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Case IH marks first customer handover in Myanmar

Release Date: 30 Jan 2018
Case IH marks first customer handover in Myanmar
With ambitions to triple output-per-acre, a farm in Bago Region is the first in Myanmar to adopt the industry-leading Austoft® 8000 sugarcane harvester.

Case IH, a global leader in agricultural equipment, is expanding its international presence by entering Myanmar. The first Case IH machine to go into operation in the country, an Austoft 8000 Series sugarcane harvester, was recently delivered to the 6,000-acre farm of the Shwe Pyay Myay agricultural company near Pyay in Bago Region. The harvester was supplied by Case IH’s authorised distributor, CPCL (Convenience Prosperity Co Ltd.), who will also provide technical training and servicing support.

The Shwe Pyay Myay farm has medium-term ambitions to expand the districts sugar operation by 20,000 acres and an immediate goal to improve productivity through increased mechanisation and adoption of the best-performing agricultural equipment.

The founder and manager of the farm, New Zealander Murray James Linton, said: “We are continually increasing our mechanisation because it’s more productive than manual labour, and because labour is getting more difficult to find as the younger generation moves away from rural areas. We’ve also made this investment because we want to make a significant increase in our sugarcane output, from 20 tonnes per acre to 50 or 60 tonnes per acre.

One of the ways we can increase our yield, in addition to controlling water supply and drainage, is by improving management of weeds. In addition to controlling weeds as compared to hand harvesting, it’s a big help that the Austoft allows us to plant our sugarcanes in double rows, with 30cm in-row spacing and a total of 1.5-metres inter-row spacing. We also chose the Austoft because we need a machine that performs well, is made well, and is reliable. We’re looking forward to putting it to work.”

Meeting the demands of sugar mills

The Case IH Austoft 8000 Series is able to harvest fields with single rows with a 1.5-metre spacing or double rows at a maximum spacing of 60cm. Designed for large scale operations growing high-yield sugar cane varieties, it is capable in ideal conditions of harvesting up to 100 tonnes per hour.

The Austoft 8000’s exceptional performance is due to a combination of factors: the powerful 353 hp engine, which has Smart Cruise to reduce fuel consumption and place less stress on the hydraulic system; 45-degree crop dividers with outer spirals; an Antivortex cleaning system in the primary extractor; a high chopper speed of 205 rpm; and the large dimensions of the chopper, base-cutter discs and feed rollers.

Harvesting efficiency is further enhanced on the Austoft 8000 Series by Cruise Control, which provides automatic control and memorisation of ground speed, increasing harvesting efficiency. The integrated Auto Tracker, which automatically controls base-cutter depth, ensures a precise and uniform base-cut with minimum cane loss. This reduces stool root damage by an average of 27%, reduces root ripping at row-ends by 28%, and reduces overall cane losses by an impressive 63%.

Case IH: 175 years’ history and more than 50 years’ experience in the sugarcane industry

Case IH has a rich history that dates back to 1842, when founder Jerome Increase Case created a revolutionary threshing machine to speed up the separation of grain after harvest. Today Case IH produces a wide range of agricultural equipment which is used globally, and has an increasing presence in South East Asia.

Sugarcane production in South East Asia has risen steadily, to keep pace with demand, to about 195 million tonnes per year. Agriculture is the backbone of the Myanmar economy, contributing to 38% of gross domestic product and accounting for 25% to 30% of total export earnings, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The quantity of sugarcane produced in the nation grew continuously from 1995 to 2002 but for the last 15 years has remained more or less unchanged, except for the effects of seasonal weather variations, at 6.5m to 7.5m tonnes. There is huge potential for improving productivity through mechanisation.

Case IH has a good understanding of what it takes to meet these challenges, thanks to more than 50 years’ experience in the sugarcane industry. The Case IH Austoft 8000 Series has earned the trust of farmers across South East Asia for its excellent performance and productivity. The Austoft’s Smart Cruise technology automatically adjusts engine RPM and reduces fuel consumption up to 0.7 litres of fuel per tonne of cane billet. These machines have revolutionised sugarcane harvesting by significantly reducing the field-to-factory time and wastage during harvesting.

Yangon, January 2018
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