Daska cements itself as agricultural equipment hub

Machines manufactured to improve productivity at lower costs

DASKA:

Agricultural equipment manufactured in Daska is sold across all provinces and also exported to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Afghanistan and other countries.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Daska Engineering and Industrial Association President Asif Bajwa and Senior Vice President Usman Iqbal Mughal said that they were trying to introduce Pakistan to the global agricultural market through their products. They added that the agricultural implement industry in Daska was among the oldest, which had also been credited with developing the first diesel engine after London.

A local company has developed a state-of-the-art machine that costs around Rs1 million and simultaneously works as a plough, harrow, disc harrow, seed drill machine and leveler. It is capable of preparing and sowing about eight acres of land daily.

Local farmer Qazi Naeemullah said the machine was not only environmental friendly, but also capable of performing six different roles simultaneously. This saves both time and money, as the preparation of one acre of land through conventional means consumes 22 litres of diesel. The seeder machine consumes only nine litres of diesel, he added.

Moreover, there is no need to burn crop residue, since the seeder breaks down the residue into green manure, which protects wildlife and reduces smog.

Similarly, a zero tillage seed drill machine, which has a market price of Rs400,000, drills seeds and crop residue without preparation and can be used for sowing of wheat, maize, peas and gram. It also has the ability to drill and plant seeds over 20 acres of land per day. The machine has won several awards.

The rotavator, a common machine used in land preparation, is also manufactured locally and sold for Rs400,000. Among the machines used in land preparation, disc harrows cost Rs700,000, disc ploughs Rs350,000 and the discs and blades are available in the local market for Rs100,000.

Disc harrows are used to plough up to four inches of soil, while discs are used to plough up to seven inches. Both significantly increase the fertility and productivity of the land, a farmer said.

In addition, an auto-laser land leveler manufactured in the city is of particular importance among the agricultural implements with a market value of Rs1 million.

The industry leaders said every farmer should do laser leveling once a year for water level and seed depth control.

Local farmer Muhammad Irfan Alvi said the ancestor of the growers used to farm manually, but now the equipment helped do more work while saving time.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2023.