Directorate of Mechanisation And Agricultural Engineering
The Directorate of Agricultural Engineering is situated within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) and is positioned to support the ministry to meet its’ vision, mission and goal to address the food security challenges in the country through employing correct policies and strategies that create a vibrant agricultural mechanization sector development across the country. The directorate is tasked with the development of policies that are capable to induce mechanized agricultural operations and systems and that could allow for increased agricultural production and productivity and hence to improve the food security condition, economic growth and livelihoods of the people of South Sudan. In light of this, the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering is therefore mandated to effectively govern policies, regulations and laws related to the management and application of new technology on agricultural machinery, and other relevant farm powers with the aim of Increasing crop production and productivity through vertical or horizontal expansion of the area under cultivation.
Functions of the Directorate
- Initiation, formulation, Implementation and review of agricultural Engineering Policies
- Ensure the availability and adoption of appropriate Agricultural Engineering Technologies in the Country.
- Make Farming sustainable, safe and Environmentally Friendly.
- Management and Application of farm operations (Farm Power) by the use of new technologies and methods to increase yields, improve land use, and conserve resources like seeds, water, fertilizers, pesticides and fuel
- Capacity Building Programs and Training in all the Agricultural Engineering disciplines for Agricultural Engineers and technicians in the country.
- Innovation and design of various farm machinery and implements.
- Location and planning of farm structures, farm drainage, soil management and erosion control.
- Ensure water supply and Irrigation.
- Rural Electrification.
- Industrialization and processing of agricultural farm produce.
- Increase Agricultural production and productivity by increasing the area under cultivation through the application of efficient and effective agricultural mechanization.
Engineer Martin Makur Marial was born in 1967. He holds a master’s degree in Agronomy Engineering from the University of Ciego de Avila, Cuba in 1999. Before that he obtained a Technical Degree in Agronomy from the Polytechnique Institute of Agronomy, Cuba in 1992. He is a registered PhD student at the Guelph University in Canada.
While at the Polytechnique Institute, Eng. Martin worked to transplant fruits, vegetables and used mechanized ploughing and harrowing on farms in Cuba between 1992 and 1993. While studying for his masters, he worked at a sugarcane farm as a mechanical engineer in Cuba. Upon graduating with his masters, he worked as an agronomy engineer in honey and seeds farms in Canada in 2006.
He returned to South Sudan in 2007 and joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry where he was appointed Director for Mechanization in acting capacity. In 2013 he was confirmed as the Director for Engineering up to 2016 when he was elevated to the position of Director General for Agricultural Engineering.
For more information, contact:
Mr. Martin Makur Marial, Director General for Agricultural Mechanization
Email: makurmartin@gmail.com
Tel: +211923492024/929519770
Structure of the Directorate
