Development and Evaluation of Manually Operated Seed Broadcaster J. O. Awulu 1, J. Audu 2, G. Nuhu 3 1, 2, 3 Department of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria 1 jawulu@yahoo.com; 2 audujoh@gmail.com Abstract-Sowing small seeds is operated manually by small-scale farmers which normally results in poor distribution of the planted seeds. In a bid to solve the problems associated with manual seed broadcasting, an affordable manually operated seed broadcaster has been designed and constructed. The seed broadcaster is made from locally available materials comprising supporting frame, a hopper, bevel gears, bearings, spreading disc, seed opening (shut-off lid), shaft, manual rotating handle and a belt for fastening to the body. The field performance of this device was evaluated by testing it on paddy, guinea corn, and soya bean seeds. The capacity of the device is 7068.6cm 3. The device has a net weight of 6.25kg. Breakage efficiency increases with the decrease in size of seeds broadcasted while discharge efficiency increased with increase in the size of seeds broadcasted. Broken efficiency of the device was 2.7%, 8.3% and 10% for soya bean, paddy and guinea corn respectively while discharge efficiency was 91.7%, 92% and 97.5% for paddy, guinea corn and soya bean respectively. This device provides leverage in lifting the agricultural productivity in the area of quick broadcasting. Keywords- Development; Seed; Broadcaster; Evaluation I. INTRODUCTION Various types of machines can be used to plant seed in the soil. There are variations in sizes and shapes of different crops. Some are small like those of millet, some are medium size for instance sorghum, wheat and some are relatively large e.g. maize, groundnut etc [1]. The recommended method of growing each crop also varies. For example, yam, maize and cotton are grown in ridges, while wheat and barley are best cultivated on flat. Some crops are grown from seeds; some are reproduced by planting cuttings from the stem of pruning crop, for example, cassava and sugarcane. Some crops like rice and vegetable could be planted directly in the field or raised up in a nursery bed before transplanting. Broadcasting of seeds is simple, cheap and can be done by hands or machines. It is used for small seeds which require shallow sowing depth. To obtain equal sowing, fine seeds are mixed with sand up till 7 times the volume of the seed [2]. Normally, after broadcasting a harrow or a rake is used to cover the seeds to improve the contact between seeds and soil, a roller can be used. In spite of all that, therefore an additional 15-20% of seeds are needed to achieve the desired planting density [2]. One of the disadvantages of broadcasting, however, is that the scattered position of plant which makes it impossible to control weeds and to loosen the soil by hoeing. In most parts of the country, old traditional seeds placing methods are still in vogue. Broadcasting and sowing seeds behind the disc plough are very common. The use of traditional sowing methods adversely affects the production and seeds requirement per unit area [3, 4]. Average farm size is 1.0 to 3.0ha [5]. Costs of most conventional planters are high due to high foreign exchange, which is beyond the reach of small-scale farmers [6]. Traditional planting required 3.5 times more money and 30 times more time than mechanized planting. The cost of planting was found to be more than 79% cheaper for the developed planter compared to other traditional methods [6], moreover, the non availability of adequate lab our during planting season has necessitated the development of this device [7]. Most crops are time dependent for high yield. In order to overcome the timelessness in planting, technologies are needed for inventing a locally developed seed sowing machine which is simple to operate and cheap enough for farmers to afford. The objective of this research work is to design, construct a manually operated seed broadcaster for small scale farmers and evaluate the performance of the seed broadcaster by testing on paddy, guinea corn and soya bean seeds. - 13 -
A. General Description of the Broadcaster II. MATERIALS AND METHODS The seed broadcasting machine(fig. 1) comprises of supporting frame, a hopper, bevel gears, bearings, spreading disc, seed cover (quick shut-off device) and shaft. It also consists of a manual rotating handle which provide a rotating motion to the broadcasting disc through the help of gear arrangement on the shaft. The broadcasting process takes place on the broadcasting disc. The seed fed into the hopper which houses the seeds, moves from inclined position of the hopper and flow by gravity. Control of the seed flow is achieved by the quick shut-off device which is located directly between the base of the hopper and broadcasting disc. The major function of the quick shutoff is to control and regulate the flow of seeds which is very essential in achieving broadcasting. While the hand crank transmits a rotating power through the massing of bevel gears, the gears in turn provide a revolving motion to the broadcasting disc thereby spreading the seeds on ground or already prepared soil that is ploughed and harrowed. Fig. 2 shows the orthographic and the sectional views of the broadcasting machine. Fig. 1 Components of the seed broadcaster B. Field Evaluation Fig. 2 Orthographic views of the broadcaster A seed broadcasting device was developed by using locally available materials for broadcasting various seeds. The device was evaluated using three different seeds namely paddy, guinea corn and soya bean which were introduced into the device hopper after weighing. The broadcasting operations were carried out in a plot using the various seeds. Parameters such as discharge efficiency and breakage efficiency were determined from Eqs. 1 and 2, respectively [8]. - 14 -
1) Discharge Efficiency: The Percentage of broken seed was calculated using (1) Where is the discharge efficiency, is the weight of seeds discharged, is the weight of seeds expected and is the weight of broken seeds. 2) Swath Width Determination: This is related to the width covered during one stroke of run. This can be determined using a meter rule and average width determined. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The designed and constructed manually operated seed broadcaster was evaluated using three different seeds (paddy, guinea corn and soya bean).the result was replicated three times for each of the seed with the mean values recorded. Table 1 is the summary of field evaluation and their mean values. Swath width, area cover by planting various seeds, time of planting, quantity of seed discharged, broken seed, broken efficiency and efficiency of the device were determined. It was observed that the mean efficiency of the device using paddy, guinea corn and soya bean are 91.7%, 92% and 97.5% respectively. This result has a lower efficiency when compared with findings reported by [4] who recorded an efficiency of 97% using paddy. The mean broken efficiency for paddy, guinea corn and soya bean are 8.3%, 10% and 2.7% respectively. Paddy and guinea corn have small sizes which enabled them to pass between the opening of broadcasting disc and the attaching frame of the device which lead to high percentage breakage during broadcasting operation. On the other hand the broken efficiency of soya bean was 2.7% this could be as a result of the bigger sizes of soya bean which rarely allowed passes through the disc and the attachment. However this low breakage efficiency of the device using soya bean is in agreement with result by [7] which recorded 2% breakage efficiency using maize. TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF FIELD EVALUATION AND THEIR MEAN VALUES Grain Q L S W A C (m 2 ) T b Q D B S (kg) (m) (min) (kg) (kg) (%) (%) Paddy 3.6 0.88 248.5 6.3 3.3 0.3 8.3 91.7 (2) Guinea corn Soya bean 3.6 0.91 176.88 3.88 3.32 0.36 10 92 3.6 0.95 201 3.75 3.51 0.1 2.7 97.5 Q L =quantity loaded, S W= Swath width, A C= Area of Coverage, T b = Time of broadcasting Q D= Quantity Discharged, B S= Broken Seeds, Efficiency and = Discharge Efficiency = Breaking Table 1 was further simplified in bar Charts to make them clearer. Fig. 3 is a multiple bar-charts showing quantity loaded, quantity discharged and broken seeds, Fig. 4 is a bar chart showing Breaking Efficiency and Discharge Efficiency, Fig. 5 is bar chart showing Swath width, Fig. 6 is bar chart showing Area of Coverage, Fig. 7 is bar chart showing Time of broadcasting while Fig. 8 is bar chart showing assessment of the productivity for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean respectively. - 15 -
kg Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Biotechnology May 2014, Vol. 2 Iss. 2, PP. 13-19 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Paddy Guinea corn Paddy Guinea corn Paddy Guinea corn Soya bean Soya bean Soya bean QL QD Bs Paddy Guinea corn Soya bean Fig. 3 Quantity loaded, Quantity Discharged and Broken Seeds for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean Fig. 4 Breaking Efficiency and Discharge Efficiency for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean Fig. 5 Swath width for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean - 16 -
Fig. 6 Area of Coverage for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean Fig. 7 Time of broadcasting for Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Paddy Guinea corn Soya bean Ac/Tb Fig. 8 An assessment of the productivity: Paddy, Guinea corn and Soya bean - 17 -
Table 2 provides the physical and technical specifications of the device. Hopper diameter of 300mm, height of 300mm, total weight of device was 6.25 kg, capacity of device equaled 7068.6cm 3, broken and discharged efficiencies of the device varied between 2.7% to 10% and 91.7% to 97.5% respectively for the various seeds broadcasted. TABLE 2 PHYSICAL & TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE BROADCASTING DEVICE Parameter Diameter of cylindrical hopper Height of cylindrical hopper Total weight of device Capacity of device Broken Efficiency Efficiency of device Specification 300mm 300mm 6.25kg 7068.6cm 3 2-10% 92-98% Fig. 9 is picture of the broadcaster loaded with seeds and operated on flat ground for field test. Fig. 9 Field operation of the broadcasting device It can be concluded that: IV. CONCLUSION 1. A manually operated seed broadcaster was successfully designed, constructed and evaluated; 2. The device has a capacity of 7068.6cm 3 ; 3. Breakage efficiency increased with a decrease in size of seeds broadcasted while discharge efficiency increased with an increase in the size of seeds broadcasted. (Broken and discharged efficiencies of the device varied between 2.7% to 10% and 91.7% to 97.5% respectively for the various seeds broadcasted). REFERENCES [1] R. N. Kaul and C. B. Egbo, Introduction to Agricultural Mechanization, 1 st Edition, Macmillan Publication Ltd, 1985. [2] S. B. Wit, A paper on Soil Preparation Presented at an International Vegetable Course of the International Agricultural Centre Netherlands, pp. 23, 1995. [3] A. B. Adamu, Design and Development of a Single Row Manually Operated Precision Maize Planter/Fertilizer Applicator, Unpublished Project Report Department of Agricultural Engineering, Submitted to the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, 1999. [4] L. S. Kassama, Hill-Drop Broadcast-Planting of Juvenile Seedlings for Crop Establishment of Irrigated Rice, (Oryza Sativa L) Thesis, 1999. [5] A. K. Sharma and B. C. Srivastava, Performance Evaluation of an Automatic Potato Planter-Cum-Intercultivator, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, vol.15, no. 3, pp.22-24, 1984. - 18 -
[6] K. Kumar, N. K. Naresh, and T. P. Ojha, Design, Construction and Performance of a Manually Operated Seeding Attachment for an Animal Drawn Cultivator, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, vol.17, no. 2, pp. 35-38, 1986. [7] M. S. U. Choudhury, Evaluation of Manual Planters for Selected Crops in West African Savanna, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 25-29, 1985. [8] D. W. Smith, B. G. Sims, and D. H. O Neill, Testing and Evaluation of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment: Principles and Practices FAO, Agricultural Services Bulletin, vol. 110, pp. 148-169, 1994. - 19 -