AFGRI Ghana and John Deere, leading dealers in farming machinery in Africa, have introduced new agricultural machines onto the Ghanaian market.
The equipment seek to improve mechanisation of agriculture, particularly in low income areas in the country. The items include slashers, harvesters, ploughs, planters, reapers and irrigation implements.
AFGRI Ghana is one of the largest South African based companies with 18 years experience in agriculture mechanisation and a huge investment in poultry and animal feed as well as collateral management.
At a launching ceremony of the new equipment at Nsawam in the Eastern Region, the Country Director of AFGRI Ghana, Mr Gerrie Jordaan, said to make the equipment more affordable to local farmers, John Deere Financial had been set up to assist farmers.
“We are partnering with Sinapi Aba and John Deere Financial to finance the projects which currently have very low buy-down rate at 21 per cent.
“This makes it affordable for customers to purchase and pay for the equipment in three years’ time as they work with the equipment and can pay it back at the same time,” he stated.
The West African Director-General of the John Deere, Mr Cobus Du Toit, said mechanised agriculture in Ghana was very low and was therefore optimistic that the new machinery would help boost agriculture mechanisation.
He was worried Ghanaians considered farming only as a retirement vocation, and urged Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of such negative approach to farming since it was a lucrative business.
“People think they need to go into agriculture after retirement but it is a lucrative business today since people can make money out of agriculture,” he stated.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
