The Rwandan government said it is starting necessary documentation to fast-track procurement of 120-horsepower multi-purpose bob-tractors, assembled in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The second counsellor, at the Rwandan High Commission to Nigeria, Vianney Rubagumya, disclosed this in Port Harcourt, while speaking at the unveiling of the bob-tractor, which was assembled by an indigenous firm, Bobtractors Nigeria Limited.
Rubagumya said: “The President of Rwanda has received reports on the versatility of the 120 horsepower bob-tractors manufactured and assembled in Port Harcourt and adapted to the African weather for mechanized farming.
“He therefore specifically directed that top officers of the Rwandan High Commission must be at the unveiling of bob-tractors.”
He explained that the Rwandan Government is taking mechanised agriculture as the tonic for massive food production to feed its people and also export to other countries in East Africa and Europe.
The diplomat revealed that his government has been in talks with Ibifiri BobManuel, managing director of Bob Tractors Nigeria Limited.
Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, BobManuel described the tractor as “a multipurpose game changer for mechanised farming and agribusiness.’’ He added that he and his team stayed for five years in America where the 120 horsepower bob-tractors were designed.
He said they are now manufactured and assembled in Port Harcourt and specifically made for the Nigerian tropical weather and the African terrain.
Bobmanuel said: “Bob-tractors, unlike those imported from Europe that develop faults and pack up easily due to overheating because of the ever-hot tropical weather can withstand tough terrain.
“The newly inaugurated bob-tractors are the answers and game changers to the need of mechanized farming in Nigeria because it works as Harvester, Planter, bush clearing and so on, easy to maintain because the parts are readily available. You don’t need to import the parts from Europe.”
He described mechanised agriculture as an untapped gold mine waiting to be explored, and more revenue-yielding compared to oil and gas.
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