Mahindra Rise says it is participating in a tripartite partnership with Kano farmers and the State Government, in the implementation of a tractor acquisition project geared at mechanizing farming activities in the state.
Accordingly, the company hinted that it was participating in the partnership programme under an ‘end to end solution business concept’ it fashioned out as a way of supporting the development of Nigeria` agriculture sector across the value –chain.
Manoj Ramakrishnan, head of operations, Springfield Agro Limited, the company representing the tractor manufacturing entity in Nigeria, made this disclosure, at the official launching of the tractor acquisition partnership which took place at the Kano Office of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, on Wednesday.
Manoj said that his company, is committed to working with Nigeria in developing agriculture beyond just supplying tractors, as it has enough capacity to participate across the value –chain.
He stated that the end to end solution business concept which company have in mind for Nigeria also entails: Land Clearing, Land preparations, Supply of Improved Seeds, Fertilizers, Agro-Inputs, Post –Harvest Mechanization, and Post –Harvest Procurements.
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“We glad to be part of this tripartite partnership programme involving the Kano Farmers, and the State Government. Today event is a follow-up to the earlier visit which the company organised for a delegation of the Kano State Government led by the Deputy-Governor, which visited our manufacturing plant in Bombay, India.
“As part of our commitment to this partnership, we have build-up a stock of over 100 Tractors in our Warehouse in Kano which we are ready to supply on demand by end users. We also want to make it known that out Mahindra has the capacity to deliver 5000 tractors in a Year”.
Manoj noted that his company which has being operating for over 50 years in Kano, is ready to expand the scope of the partnership with agriculture stakeholders to areas, such as, irrigation, as a way of ensuring all year farming activities for them.
In order to actively ensure the mechanization effort of the Nigerian Government, he explained that his company has operated an assembly plant in the northern Nigeria state of Kaduna.
In his address at the event, Kano State Governor, Abdullah Umar Ganduje, who presided over the programme, announced the committed of #132 million by his administration to the take -off of the Tractor Acquisition initiative.
Ganduje, disclosed that the money was a seed one, and called on the benefitting farmers to ensure prompt payment of the loan to be given to them for the purpose of acquiring the tractors, in order to enable others to benefit.
Other, who deliver an address at the occasion include, Faruk Rabiu Mudi, chairman, Kano Chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, among others.
The High-light of the event was the inspection of tractors displayed by companies participating in the scheme.
