2018 figures indicate a decline in sales of new tractors in Europe, China and Turkey, and growth in the US and India.

The Fendt Momentum planter is not only one of the largest, but also one of the smartest on the market.

The agricultural mechanisation rate in SSA is the lowest in the world. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Agricultural Machinery Association, roughly 65% of land preparation is done manually by labourers in SSA, compared with around 40% in East Asia, 30% in South Asia and 25% in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The notable annual decline in South Africa’s agricultural machinery sales in March 2019 is unsurprising, and mainly a function of base effects. March 2018 was an exceptional month, particularly for tractor sales, which reached a record level of 726 units in a dataset starting from 2014.

To meet that challenge, agricultural businesses are pinning their hopes on technology, and that idea that increasingly sophisticated data and analytics tools will help to drive efficiencies and cut waste in agriculture and food production.

According to records by the South African Agricultural Machinery Association (SAAMA) that stated that for the period 1 January to 28 February 2019, tractor sales of 914 units and combine harvester sales of 19 units were respectively 20,5% and 34,5% lower than the 1 150 tractors and 29 combine harvesters sold over the same period in 2018. The news figures will be available soon.