Bolivia - Agricultural MachineryBolivia - Agricultural Machinery

Overview

Bolivia does not produce agricultural machinery.  Bolivia imports most machinery from the United States, China, Argentina, and Brazil.

Most commercial agriculture (farms operating on 50-5,000 hectares) is carried out in the department of Santa Cruz, in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia.  Agriculture in the western highlands is mainly carried out by small farmers (50 hectares or less). 
Although agriculture is more developed and mechanized in Santa Cruz, the use of modern agricultural technologies in Santa Cruz and in Bolivia in general is very restricted.  When compared with other countries, Bolivian agricultural yields are among the lowest in the region.  Farmers and the Bolivian government are attempting to improve the Bolivian agriculture sector and increase agricultural yields.

The Bolivian government, social movements (including coca unions, the confederation of rural workers’ unions, indigenous women’s groups, and the Unity Pact—a confederation of several indigenous organizations), and the private agriculture sector represented by industry, exporter, forestry, and agriculture business associations participated in an agriculture summit in April 2015.  The summit’s announced aims were to triple Bolivia’s agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) from $3 to $10 billion as part of the government’s efforts to make up Bolivia’s lost revenue from the fall in natural gas prices and increase domestic food production. Irrigation infrastructure and agricultural machinery were identified as key elements for the success of these goals, but progress towards these goals has been limited thus far.
 

*The Bolivian government does not provide estimates.
(total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)
Units: USD
Source: National Statistics Bureau (INE) 
 

Leading Sub-Sectors

Expocruz, Santa Cruz’s multi-sector trade fair, is the best opportunity to market agriculture machinery and equipment to medium/large Bolivian farming companies.
The best sub-sector prospects would be new and used agriculture machinery, including:

• Tractors

• Soil cultivation equipment such as:

  • Cultipackers

  • Chisel plows

  • Harrows (e.g. Spike harrow, Drag harrow, Disk harrow).

  • Plows, etc.

• Planting equipment and machinery, and no-till seeding equipment

• Harvesting machinery and equipment:

  • Harvesters (Soybean, Combine—grain—harvester/Stripper, Corn, Forage or silage, Cane harvester)

  • Grain cart (with built in Grain Auger)

  • Conveyor belts

  • Farm trucks

  • Grain dryers

  • Wagons (and variations of Gravity wagons, Trailers—e.g. Silage trailers, grain hopper trailers and lighter, two-wheeled Carts)

• Irrigation systems:

  • Drip irrigation/micro spray heads.

  • Localized irrigation sprinkler systems

  • Center pivot systems

Opportunities

Farmers’ requests at the 2015 agriculture summit that the Bolivian government improve current infrastructure and agriculture technology were well received by the government.  The requests included construction and maintenance of roads, as well as more government programs to improve the Bolivian agriculture sector with new technologies including new machinery, tractors and its implements.

The farmers also prioritized irrigation improvement, and the government agreed to declare 2015-2025 as the “irrigation decade” and promised significant investment in irrigation systems.  The Bolivian Vice President stated that the government will use all available resources in an effort to reach one million hectares of irrigated crop land, a personal goal of President Morales. 
Irrigation efforts will require several inputs, from pumps and machinery to dig channels, to more advanced techniques such as center pivot irrigation, localized irrigation sprinkler systems and efficient drip irrigation systems.
 

Web Resources

Bolivian Vice Ministry for Rural Development (In Spanish)
Oilseed and Wheat Producers Association of Bolivia (ANAPO) (In Spanish)