Tractor for Kenyan market launched by Massey Ferguson

The ballooning world population means farmers will have to grow as much food as they have over the full course of recorded history. In a bid to help farmers meet the growing demand, FMD East Africa in partnership with global agriculture equipment manufacturer AGCO Corporation has unveiled new Massey Ferguson tractors.

The new Massey Ferguson tractors MF-35 and MF 4708 launched at FMD East Africa Regional offices in Nakuru not only offers a new opportunity to smallholder farming sector to mechanize agriculture but also promises increased production.

The MF 35 dubbed the ‘People’s tractor’ is set to push farm mechanisation to a new generation of farmers, farm workers and entrepreneurs. According to AGCO director of operations Africa and Middle East Nuradin Osman the MF 35 tractor will enable farmers improve yields from 1.4 tonnes per hectare to 5.2 tonnes per hectare. “Almost 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa where there is sub-optimal yield for most crops. We are working hard to ensure small holder families participate and benefit from mechanisation,” Osman notes. Osman adds that the MF 35 tractor will attract new generation of farmers and help reduce growing unemployment facing millions of young people in Africa.

Modern Farming

Vice president and managing director, Massey Ferguson Europe, Africa and Middle East Richard Markwell praised the MF 35 and notes the MF 35 tractor will help advance emerging farm enterprises in the country.

“Estimates put the total number of smallholder farmers in Kenya at around eight million. The MF 35 is a significant new opportunity for the sector of the marketing where draught animal power or hand cultivation is the most use system of work on the land,” Markwell says. He notes that the MF 35 is flexible and can be used across a wide range of farm sectors like horticulture, flower, tea and coffee production.

Markwell adds that through the partnership with FMD East Africa spanning 57 years, Massey Ferguson has sold over 11,500 tractors in Kenya. To attract farmers, FMD East Africa also unveiled a finance package with Equity Bank to help farmers obtain flexible financial assistance to purchase the tractors and other farm implements. Equity Bank chief operating officer Julius Kipng’etich says the bank will provide 80 per cent financing while farmers will contribute 20 per cent to acquire the tractors.

Massey said during the launch, “The 36hp machine will bring farm mechanisation to the masses”. The MF 35, with its 36 horse power (hp) engine, 6-forward/2-reverse speed mechanical gearbox and hard-wearing robust construction, will bring farm mechanisation within the reach of many agricultural enterprises for the first time, the company said.

“Straightforward, dependable and affordable, the 36 hp MF 35 is truly the ‘people’s tractor’,” said Richard Markwell, vice president and managing director of Massey Ferguson for Europe/Africa/Middle East. “This well-proven model offers exactly the right specification and technical features for Kenya’s emerging farm enterprises.”

According to the farming equipment manufacturer, the new machine’s flexibility and compactness make it ideally suited to the Kenyan market.

It is able to perform a range of duties across a variety of farm sectors, and its size means it is adept at maneuvering on smaller plots of land, while its rear three-point hitch has maximum lift capacity of 1,100 kg, enabling use of a wide variety of implements.

“It brings mechanization to a new generation of farmers, farm workers and entrepreneurs,” added Markwell. “It is the ideal, multi-purpose machine particularly for first-time tractor owners and operators who are ambitious to develop their businesses and transform their families’ livelihoods.”

via Massey Ferguson launches Kenya ‘people’s tractor’.