On April 28, the director of tractor sales at Agrale, Flavio Crosa, signed an agreement between Brazil and Zimbabwe for the sale of 320 Agrale 575.4 tractors, as part of the Mais Alimentos Internacional program. The Rio Grande do Sul-based Agrale becomes the first company in Brazil to sign a commercial agreement under the international edition of the program.

The ceremony took place during the Agrishow 2014, held in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, in which the Secretary at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agricultural Development, Mechanization and Irrigation, Ringson Chitsiko, Brazil’s Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rosseto, and the representative from the Ministry of Agrarian Development, Gabriel Leão, participated.

According to Flavio Crosa, this is one of the most important export agreements signed by the company. “Today we have become the first company in the agricultural sector to sign a sales agreement under the Mais Alimentos Internacional program. The objective of the program is to increase production and productivity of family-run businesses in the countries covered by it and to strengthen the agricultural machinery and equipment industry in Brazil by encouraging technological research and innovation. The entire deal will be assisted by our representative in Zimbabwe, Zimtractors, which will provide technical assistance and after-sales service,” Mr. Crosa added.

The recently launched Line 500 represents a new generation of tractors from Agrale that retain the features highly acclaimed by farmers. Available in 65 hp and 75 hp engine versions, it is the only one in the category that comes with factory equipped synchronized transmission, with inverter and super reducer, all of which reduce driver fatigue and increase productivity in operations that require a great deal of maneuvering and high performance at low speeds.

The Mais Alimentos Program

Launched in Brazil in 2008, the Mais Alimentos (More Food) Program has provided Brazilian family-run businesses with access to technology, low interest rates and longer repayment terms. The results are evident from increased productivity and, consequently, higher incomes for these producers all over Brazil.

The Mais Alimentos Internacional program was launched in 2010 to establish a technical cooperation channel that emphasizes food production by family farmers as the path to food and nutritional security in the participating countries.

The initiative offers financing opportunities for technology that is adapted to the social and environmental realities of local family farmers in order to increase the production and productivity of rural enterprises. At present, five countries have signed agreements with Brazil: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Senegal, Ghana and Cuba.