursus S.A President of the Board, Mr Karol Zarajczyk, said assembling of a tractor factory would start in the next three months. The plant will have the capacity of assembling 2,500 tractors annually, at the beginning and employ the same number of workers,” Zarajczyk said.
He added: “We are planning to start construction of the plant with advanced technology in the next three months.” “We are still looking for a suitable area for the plant construction, but it is either in Dar es Salaam or Coast Region preferable Kibaha.”
The assembly plant envisages exporting some of the tractors to neighbourhood countries, the president of the board said. SUMA-JKT Chief Executive, Major General Raphael Muhuga, said the deal has received all the blessing from Attorney General (AG) office and is jointly implemented by SUMA and Ursus.
“The success witnessed (during the signing ceremony) shows the commitment... on ensuring sustained food security in the country. “Éas well as improved performance of the agricultural sector through utilisation of modern agricultural practices,” Major General Muhuga said. The Ursus factory was found in 1893 by three engineers and four businessmen.
It began producing exhaust engines and then later trucks and metal fittings. SUMA-JKT, overtime have accumulated experience when it comes on selling tractors, spare parts and farm implements.
In October 2010, SUMA JKT started selling tractors from Mwenge Light Industries. The company is entrusted by the government with heavy obligation of extending agricultural service to farmers under the Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First) initiative.
Today SUMA-JKT wants to assemble the tractor locally thus reducing some associated costs from importing and bring close after sales services to farmers. The pilot centres or clinics, for after sale services, was opened in Ruvuma recently to be followed by others in Arusha, Dodoma and Mwanza.
SUMA-JKT Agro-Machinery Project Manager, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Mkinga, said these centres are constructed in bid to bring close after sale services to farmers and reduce the burden of travelling all the way to Dar es Salaam.
“The centres apart from offering spare parts and the like, will educate farmers on how best to maximise the use of tractors,” Lt Col. Mkinga, who is also an engineer, said. Most of the machines which SUMA-JKT sells are general-purpose tractor that satisfy differing demands. Some of them are New Holland series TT tractors and Farmtrac designed to meet such needs.
Agriculture is one of the leading sectors in the country accounting for almost quarter of the GDP, 30 per cent of total exports and 65 per cent of raw materials for local industries.
Tractor assembly plant to transform agriculture