Our Challenges
Supporting the Development of High-potential Agriculture in Latin America by Deepening Relationships of Trust with Local Dealers
Latin America is the birthplace of many agricultural products, including tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, bell peppers, strawberries, and cacao. The region has long been exporting agricultural products to Europe, and even today, the cultivation of crops for export continues to thrive. But more needed to be done in terms of modernizing the region’s agricultural machinery. Agriculture is one of the important industries that support the economies of countries in Latin America. In order to make it more profitable, there is a need for more agricultural machinery so as to improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural products. Some countries are members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has raised expectations for Japan to play a role in this.
Kubota’s first foray into Latin America was in 1979 in Colombia. However, the company did not make a full-scale entry into the region until 2013. This was when the company called on distributors in Latin American countries to hold the Latin American Conference.*1 Since then, tractor sales in Latin America have grown steadily from about 1,000 units (2013) to about 2,600 units (2018). Therefore, in order to make Kubota more known to farmers in Latin America, we established KMX, a local subsidiary, in Mexico in 2017. There is not much of a time difference between Mexico and other countries in Latin America, and with the exception of Brazil, they all speak Spanish, making them an important site for Kubota to gather useful information on the ground and provide support to distributors and farmers.
Papaya farms in Mexico are one example of the initiatives Kubota has taken in the region. Mexico is the world’s foremost papaya producer, and it is an important agricultural product for export that supports the Mexican economy. A certain papaya farmer in Mexico was struggling with the low productivity of his crop, as ten people were needed for fumigation*2 and harvesting, and the papayas were often damaged during transportation by delivery trucks. Our local staff caught wind of his plight and proposed the introduction of two tractors for the fumigation and harvesting operations. As a result, the fumigation and harvesting work can now be performed by two people, and the damage has been reduced. Likewise, work hours, harvesting losses, and production costs were reduced, and overall quality and productivity were improved. Kubota aims to support the economic development of Latin American countries by working closely with farmers to solve their individual problems and help them live a more abundant life.
- *1Latin America Conference: A conference that has been held since 2013 to bring together distributors in Latin America. It has great significance in Kubota’s cultivation of the Latin American market.
- *2Fumigation: The process of applying insecticide and disinfecting agricultural products by fumigating them with chemicals in order to protect them from pests and molds.
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