Machines and equipment for the small farmer

Murtaza Mohamedali is the director of Shifa Chem Ltd, an agro-machinery firm that focuses on the smallholder farmers. He spoke to Seeds of Gold on the importance of mechanisation for the smallholder, machines farmers need and how to maintain machinery for long term use

Rate the uptake of farm machinery and equipment among smallholder farmers?

There is an increase in the uptake of machinery by farmers, which is attributable to growth in knowledge. Smallholder farmers are realising that machines are part and parcel of good farming, and not necessarily a preserve of large-scale farmers.

If you want higher yields, then you better invest on among other things, machines.

How will farmers benefit from use of machinery and innovative farm equipment?

It is an obvious fact that machines make work easier on the farm. With machinery, a farmer is easily able to do large amounts of work such as tilling, ploughing and ridging using little manpower and in limited time.

Other equipment has effectively enabled farmers to effortlessly perform duties such as spraying one’s crops, livestock, and livestock houses thus easily keeping pests and diseases away.

What would you consider as the must-have farm machinery and equipment for the smallholder farmer?

A mini-tractor. This is a vital machine for any smallholder as it can be used to perform a myriad of tasks like spraying, tilling, ridging and ploughing as long as the right machine is attached. The tractor can also be used for transportation on the farm.

The machine is cheaper, economical when it comes to fuel consumption and does a job in record-time.

How should farmers take care of their machinery and equipment to ensure they serve them for the long-term as well as stop them from spreading farm pests and diseases?

Frequent maintenance is necessary and one should use genuine spare parts. Frequent checking of the condition of the equipment, proper storage and keeping records of the equipment is also recommended.

Maintaining good hygiene of the equipment through the use of disinfectants is vital in preventing spread of diseases on the farm. Regular cleaning creates a protective barrier curbing the spread of pests and diseases.

You are known for mini-tractors, does your company sell other equipment and machines?

Our flagship machinery is currently the hand-driven mini-tractor, which is proving to be popular with many smallholder farmers across the country.

This is because it is more affordable, requires little labour, it is easy to assemble, does a variety of tasks on the farm in record-time, uses little fuel because with a full tank and one is able to till an acre.

We also have tillers, cultivators, harrowers, potato harvesters and ridgers, among other products.