The Government says it is set to seal a US$170 million deal to buy close to 4 000 high-tech tractors and combine harvesters from Belarus.
The chief director for Agricultural Engineering, Mechanisation and Soil Conservation in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Engineer Edwin Zimunga, told The Sunday Mail that the combine harvesters will be procured at concessional rates under the third phase of the Belarus Farm Mechanisation Facility.
Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister, Piotr Parkhomchik, was in Zimbabwe recently to finalise the deal, which was secured by President Mnangagwa during his State visit to Minsk in 2018.
Zimbabwe has procured 1 337 tractors and combine harvesters through the facility. The bulk of the farming implements has since been delivered. Said Zimunga:
We are working round the clock to make sure that we modernise and mechanise our agriculture for improved production with less human labour.
The current deal, which we are working on, will see us receive at least 3 750 tractors and 60 more combine harvesters from our Belarusian friends.
With the coming on board of this US$169,9 million deal and other facilities, we want to push our tractor fleet to about 15 000 by the year 2025. This is a concessional deal in which governments capacitate each other.
In this case, with the experience Belarus has, they are sharing that knowledge with us so that we improve our agriculture sector.
Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is scheduled to be in Zimbabwe in December on an official visit.