Posted on Feb 11, 2023
The glam makeovers of Pakistan's tractors show how much farmers cherish them
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/11/ [login to see] /the-glam-makeovers-of-pakistans-tractors-show-how-much-farmers-cherish-them
There's a cache of Pakistani songs that celebrate the enormous tractors that are ubiquitous throughout the country, like this boppy tune by musician Mehboob Hussain Naaz, "I plough my field with my Russi tractor and then I meet you, my beloved."
These cheery, cherry-red beasts are known as "Russian tractors," which geographically, is close — they're from Russia's neighbor to the west, Belarus, which has been a global powerhouse of tractor production since Soviet days. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko even gave Russia's Vladimir Putin a tractor for his 70th birthday last October.
These Soviet-designed vehicles are now an integral part of farming in rural Pakistan, where they've made many landowners rich.
There's a cache of Pakistani songs that celebrate the enormous tractors that are ubiquitous throughout the country, like this boppy tune by musician Mehboob Hussain Naaz, "I plough my field with my Russi tractor and then I meet you, my beloved."
These cheery, cherry-red beasts are known as "Russian tractors," which geographically, is close — they're from Russia's neighbor to the west, Belarus, which has been a global powerhouse of tractor production since Soviet days. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko even gave Russia's Vladimir Putin a tractor for his 70th birthday last October.
These Soviet-designed vehicles are now an integral part of farming in rural Pakistan, where they've made many landowners rich.
The glam makeovers of Pakistan's tractors show how much farmers cherish them
Posted from npr.org
Pakistan
Minsk
Farming
Agriculture
Russia
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Young boys excitedly crowd near the track — so close that they leap out of the way of galloping horses. Many of these riders are landowners or their sons, their fortunes built on the backs of those Belarusian tractors.
One of those riding sons is 25-year-old Chaudry Zahoor.
His family owns 20 acres of land. They plant sugarcane — and harvest it with the aid of their Belarusian tractor. He boasts that his riding team, the Husna Punjab Tent Pegging Club, has won two rounds of races so far. They all wear matching sky-blue vests and turbans. Zahoor's horse is also decked out, draped with ornate silver necklaces studded with blue stones and jangly bells wrapped around its neck.
He pats the horse and laughs, "You should see my tractor – it's even more decorated than the horse."
Additional reporting by Fazelminallah Qazizai in Kabul contributed to this story."
..."Young boys excitedly crowd near the track — so close that they leap out of the way of galloping horses. Many of these riders are landowners or their sons, their fortunes built on the backs of those Belarusian tractors.
One of those riding sons is 25-year-old Chaudry Zahoor.
His family owns 20 acres of land. They plant sugarcane — and harvest it with the aid of their Belarusian tractor. He boasts that his riding team, the Husna Punjab Tent Pegging Club, has won two rounds of races so far. They all wear matching sky-blue vests and turbans. Zahoor's horse is also decked out, draped with ornate silver necklaces studded with blue stones and jangly bells wrapped around its neck.
He pats the horse and laughs, "You should see my tractor – it's even more decorated than the horse."
Additional reporting by Fazelminallah Qazizai in Kabul contributed to this story."
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