The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not an easy place to farm. The roads and other infrastructure are inadequate due to the past conflict and current political instability. But the country is regarded as a farming paradise. The outstanding soil quality and climate make it a place any crop farmer can only dream of. With the food shortage reaching crisis levels, brave farmers will accept the challenge to take their chances in this wilderness.

Tresford Mukuka has a farming career of 31 years behind him. Two years ago he joined Mashamba Enterprises to run their maize production. The farm is 30 km from Lubumbashi, which is 120 km from the Zambian border. They managed to deforest and plant 700 ha of maize the first year and last season they increased it to 1 300 ha. This year they aim to plant a total of 3 600 ha.

Initially, they had to use very robust planters to defy the rocks and roots, but last season decided to embrace the precision way.

Tresford approached AG Machinery Services who imports Equalizer planters manufactured by Theebo Tech (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. Being very satisfied with what they have to offer, Mashamba Enterprise bought a brand new 12 row Equalizer planter with a 5 ton granular fertiliser tank, which uses an air and vacuum system to place the seed and fertiliser.

Tresford said they can already see the good profits this planter will ensure for them. He worked with many other planters during his career, but the Equalizer impresses him a lot and despite the harsh conditions, it is made to last. “We still found a lot of surprises beneath the soil, which was a challenge, but the planter works fantastically. Our accuracy today is between 95% and 98% and the skips and doubles became insignificant,” he says.

The planter runs with ease behind a 186 kW tractor and maintains a speed of 12 km per hour.

An Equalizer planter can boast about the following:

• Extremely tough and strong planter that can take whatever Africa throws at it.
• It has a hydraulic tyne option.
• Precision Planting seed metering units ensure very accurate seeding, no matter what the speed.
• Huge fertiliser bins ensure you have reduced filling time.
• Fertiliser calibrations are easy and quick.
• Ability to apply different types of fertiliser through three separate bins.
• Able to upgrade to hydraulic/electrical drive to meet any farmer’s expectations.
• State of the art planter monitor options – Precision planting 20/20 monitor – takes planter monitoring to a new level.

“Andrew Mower from AG Machinery Services is my agent and technical supporter. He is situated in Kabwe. He delivered and calibrated the planter himself and helped us with all the technicalities until it was up and running. When we order spares, AG Machinery Services promptly ships it from Kabwe which is 430 km from here,” Tresford says.

“In Zambia we already sold many Equalizer planters. Farmers and farming enterprises like Zambeef, Musiyibi Farms, Amatheon Agri, Montique Farms and Deere Farms are some of our satisfied clients,” Marlize Enslin from AG Machinery Services says. “We are very proud to be the importers and distributors of Equalizer planters in Zambia and the prompt and supreme support from Theebo Tech empowers us to assist any farmer, whether he is located in Zambia or under the difficult circumstances in the DRC.”

Precision planting with an Equalizer planter is the next level in profitable farming. Contact Andrew Mower on +26 (0) 97-393- 6092 or Marlize Enslin at +26 (0) 97-365-7141 or send her an e-mail to agmachineryservices@gmail.com for more information.

Equalizer designed the tine below every row unit to move back and over obstacles in its way.