Makerere University have unveiled a three-wheeled tractor made of wood and steel, which in addition to ploughing fields can be used to transport harvests, pump water for irrigation, thresh maize, and charge phones.
Prof Noble Banadda, who led the team that designed the tractor, branded MV Mulimi, confirmed that it had all the five functionalities fully installed and well tested.
“It can pump water from depths of up to seven metres to a distance of of 33 metres away from the source. This means that the tractor can be used for irrigation,” he said.
Multifunctional
Dr. Banadda also confirmed that MV Mulimi can thresh 500Kg of maize in eight hours, and can carry up to 2000Kg (2t) of produce.
“It also has a power outlet for charging mobile phones by simply plugging in the AC charger,” added Dr Nicholas Kigundu, one of the project lead researchers.
The prototype is reported to have cost approximately US$9,000 (KSh900,000) but the tractor could cost as little as US$5,000 (KSh500,000), when released for markets.