EcoFarmer
Vaya Tractor has drawn more plaudits from farmers across the country, who have
taken to using the tech-based platform to improve farm mechanization and boost
productivity.
“We
are very excited with the Vaya Tractor service because we do not have a tractor
on site and now we can just order the Vaya Tractor as and when we need it,”
said Mr Robson Godzi, Operations Manager at a farm in Glen Forest, north of the
capital, Harare.
He
said the Vaya Tractor team, which carried out chisel ploughing and discing at
his farm, were “swift in their deployment and execution”.
“We
were very pressed for time and that’s when I heard about the service and
ordered the tractor over the phone. It was a very simple process. Their
team immediately got in touch with me and came on sight to inspect our field.”
He
said after the assessment, the Vaya Tractor team recommended that because some
of the land had not been ploughed before, they needed to break the pan with a
chisel plough to loosen the soil first.
“Once
we agreed, they immediately moved in with their tractor to do the work, and
they did a good job,” said Mr Godzi.
In
the Mazowe district of Mashonaland West, Mrs Rosina Chisango-Musanhu praised
Vaya Tractor for carrying out ripping and ploughing at her farm “in a very
short time”.
“We
are very happy with the work done by Vaya Tractor,” Mrs Chisango-Musanhu said.
“They
did over 25 hactares of our land in preparation for our gumtree woodlots
project. We used to have serious problems during the start of the
ploughing season because some of the tractor owners are not reliable. But this
season, our SAA (Sustainable Afforestation Association) partners advised us that
they are now working with the EcoFarmer Vaya Tractor team, and the moment they arrived
on sight, we got our ploughing and ripping done in a very short space time.”
Mrs
Chisango-Musanhu, who also does maize farming, said she would continue using
Vaya Tractor for her other farming projects.
“We
can easily now just call these Vaya Tractors anytime from our phones, so this helps
a lot and saves time. We will certainly be using them again.”
Mrs
Chisango-Musanhu’s sentiments were echoed by Mr Pious Dzembe, another farmer
whose 49-hectare project in Nyabira, Mashonaland West, is also supported by
SAA.
“The
Vaya Tractor team helped us move with our ripping programme very quickly ahead
of the rains,” Mr Dzembe said.
“We
have over 40 hactares of our farm which is now under gum plantation. We learnt
that Vaya Tractor was quick and would help us speed up our operations. They came
on sight and recommended the best way to clear and work our land. And now we,
for our part, have actually been recommending Vaya Tractors to our fellow
farmers”.
Speaking at the official launch of Vaya Tractor last month, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Hon Perence Shiri, lauded Vaya Tractor for harnessing technology to boost agriculture, and for coming through to narrow the huge tractor, planter and combine harvester deficit in the country.
Vaya Tractor uses its platform to provide farmers with access to tractor
owners using the mobile phone. It is a
subsidiary of Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe, the diversified technology and fintech
company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.