A typical African with a hoe in the hand is the default symbol of Agriculture in Africa, and now with our population expected to double by 2050, the continent must ditch rudimentary farming in favor of mechanization and modern technology, which will complete the same tasks far more efficiently, thereby improving general farm yields.
Purchasing a tractor is out of the question for most smallholder farmers and is synonymous with asking financially average individuals to purchase airplanes or helicopters because they travel frequently by air. However, paying for tractor services is within reach. As a tractor owner, with Hello Tractor technology, farmers within your network can now have access to timely and affordable mechanization services that enhance their productivity on the field for higher yields and profits. We outline below some of the ways through which Hello Tractor technology supports smallholder farmers to do better on the farm.
Purchasing a tractor is out of the question for most smallholder farmers. However, paying for tractor services is within reach.
1. Timely Farm Operations to Increase Yields
Timely farm operations are key to yielding promising results in terms of enhanced productivity. By using Hello Tractor connected tractors, smallholder farms are able to carry out large farm operations more efficiently within a short period of time. This is because Hello Tractor app allows farmers to be paired with the closest available tractors and this enables the farmers to carry out timely operations such as harrowing, tilling, planting, harvesting, etc, all of which are very crucial for farming and this in turn leads to reaping a more bountiful harvest and earning more money due to an increase in yield.
2. Labor Cost Reduction
Mechanization leads to a significant reduction in the cost of agricultural operations per unit output. Farmers who use Hello Tractor services do so at ⅓ the cost of doing land preparation operations manually. Our technology also enables tractor owners to gain a better understanding of what the costs are, which allows them to provide better pricing systems that are favorable to the farmer
3. Easier access to a tractor
What is awesome about Hello Tractor is that we are committed to providing easy access to tractor services to farmers. Through our booking app, we create the opportunity to bring these services closer to smallholder farmers in a very systematic and organized manner. Traditionally, this has occurred through word of mouth and poorly coordinated referrals: a friend of a friend knows a farmer in need of plowing and sends her to a tractor owner, cooperative or hiring association that may or may not be able to deliver service but, because of our booking app, tractors can now be easily deployed to farmers.
Farmers who use Hello Tractor services do so at ⅓ the cost of doing land preparation operations manually
4. Extension Services from Hello Tractor Booking Agents
Most smallholder farmers in Subsaharan Africa have low literacy and this is where Hello Tractor agents come in. Our Booking Agents are trained to assist these farmers by booking the nearest available tractors, using their smartphones. They also advise these farmers on modern agricultural practices that can improve their farm yields.
5. Maximize the use of arable land
When tractors are not available, farmers cannot make full use of their land; either they will not fully cultivate their plots or parts of their crop yields will rot before they are able to harvest. By getting easy access to our tractor services, farmers are able to farm on a larger scale because work becomes faster and easier and this helps them to cultivate larger areas in a short space of time, thereby increasing productivity.
6. Insights on ideal planting times
Projected weather conditions such as an increase in temperature, a change in precipitation patterns, a change in extreme weather, etc may all result in reduced crop productivity. However, Hello Tractor bridges this gap by informing farmers, through our app, of likely weather conditions prior to the use of mechanization services. This goes a long way towards preventing crop loss and other wastage.
When tractors are not available, farmers cannot make full use of their land
7. Fleet Expansion to reach more farmers
Subscribing to Hello Tractor’s SaaS platform provides tractor owners with much needed insights and visibility into a tractor’s activities on the field, hereby granting good understanding of profit margins and allowing owners easily make decisions to expand their fleet to service even more farmers for higher yields.
8. Increased service quality
An automated feedback loop allows owners to understand a farmer’s satisfaction with an operator’s performance and take appropriate steps to ensure the best quality of service for farmers which directly impacts on their yields.
9. Disease management
With Hello Tractor’s easy and accessible tractor services, human interference is greatly reduced on the farmlands thereby minimizing the transfer of harmful pests and diseases which can hamper crop growth thereby reducing yield
Mechanization is crucial for maximum productivity on the farm but has been neglected in the context of developing countries for far too long. If we are going to be able to feed our population in a few years to come, then we need to continually think of ways to support the smallholder farmer’s efforts on the farm, and we believe the points outlined above are a good place to start.