The INTA's Chango microtractor receives the Seal of Good Argentine Design

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The distinction is awarded by the National Secretariat of Small and Medium Enterprises. It prioritizes the incorporation of design management and the improvement of products and industrial processes. It is a system of multipurpose machines and tools, created to cover all the farming activities carried out on the small-scale farmers’ plots.

In the thirteenth edition of the Argentine Good Design Seal, the Chango Microtractor was awarded, designed by a team of researchers from INTA (IPAF Pampeana Region, Institute of Rural Engineering Research, and Hilario Ascasubi Agricultural Experimental Station). The ceremony took place yesterday at the Liberty Palace. There, distinctions were awarded to 478 selected products, and some of these innovations were showcased.

This distinction, in which a jury of 117 experts participated, was awarded through the “Design Plan” Program of the Ministry of Economy. Its objective is to strengthen industrial competitiveness and improve the placement opportunities of products in the national and international markets through the incorporation of design as a tool. “We understand that design is a tool for competitiveness in all industries. Each product has its own process of generating competitiveness, of generating innovation, of designing in both functional and aesthetic, commercial, and sustainable terms, and design drives all these differentiators,” explained Sebastián Feinsilber, coordinator of the National Design Plan.

The program includes two modalities and implementation tools: SMEs D and the Seal of Good Argentine Design. In this second category, the Chango microtractor was recognized within the agricultural machinery segment alongside developments from companies such as Crucianelli, Super Walter, Metalfor, and Ombú. Feinsilber detailed: “They are not just machines, but rather integrated agricultural systems, shaped by design. There is a lot of brainpower behind the development of these products, a lot of knowledge, and it is knowledge that is exported: Argentina is a great exporter of agricultural machinery.”

The Chango technology consists of a system of machine-tools that, connected to each other, allow for the mechanization of tasks in the 31 agri-food chains. “Chango targets a very specific niche. It is a significant development that has a lot of technology behind it and addresses a very specific need where the design contributes a key function,” said Feinsilber. The planning of the system involved unilaterally and integrally projecting each of the machine-tools and their relationships with Chango (physical, functional, constructive, and presentation).

“The planning required the design of a network of builders: 50 INTA nodes; a link with 40 SMEs supplying machines and tools; agreements with other areas of the science and technology system, such as the Industrial Design program at the National University of Rosario,” said Sergio Justianovich – researcher at IPAF Pampeano.

Justianovich detailed that the standardization of the set of machines and tools increased the flexibility of the system, multiplied the opportunities for combination, favored compatibility and consistency among machines, and increased the reliability of the products obtained (the assembly of the machines-tools is done at a distance in space and time).

From INTeA S.A., in its role as a driving agent of technological innovation projects with commercial potential, they implemented actions to coordinate with the private sector to ensure that the Chango becomes a product and, therefore, is adopted by the productive sector. In this way, through an agreement with the company Nievas Argentina, INTeA S.A. is already marketing technology in horticultural, livestock, and yerba mate production systems. It has commercial representatives in Mar del Plata, La Plata, and is about to open in Chubut, Mendoza, and Rosario.

According to Fernando López, general manager of INTeA, “the development of the commercial product Chango took time and required coordination between INTA, INTeA, and Nievas. We had to create spaces to reconcile business perspectives with scientific and technological ones, agree on how to make adjustments that would allow us to manufacture the technology at scale, and jointly evaluate the costs and benefits of different commercial strategies to promote the adoption of the technology. Bringing a technological development to market is a difficult path, but at the same time, it is a motivating challenge for INTeA.”

INTeA S.A. promotes the creation and scaling of technology-based projects that capitalize on the knowledge and developments of INTA, making strategic investments alongside other companies or investment funds to encourage technology transfer and generate value. This is implemented through a series of stages that accompany the construction of the product.

Multipurpose tractor
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Chango is a microtractor with two forward speeds and an independently driven power take-off. Due to its great simplicity of manufacture, it is equipped with a 4.5 HP engine, and all its functional packages are of national origin.

This development aims to improve the efficiency of production processes and achieve better working conditions. Chango was designed to mechanize stationary tasks, such as operating grinders or pumps, and dynamic tasks, such as: handling, transportation, and storage; supplying fertilizer and water; soil preparation and conservation; sowing and planting; and harvesting, among other tasks. Typologically, the structure of the unit resembles that of a motor cultivator. However, the uniqueness lies in the fact that the engine and a large part of the transmission components are located within the circumference described by the wheel.

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