Farmers access to tractor service in the northern region to be improved as Agro-Tech Company opens tractor service center in Tamale
The West Africa Agro-Tech Company (WATCO) has assured farmers, particularly smallholder farmers that the difficulty in accessing tractor service in the northern region during farming season will be a thing of the past.
WATCO said with the setting up of its show room, workshop, services and training centers and assembling plant as well as parts depot in Tamale, the farmer to tractor ratio in the region will significantly be bridged.
The farmer to tractor ratio is one of the major challenges confronting farmers in the region during the farming season which sometimes lead to the late planting of crops. WATCO farm implements show room located at Lamashegu has pumps, engines and generators and combine harvesters among others.
The Tamale tractor show room brings to three the number of branches opened so far in Ghana. Seven more farm implements show rooms are expected to be set up in the other regions. WATCO which is an Indian company is currently investing 20 million US dollars and plans to increase it to 200 million dollars in the next five years if government supports their cause.
Speaking at an inauguration ceremony of SONALIKA tractor and its implements in Tamale, WATCO Group Chairman V.N Akoliya Patel assured farmers that the company intends assembling 5,000 tractors in Ghana. WATCO tractors and implements Mr Akoliya Patel said are designed for even the off season.
India is an agriculture country and agriculture in India has moved from primary agriculture to a more modern mechanized agriculture system, Mr Akoliya explained.
He further explained that India had similar ecological system with Ghana and therefore if Ghana is able to adopt efficient mechanized-driven agriculture, the country will not only be self-sufficient in food production but could be a net exporter of agriculture produce.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tamale, Alhaji Hanan Abdul Rahman Gundaadow assured WATCO of his outfit support and urged them to recruit skillful youth in Tamale.
Minister of Food and Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru Limuna said government recognized the crucial role private sector plays in complementing government efforts at promoting intensive mechanization and to make agriculture production attractive to the youth who represent the future.