Yanmar, ACI Motors to assemble combined harvester locally

Japanese agro-machineries producer Yanmar and Bangladesh’s ACI Motors join hands to assemble Yanmar’s signature product, combined harvesters in Bangladesh, said a press release by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Representatives from both the companies expressed their interest in the current endeavour while paying a visit to Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at his office in the capital on Tuesday.

As per our market analysis, Bangladesh has a high demand for combined harvesters, and that is why we are planning to expand our business here, said the representatives in the press release.

Considering the product’s growing popularity and demand, we decided to assemble combined harvesters through a joint venture, they said.

“Some 1,600-1,700 Yanmar’s combined harvesters had been imported so far. Moreover, an additional 1,000 units are scheduled to be imported next year, said F H Ansarey, managing director and CEO of ACI Agribusiness, told The Business Post. 

“Farmers of the country have more than 3,000 combined harvesters of four different models at their disposal currently, most of which are from the Yanmar brand,” Ansarey said.

“We have a plan to start manufacturing these machines by 2024. However, until we gather technical expertise, Yanmar and Bangladesh Agricultural University collaboratively work with local engineers, and technicians so that they can gather the technical know-how of manufacturing the machine,” he said.

“We are properly equipped and capacitated to assemble the machine locally. However, considering the risk factors, we want to begin on a small scale,” Ansarey added.

During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said, “We are prioritizing manufacturing agro-machineries locally. The venture will receive all the cooperation from the government.

“We are experiencing a shortage of human resources during the ongoing Boro season. Traditional farming is expensive and time-consuming. For this reason, the government is providing up to 70 per cent subsidy in agro-machineries to the farmers,” the minister said.

“If a farmer wants to buy a combined harvester, he can get up to 50 per cent price subsidy from the government. The subsidy will move up to 70 per cent based on the farmers’ geographical location,” he added.