By Françios Kwatani

The Ministry of Agriculture says it is working on modalities to ensure that more farmers have access to machinery in order to increase productivity.

Ministry of Agriculture Public Relations Officer Gracian Lungu said the ministry procured tractors from Indian Mechanisation Facility project but due to financial challenges less than 80 tractors are in operation throughout the country.

“The treasury has allocated a sum of K800 million to the ministry which will be used in procuring new tractors that will be utilized in various farms by cooperatives through the Agricultural Commercialisation (AGCOM) project,” Lungu said.

“For a long time farmers in the country have experienced low production in their yields due to the use of hand hoeing, therefore having increased tractors will help many farmers.”

He further added that the ministry is in the process of fundraising from various stakeholders which is expected to be utilised in servicing farm machinery.