Farmers just love to feel, experience and look at farming equipment, tools and accessories. The fifth Agritech Expo, recently held in Chisamba, offered farmers this opportunity. Large numbers of farmers flocked to the show to see the live demonstrations and items on display. Despite a few challenges, Spintelligent, the organisers, had to defy, the show was a resounding success.

Some of the many exhibitors who caught our attention were:

The Czech Republic Ministry of Agriculture and Agriserve Agro have a steady partnership and joined efforts to host a pavilion close to the entrance. Some of the equipment and services they have to offer are Zetor tractors and implements from Farmet and ZDT. Breeding Impuls supplies serious cattle breeders with top genetics. On top of the tractor bucket are Michal Basovník from Breeding Impuls and Tereza Černá from the Czech Republic Ministry of Agriculture. In front of the tractor are Roland Cernohorsky from the Czech Ministry of Agriculture; Eliot Banda from AgriServe Agro; Xander Pieterse from ProAgri and Ing. Jindřich Fousek from ZDT.

Michris Janse van Rensburg from Backsavers demonstrates his innovative planting and fertilising equipment for smallholder farmers at the ETG stand.

T-L Irrigation build their pivots with high strength truss rods and implement a double tower-leg design. All the outside components are galvanised to prevent rust. A lot of thinking and careful design went into their pivots to the benefit of irrigation farmers.

A Zambian farmer can easily lay his hands on any pump from KSB’s extensive range. Their Lusaka branch can order any product manufactured in their 33 factories around the world and deliver it within a very reasonable time. Their borehole pumps promise to make a farmer’s vertical suction needs a pleasure and their end suction pumps are very popular in irrigation systems. Hardingtone Siame and Fanus Terblanche from KSB Zambia displayed a few of their pumps at Agritech.

Greensulf 35 is a granulated fertiliser from Omnia that contains nitrogen, sulphur and calcium in plant available form. Kobus Smith, Director of Sales and Marketing from Omnia, firmly believes in his products – and he has the results to prove it.

Adam Nyaka, James Kennedy, Hassan Konde and Leonard Nedzeiwe from Eggtech and Powerback are experts in the manufacturing of chicken and solar products. The de-feathering machine on the left can take four chickens at a time and clean them in less than two minutes. In the middle is a solar and battery powered fridge and on the right is a self-turning incubator which takes 1 100 chicken eggs or 2 720 quail eggs. They also offer brooders and smaller hand turning incubators to smaller farmers.

Besides Yamahas, Best of Bikes also sells the Jailing motorbike brand. Their latest model boasts many new features. It has a gear indicator on the speedometer, a choke control in front, an electric starter, kick starter, and hydraulic breaks on the front wheels. The headlamp is covered in a shell to protect it and the engine is much stronger. Jordan Chilufya is the Workshop Manager of Best of Bikes and Xander Pieterse is from ProAgri.