- FMD recognizes that price is a factor that cannot be ignored when purchasing farm equipment.
- It is important to be armed with data to distinguish between copies of real good products and the genuine equipment.
- Farmers who have experienced the poor performance of copies of farm machinery carrying famous brand labels realize that instead of buying cheap equipment, or copies, it pays to go for genuine products which will give years of service with regular low cost maintenance.
As there have been good harvests in many parts of Kenya there is a growing number of farmers who already own a tractor and a plough and want to buy other farm equipment to mechanize with the object of improving productivity and in some cases to cultivate more land.
Inevitably price is a major factor for them when they purchase implements. Some of these farmers contact individuals and organizations offering refurbished ploughs and harrows at a fraction of the price of the new equipment supplied by distributors.
A significant number of these cheaper ploughs and harrows have discs made with low quality that are mild steel based consequently the equipment has a short working life and often lasts for only one season before major expense is required Another snag for farmers trying to minimize the cost of investing in additional equipment is the recent proliferation of imitation farm implements.
Farmers who have experienced the poor performance of copies of items carrying famous brand labels express their disappointment to authorized distributors. They then realize that instead of buying cheap implements, or copies, it pays to go for genuine products which will give years of service with regular low cost maintenance.
Fergus Robley, the General Manager of Farm Machinery Distributors (FMD), the sole distributor of Massey Ferguson tractors and Baldan implements in Keadvises farmers to take care to check whether they are faced with a copy, or the genuine product.
He explains that in the case of a Massey Ferguson product the prospective buyer should look for the AGCO decal plate that shows the serial number.
When considering an item purporting to be Baldan equipment it is vital to find the QR code that can be scanned by a smart phone to verify if it is a genuine Baldan product. He explained, “Baldan products have been available in Kenya since 1976 and from 2006 they have been purpose built for local conditions. The high specification ploughs have durable discs made from top quality metal and strong bearings with exceptional grease seals. Unlike the copies, all Baldan products carry a one year warranty”.
While the imitation equipment has no spares and service backing, FMD supports customers with after sales service by technicians who are highly trained by the manufacturers, and these technicians visit owners after the equipment is bought from and delivered by the Company. Customers have piece of mind during ownership as there are sufficient stocks of genuine spares available from FMD outlets in Nakuru, Nairobi, Eldoret and Narok.
FMD East Africa, is a leading machinery distributor providing a one stop shop for Massey Ferguson tractors and harvesters and Baldan, Jacto, Grimme, Nogueira and Enorossi implements.
