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Why you should invest in the walking tractor now
Opio demonstrates how a walking tractor works. Photo by Roland Nasasira
What you need to know:
- The walking tractor is not an efficient tool in hilly land with high inclines.
For most farmers, working with tractors is the desirable way to till large chunks of land in order to earn sizeable profit.
But the cost of tractors holds back the dreams of such small-holder farmers.
Joseph Nsereko, a groundnut and maize farmer in Kiryandongo District, who acquired a two-wheel walking tractor in 2017 says the multi-purpose hand pushed machine which can do the work of 10 able-bodied men, is the new hope. It is called a walking tractor because the person operating it has to walk behind it.
Before he bought the tractor in 2017, Nsereko says, he used to hire farm labourers each at Shs7,000 per day to till his land. This was accompanied by feeding costs as they went about their work.
All this changed when he visited a friend’s farm in Luweero.
“I realised I could save for farm input and invest in other farm activities. When I do not operate the tractor myself, I hire a labourer. I only buy fuel and the farm is ready for planting in just two days,” Nsereko says.
Davis Ngume, a farmer in Kamuli District describes the walking tractor as a weather resistant tool that is adaptable to any kind of environment.
“I use it for ploughing wetlands with ease to plant rice. Its metallic tyres do not get stuck in the mud yet on dry land I use rubber tyres,” Ngume says.
Silver bullet?
On average, a tractor costs about Shs33m which is pricey for most farmers, yet a walking tractor costs between Shs4m-8m.
According to Douglas Opio, the sales Manager at China North Machine on Jinja Road, the machine is designed with different specifications that make work easy.
For those farmers that work late in the night, it has head lights. It comes with ploughing discs yet its engine can also be used for drainage or small scale irrigation and cut animal feeds with its attached chaff cutter.
A trolley can also be attached on the tractor to pull up to one 350 kilogrammes of farm produce and inputs yet it is fuel efficient using about 0.8-one litre of diesel in an hour.
A complete walking tractor comes with an engine and a plough. Other accessories are sold separately.
Downsides
The walking tractor is not an efficient tool in hilly land with high inclines.
Since it has to be pushed, too much sunshine or rainfall reduces optimum performance from both machine and man.
