Thursday, March 28, 2024

Don’t modify your car for farm use

Peter Njeru is a Mitsubishi brand executive at Simba Corp Ltd. He spoke to Brian Okinda on what you need to know about farm machinery, from acquisition to maintenance

Most farmers sell their produce on the farm to brokers at low prices because they lack means to transport produce to markets. What is your advice to farmers in terms of transport if they are to beat brokers?

Farmers do the hardest work, therefore, they should make a profit from their agribusinesses by getting the best prices.

One thing farmers can do to access cheaper transport is by forming groups or SACCOs through which they can purchase, for instance, pickups or other vehicles on which they can install trailers to transport their produce to the market themselves.

Besides, they can lease the vehicles on the need basis.

Many farmers have personal cars, which sometimes they use for transport. Are there ways one can modify the vehicles to do farm tasks?

It is okay to modify personal vehicles to suit one’s needs.

But I will advise one purchases a vehicle to satisfy their specific farm needs as modified ones are prone to break down, eventually making the farmer pay more in repairs.

Vehicles made for the farm are normally fuel-efficient, tough, reliable, have bigger carrying capacities, have low maintenance costs and are stylish, both in the interior and exterior.

What transport solutions do you have for smallholder farmers?

We have pickups like the Mitsubishi L200, Mahindra Bolero and Scorpio, SAME Tractors with different horsepower depending on farmers’ needs, lorries like Fuso (Canter, FH, FI, FM and FN Series) and the detachable Mahindra Milk Body, built for transporting milk using pickups.

Accessibility to farm equipment is a challenge because of high costs. How to do you assist farmers to ensure they access transport equipment?

We collaborate with banks, which help farmers access financing for any of our products, with the financial institutions funding up to 90 per cent of the cost.

We further offer hire purchase and leasing services on machinery, enabling farmers to make small payments.

Additionally, we encourage smallholder farmers to join hands and consolidate their money then purchase any of our products.

How should farmers take care of their transport equipment to ensure they serve them for the long-term and do not spread diseases on the farm?

Farmers can take care of their equipment through frequent maintenance, using genuine spare parts, frequently checking the condition of their equipment, proper storage and keeping records.

This can be easily done through a fleet management system. For instance, we have Africa Fleet Management Solutions (AFMS) system, which when installed in vehicles tracks their activities enabling the farmer to manage their machines using smartphones in real-time.

Among the things, one monitors is fuel consumption, mileage and due maintenance dates among others.

Proper farm machinery hygiene and use of disinfectants are vital in preventing the spread of diseases on the farm.

source:daily nation

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