DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SINGLE-ROW MANUALLY OPERATED GRAIN PLANTER

Abstract

Increase in demand for functional and affordable planters due to inability of the Nigerian peasant farmers to purchase
imported planters necessitated the development and performance evaluation of a locally developed single-row
manually operated planter that could contribute in addressing the challenges encountered in grain planting. The
developed planter consists of hopper, seed metering device, delivery tube, furrow opener, covering device, press
wheel, frame, handle and traction wheel. The planter was evaluated both in the laboratory and the field using maize
as test crop in the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-
Nigeria. Parameters determined while evaluating the planter were planting speed, seedling emergence, plant-to-plant
spacing, effective field capacity, germination count, planting efficiency, seed delivery rate, number of seeds per hole
and percent seed damage. A combination of three planting speeds; 2, 1.1 and 0.8m/s and three different seed weight
levels; 2.9, 2.2 and 1.1kg were used for the performance evaluation. Results obtained showed that seed delivery rate
was 24.8kg/ha and effective field capacity was 0.12ha/ha. Similarly, the highest germination count of 83% was
obtained at 0.8m/s planting speed and 2.9 kg seed weight. Optimum value of planting efficiency of 86.4% was obtained
at 1.1m/s planting speed and 2.9kg seed weight. Plant to plant distance of 26.4cm was obtained at 2m/s planting speed
and 2.2kg seed weight. One seed per hill was obtained at the all combinations. The developed planter has proved to
be suitable for eliminating the limitations associated with manual planting methods and imported planters.