NANYUKI, Kenya/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – It’s ride-hailing, farm style. Deere & Co. (DE.N) is teaming up with the “Uber of tractors” in Africa and betting on a future where farmers summon machines with the touch of a button.
David Kayi, a Hello Tractor engineer, installs an application on a John Deere 5503 tractor, using the Hello Tractor technology that connects farmers with vehicles’ owners, at a hay farm in Umande village in Nanyuki, Kenya February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi
The world’s leading farm equipment maker is outfitting its tractors with startup Hello Tractor’s technology, which allows farmers to hail the machines via an app, monitors the vehicles’ movements and transmits usage information such as fuel levels.
The aim is to help the U.S. company boost sales of it famous green and yellow John Deere tractors, a tough task in a continent with the world’s highest poverty rate and the least mechanized agricultural sector.
Deere is currently testing the…
Source Reuters Tech News
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