Development and Evaluation of a Manual Multi - crop Planter for Peasant Farmers

Farming today has gone beyond subsistence farming that produces for the farmer and his household. Research shows that the consumption of grains or cereal crops is at an alarming rate in the world, so to encourage small farm holders a manually operated multi-crop hand push planter with changeable metering devices for cowpea, maize and soybean was designed, fabricated and evaluated to improve planting efficiency and reduce drudgery involved in manual planting method. The laboratory and field tests were conducted to determine weight of seeds discharged from the planter, seed percentage damage, field capacity, average depth of placement of seeds in furrow, average inter-row spacing of seeds and the emergence of the seedlings. Results revealed that the planter had field efficiency and field capacity of 76.3% and 0.39 ha/hr with seed rate of 0.25 kg/ha, 0.18 kg/ha and 0.21kg/ha respectively for cowpea, maize and soybean. Percentage difference between the seed damage of 3.54%, 2.32% and 1.32% of cowpea, maize and soybean respectively obtained was from an average spacing of 40.8cm and depth of 3.98cm. The single-row multi-crop planter is very simple to use and it is maintenance free, except for the bearings which needs to be lubricated from time to time to allow the planter's ground wheel to move freely. For this design, the drive shaft directly controls the seed metering mechanism which eliminates completely attachments such as pulleys, belt systems, and gears thereby eliminating complexities which increase cost, and increasing efficiency at a highly reduced cost which is the focus of this project work. The planter can be easily maintained without any technicality and all materials used for the fabrication are locally available in the case of worn - out parts

Manual Multi - crop Planter for Peasant Farmers

Farming today has gone beyond subsistence farming that produces for the farmer and his household. Research shows that the consumption of grains or cereal crops is at an alarming rate in the world, so to encourage small farm holders a manually operated multi-crop hand push planter with changeable metering devices for cowpea, maize and soybean was designed, fabricated and evaluated to improve planting efficiency and reduce drudgery involved in manual planting method. The laboratory and field tests were conducted to determine weight of seeds discharged from the planter, seed percentage damage, field capacity, average depth of placement of seeds in furrow, average inter-row spacing of seeds and the emergence of the seedlings. Results revealed that the planter had field efficiency and field capacity of 76.3% and 0.39 ha/hr with seed rate of 0.25 kg/ha, 0.18 kg/ha and 0.21kg/ha respectively for cowpea, maize and soybean. Percentage difference between the seed damage of 3.54%, 2.32% and 1.32% of cowpea, maize and soybean respectively obtained was from an average spacing of 40.8cm and depth of 3.98cm. The single-row multi-crop planter is very simple to use and it is maintenance free, except for the bearings which needs to be lubricated from time to time to allow the planter's ground wheel to move freely. For this design, the drive shaft directly controls the seed metering mechanism which eliminates complete attachments such as pulleys, belt systems, and gears thereby eliminating complexities that increase cost, and increasing efficiency at a highly reduced cost which is the focus of this project work. The planter can be easily maintained without any technicality and all materials used for the fabrication are locally available in the case of worn-out parts

POULTRY DROPPING BIOGAS

This study evaluated the effects of stirring on the properties of biogas produced from poultry dropping with respect to the quality and quantity of the biogas produced. A plastic batch-flow floating-drum biogas plant was designed and constructed. Poultry dropping from deep litter mixed with water ratio 1:2 (45 kg: 90 litres dropping-to-water slurry ratio) was used as slurry for the gas production. Proximate analyses of the poultry dropping were carried out to determine its potentials for biogas production. Levels of stirring were zero, once per day and twice daily. Each stirring was five slow rotations of the agitator. Properties of the produced biogas that were determined in the laboratory were methane value, carbon (IV) oxide, H2S, pH value, ash and moisture content while the calculated properties were potential calorific value, average gas yield and carbon/nitrogen ratio. The results of the proximate analyses showed that the poultry dropping has high contents of Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), volatile solids and pH value indicating its suitability for biogas production. The result also showed that the biogases up to 65% methane, 33.12% CO2 and 2.93% H2S contents. The treatment with once stirring/day produces the highest weight of biogas of 1.55 kg while treatment with twice stirring/day produced the least with 1.06 kg. Similarly, the twice stirring/day gave the least value of methane while once stirring/day gave the highest value of methane. The calculated calorific values ranged between 6.07 and 6.46 kWh/m³. The mean values of C/N ratio before and after gas production were 7.5 and 8.81, respectively. It could, thus, be concluded that stirring had significant effects on the quantity and qualities of biogas from poultry dropping

Fish drying

The goal of this study was to assess performance of a charcoal-powered cabinet tray dryer in order to determine its suitability in drying catfish by enhancing the quality of the fish and increase economic returns to the fish farmer. The study evaluated desirability of the cabinet tray dryer for improving fish drying processes to prevent post-harvest losses and enhance the status of the fish famers. The dryer consists of 8 trays, heating chamber, tray chamber, a charcoal pot, a gas burner and a chimney at the top from where the hot air exits. Sixty (60) pieces of catfish were obtained from the Landmark University fish farm and were folded by clipping the tail to the tip of the head. The fish was dried for 12 hours in the charcoal-powered dryer. Moisture content reduction was monitored by observing temperature falls. Thermometer readings were taken at 30 minutes intervals until the fish were properly dried. Results showed that the fish attained equilibrium moisture content (27 – 8%) at 18 h of drying and a plenum temperature within the range of 130 – 142oC attaining the sensory properties (colour, taste, aroma and firmness) desired by consumers

Small-scale Maize dryer

A maize-on-cob dryer was designed, fabricated and evaluated at the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering department, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara state. The main objective of this research was to utilize maize residues as source of heat for maize drying and ensure continuous availability of maize during off season. The dryer consists of a drying chamber, chimney, five trays, electric motor and fan and corn waste container. The dryer contains five trays; each tray in the maize dryer was loaded with 2 kg of maize cobs and was dried at the interval of an hour with a maize residue consumption rate of 1.5 kg/hr. It was evaluated for 7 hours within 3days to dry maize on cob from the moisture content of 76.80% (wet basis) to 13.32% (wet basis) which is the safe storage moisture content for maize. Results of the evaluation showed that drying temperature was within the range of 42°C - 73°C

Evaluation of an active evaporative cooling device for storage of fruits and vegetables

An active evaporative cooling device for storage of fruits and vegetables was evaluated. The cooling device was developed to improve the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. It consists of an inner wall (aluminum of 0.6 mm thickness), external wall (galvanized steel of 1mm thickness), one suction fan, water pump and three trays. The walls were lagged by polyurethane of 25 mm, and three trays. Water distribution network contains two water tanks of 20 litres capacity each, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe of 25 mm diameter for conveying water, a 0.5 hp pump for circulating water from the tank to the overhead reservoir and a floated switch for controlling the pump. Water is discharged from the overhead tank through a tap and drains through a jute bag which serves as a cooling pad material. As water drips through the pad, a suction fan of 38 cm swept depth set air in motion and blow through the wetted part. The cooler was evaluated with sweet orange, green tomatoes and red tomatoes for 7 days to determine firmness, colour changes and weight loss of the crops. Weight loss in the red and green tomatoes stored in the ambient was observed to be 47.20% and 5.14% respectively while it was 8.65% for red tomatoes stored in the cooler. Cumulative weight loss recorded in sweet oranges was 9.25% for ambient and 4.27% for the cooling device. The cooler reduced the ambient temperature of 29.5o C to 22.8o C and increased ambient relative humidity to 95.7%. Keywords: evaporative cooling, storage, orange, tomato, post-harvest losse

Energy and Exergy Analysis

A forced convection automatic cabinet dryer integrated with a data logger was designed and fabricated. The okra samples were dried in the dryer at drying temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C and at three different load densities of 200, 300, and 400 g at a continuous air velocity of 0.7 m·s–1. Energy and exergy analyses of the drying process were performed. The obtained results showed that the energy efficiency, energy utilisation, and utilisation ratio increased from 26.59 to 68.24%, 5.47 to 114.36 W, and 0.36 to 0.71 as the temperature increased to 70 °C, respectively. The inflow, outflow, and exergy losses were in the range of 7.02 to 26.14 W, 4.43 to 14.16 W, and 2.59 to 11.98 W, respectively, while exergy efficiency varied from 49.15 to 63.47%. The findings show that exergy efficiencies decrease with an increase in the drying temperature, but increase with a lower load rate. The index of sustainability varies from 2.14 to 2.77, the value increases as the load density decreases while it decreases with a temperature increment

Crop Energy analysis

Energy inputs and yield relationship in cassava production was investigated to establish correlation between inputs and outputs in cassava production in Nigeria. Production data of energy inputs and crop yields were collected from 54 cassava farms in twelve cassava producing villages through site visits, interaction with the farmers and physical measurements for three production seasons (2013-2016). The data were analyzed statistically. Amount of inputs per hectare were calculated and multiplied by coefficients of energy equivalents. Total energy inputs in cassava production were 36482.8 MJ ha-1 while average output of cassava tubers was 32022.6 kg ha-1 . Energy use ratio, energy productivity and specific energy of the surveyed farms were 4.9, 0.9 kg MJ-1 and 1.1 MJ kg-1 respectively. Shares of direct and indirect energy inputs were 5.7% and 94.2% respectively. Human labor, fertilizer, cassava stem, machinery and fuel had positive effects on output. Fertilizer, cassava stem and machinery variables were significant at 0.1%, 1% and 5% significant levels respectively. R-squared was 0.93 and Durbin Watson statistic indicates no autocorrelation at 5% significant level, indicating that variables in the model were not dependent of each other and changes in the value of one variable did not have any meaningful effect on other variables. All the variables contributed independently to the output

Economic Potentials of Ikere Gorge and Oyan Dams for National Development

A study was carried out to review the works of different researchers on Ikere gorge dam and Oyan dam; the two main multipurpose dams in the southwest Nigeria under the control of Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority. The two gigantic dams and other smaller dams in the area were found to be grossly under- utilized considering the water storage capacity and purposes for which the dams were built. The dams were meant to serve the people in the region in terms of water provision, irrigation farming, hydro power generation, fishery, recreation, navigation and other purposes. The economic potential of the two engineering water infrastructures were highlighted. An appeal is now being made to the relevant authorities through this medium to explore areas of utilizing the two dams for regional and national economic development

LOCUST BEANS SEED DEHULLING MACHINE

A locust bean dehulling machine was fabricated and evaluated using locally available materials. The machine performs dual operations of removing the seed coats and cleaning. Components of the machine include the frame, hopper, dehulling chamber, water container, discharge outlets, set of gears and bearings in operation. In operation, locust beans seeds introduced via the hopper moved to the auger which separates the soft pulp and conveys the material into the dehulling chamber. The seeds were washed in the dehulling chamber while the coat (residual waste) passes through the sieve into the water trough where it was discharged through the waste outlet. Throughput capacity, output capacity, recovery percentage and cleaning efficiency were 264.0kg/hr, 98.48%, and 98.75%, respectively. This machine may find applications in the processing of locust beans