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Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier

Received: 5 July 2018    Accepted: 1 September 2018    Published: 21 September 2018
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Abstract

Teff is one of the most grown crops and a preferable food in Ethiopia. Wholesale prices for Teff are relatively high, making the crop attractive to some producers as a cash crop, production costs are also high, implying fertilizer prices and the labor-intensive nature of the crop. Now a daysteff got attention of international market. But, productivity yields are relatively low (around 1.2 tones/ha) and suffer from high loss rates (25-30% both before and after harvest). Respective bodies tried to take different actions to improve the productivity of teff. It has been argued recently that low teff productivity is partly caused by the way farmers sow teff seed; broadcasting teff seed by hand using a rate of 25–50 kg per hectare. Researchers approved reducing the seed rate to between 2.5 and 3 kg per hectare by row planting allows for reduced competition between seedlings and optimal tillering of the teff plants. This study was aimed to design and prototyping of teff row planter and fertilizer applier. It will improve productivity of teff and reduces cost of teff production process. Literature review and visiting of existing teff row planter machines, conceptual and embodiment design procedures, modeling machine components by solid work software, manufacturing the components and assembling of machine in Debre Berhan university manufacturing workshop, testing the applicability of machine on farm were used as methodology. The metering of teff and the locomotion mechanism of the machine has given more emphasis through the design and manufacturing process. The researchers designed ten rows planter. Due to lack of appropriate manufacturing machine and material, actually obtained a machine which can plant six rows in one trip. For better result and applicability, components should produce with appropriate machine and from appropriate material. some shaking mechanism also recommended for better performance.

Published in International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications (Volume 6, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11
Page(s) 91-97
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Teff, Row Planter, Fertilizer Applier, Designing and Prototyping, Testing

References
[1] MOA/ATA. (2011). 2011 achivements and plans for 2012. Addis Ababa.
[2] Berhe, Y. (2014). The impact of row planting of teff crop on rural Household income: A case of Tahtay Maychewwereda, Tigrai, Ethiopia . unpublished.
[3] BekabilFufa, e. (2011). Strengthening the Tef Value Chain in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, 11.
[4] Joachim Vandercasteelen, M. D. (2013). Scaling-up adoption of improved technologies: The impact of the promotion of row planting on farmers’ teff yields in Ethiopia. BELGIUM: LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance
[5] Cascap. (2016, January 30). were we work. Retrieved from google: http://www.cascape info/.
[6] Prakash, R. (2017, July 05). Method in action, Rapid prototyping. Retrieved from google: http://www.designkit.org/stories/92.
[7] TECHTRA. (2017, July 05). We are working in the agricultural sector. Retrieved from google: http://www.techtraengineering.com/agriculture.html.
[8] LICOS Discussion Paper Series. (2014). discussion paper 350/2014. Belgium : kuleuven.
[9] Miller, D. D. (2011). teff grass crop overview and forage production guide third eddition . calwrest seeds.
[10] Amhara Regional government agriculturbereou. (2007 E.C, Feb. 27). Teff package. unpublished. Kombolcha, Ethiopia.
[11] Desta, B. G. (June 2014). Assessment of Factors Affecting Farmers’ Adoption level of Row Planting Technology and Yield Improvement on the Production of Eragrostis Teff [ZUCC.]: The Case of Minjar Shenkora Woreda, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. unpublished.
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  • APA Style

    Tesfaye Gonite, Hiluf Reda. (2018). Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications, 6(4), 91-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11

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    ACS Style

    Tesfaye Gonite; Hiluf Reda. Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier. Int. J. Mech. Eng. Appl. 2018, 6(4), 91-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11

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    AMA Style

    Tesfaye Gonite, Hiluf Reda. Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier. Int J Mech Eng Appl. 2018;6(4):91-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11,
      author = {Tesfaye Gonite and Hiluf Reda},
      title = {Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier},
      journal = {International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications},
      volume = {6},
      number = {4},
      pages = {91-97},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmea.20180604.11},
      abstract = {Teff is one of the most grown crops and a preferable food in Ethiopia. Wholesale prices for Teff are relatively high, making the crop attractive to some producers as a cash crop, production costs are also high, implying fertilizer prices and the labor-intensive nature of the crop. Now a daysteff got attention of international market. But, productivity yields are relatively low (around 1.2 tones/ha) and suffer from high loss rates (25-30% both before and after harvest). Respective bodies tried to take different actions to improve the productivity of teff. It has been argued recently that low teff productivity is partly caused by the way farmers sow teff seed; broadcasting teff seed by hand using a rate of 25–50 kg per hectare. Researchers approved reducing the seed rate to between 2.5 and 3 kg per hectare by row planting allows for reduced competition between seedlings and optimal tillering of the teff plants. This study was aimed to design and prototyping of teff row planter and fertilizer applier. It will improve productivity of teff and reduces cost of teff production process. Literature review and visiting of existing teff row planter machines, conceptual and embodiment design procedures, modeling machine components by solid work software, manufacturing the components and assembling of machine in Debre Berhan university manufacturing workshop, testing the applicability of machine on farm were used as methodology. The metering of teff and the locomotion mechanism of the machine has given more emphasis through the design and manufacturing process. The researchers designed ten rows planter. Due to lack of appropriate manufacturing machine and material, actually obtained a machine which can plant six rows in one trip. For better result and applicability, components should produce with appropriate machine and from appropriate material. some shaking mechanism also recommended for better performance.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Design and Prototyping of Teff (ጤፍ) Row Planter and Fertilizer Applier
    AU  - Tesfaye Gonite
    AU  - Hiluf Reda
    Y1  - 2018/09/21
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11
    T2  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
    JF  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
    JO  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
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    EP  - 97
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0248
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20180604.11
    AB  - Teff is one of the most grown crops and a preferable food in Ethiopia. Wholesale prices for Teff are relatively high, making the crop attractive to some producers as a cash crop, production costs are also high, implying fertilizer prices and the labor-intensive nature of the crop. Now a daysteff got attention of international market. But, productivity yields are relatively low (around 1.2 tones/ha) and suffer from high loss rates (25-30% both before and after harvest). Respective bodies tried to take different actions to improve the productivity of teff. It has been argued recently that low teff productivity is partly caused by the way farmers sow teff seed; broadcasting teff seed by hand using a rate of 25–50 kg per hectare. Researchers approved reducing the seed rate to between 2.5 and 3 kg per hectare by row planting allows for reduced competition between seedlings and optimal tillering of the teff plants. This study was aimed to design and prototyping of teff row planter and fertilizer applier. It will improve productivity of teff and reduces cost of teff production process. Literature review and visiting of existing teff row planter machines, conceptual and embodiment design procedures, modeling machine components by solid work software, manufacturing the components and assembling of machine in Debre Berhan university manufacturing workshop, testing the applicability of machine on farm were used as methodology. The metering of teff and the locomotion mechanism of the machine has given more emphasis through the design and manufacturing process. The researchers designed ten rows planter. Due to lack of appropriate manufacturing machine and material, actually obtained a machine which can plant six rows in one trip. For better result and applicability, components should produce with appropriate machine and from appropriate material. some shaking mechanism also recommended for better performance.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Addis Ababa University Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Debre Berhan University, Debre Birhan, Ethiopia

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