(DAILY MAIL) Chinese firm to set up tractor assembly plant

Chinese firm to set up tractor assembly plant
By CHIWOYU SINYANGWE

A CHINESE manufacturing company specialised in agriculture tractors, Benye Tractor Corporation, is to set up an assembly plant to serve the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. And Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister, Ben Kapita has urged the private sector in the country to take a lead in providing affordable and suitable equipment to the small scale farmers in the country to enable them graduate to commercial status.

Benye Tractor Corporation is a Chinese company that mainly specialises in Benye brand BY20-80 horsepower wheeled tractors.

S.K Agri Supplies Limited board chairman, Sebastian Kopulande revealed in Lusaka said that currently the company is focusing on going into partnership with the co-operative movements in the country at production, processing and marketing levels.

“In the near future, the Benye Tractor will be assembled in Zambia to serve the SADC region,” said Mr Kopulande whose company is the exclusive franchise of the products of Benye Tractor Corporation.

He was speaking during the official launch of S.K Agri Supplies Limited at the on-going 81st Agricultural and Commercial Show over the weekend.

The partnership between S.K Agri Supplies Limited and Benye Tractor Corporation had been financed with lease finance from Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited.

Mr Kopulande who is also chairperson of the Zambia-China Business Association said the co-operative movement was the anchor of the future of agriculture in Zambia and therefore needed support from both the private sector and Government.

At the same occasion, Mr Kapita called for strengthening of public private sector in the country to increase productivity among small-scale farmers. Mr Kapita said there was need for the private sector in the country to provide small and affordable tractors and other farming equipment to small-scale farmers.

“Farmers are tired of ‘Kambwili’, hand hole, in tiling the land. The hand hole is not only strenuous and very limiting in terms of expansion of hectarage under cultivation,”

“It is my hope that companies such as S.K Agri Supplies Limited will play a leading role in supplying small but affordable tractors to small scale farmers,” Mr Kapita said.

Among the equipment that S.K Agri Supplies Limited would supply include tractors and implements, irrigation equipment, agro processing equipment, and power generation equipment.

Others are land preparation equipments, farm transport and forklifts, motorcycles and bicycles.