Paper

Development and Evaluation of Manually Operated Seed Broadcaster


Authors:
J. O. Awulu; J. Audu; G. Nuhu
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 7068.6cm3. 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
StartPage
13
EndPage
19
Doi
10.18005/JAEB0202001
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