The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, on Friday, received 31 more tractors from TYN Tong Yang Moolsan -a South Korean company.Other equipment received included 30 rice trans-planters, 120 spray pumps and 8 motorbikes. The tractors will be operating at Village Mechanization Centres (VMC) that the government established to promote agriculture mechanization.Speaking during the inspection of the machines, Kalibata called upon farmers to effectively utilize the programme.“By using these equipments effectively, farmers will be able to plant on time as it takes a short time,” she said.The Minister pointed out that government is considering putting in place mechanisms that will promote effective operation by tractor or any other machine operators.“It is not worthwhile for operators to spend a long time or days working in an area that is meant to be cleared within hours,” Minister Kalibata said.The Chairman of Irrigation and Mechanization Task Force, Dr. Jean Jacques Mbonigaba Muhinda, told the Sunday Times that the development is a major boost to the programme’s success.“The tractors we have been using are not enough to meet the current demand. Therefore, these tractors come at the right time,” Muhinda said.The tractors were handed over at the national mechanization workshop in Jabana Sector, Gasabo District.
