See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268502925 Primary Investigation into the performance of Animal Drawn Puddler Article  in  Ama, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa & Latin America · January 2006 CITATIONS 0 READS 1,429 1 author: Jagvir Dixit Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir 117 PUBLICATIONS   424 CITATIONS    SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Jagvir Dixit on 27 April 2016. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268502925_Primary_Investigation_into_the_performance_of_Animal_Drawn_Puddler?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_2&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268502925_Primary_Investigation_into_the_performance_of_Animal_Drawn_Puddler?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_3&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_1&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jagvir-Dixit?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_4&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jagvir-Dixit?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_5&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/institution/Sher-e-Kashmir-University-of-Agricultural-Sciences-and-Technology-of-Kashmir?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_6&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jagvir-Dixit?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_7&_esc=publicationCoverPdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jagvir-Dixit?enrichId=rgreq-1dd438bbebf23cb125ecda68462d31b7-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2ODUwMjkyNTtBUzozNTUzOTc1NTk5NjM2NDhAMTQ2MTc0NDc4OTE0Mg%3D%3D&el=1_x_10&_esc=publicationCoverPdf V O L.37, N O .4, A u tu m n 2006 VOL.37, No.4, AUTUMN 2006 ISSN 0084-5841 Yoshisuke Kishida, Publisher & Chief Editor Contributing Editors and Cooperators - AFRICA - Kayombo, Benedict (Botswana) Fonteh, Fru Mathias (Cameroon) El Behery, A.A.K. (Egypt) El Hossary, A.M. (Egypt) Pathak, B.S. (Ethiopia) Bani, Richard Jinks (Ghana) Djokoto, Israel Kofi (Ghana) Some, D. Kimutaiarap (Kenya) Houmy, Karim (Morocco) Igbeka, Joseph C. (Nigeria) Odigboh, E.U. (Nigeria) Oni, Kayode C. (Nigeria) Kuyembeh, N.G. (Sierra Leone) Abdoun, Abdien Hassan (Sudan) Saeed, Amir Bakheit (Sudan) Khatibu, Abdisalam I. (Tanzania) Baryeh, Edward A. (Zimbabwe) Tembo, Solomon (Zimbabwe) - AMERICAS - Cetrangolo, Hugo Alfredo (Argentina) Naas, Irenilza de Alencar (Brazil) Ghaly, Abdelkader E. (Canada) Hetz, Edmundo J. (Chile) Valenzuela, A.A. (Chile) Aguirre, Robert (Colombia) Ulloa-Torres, Omar (Costa Rica) Magana, S.G. Campos (Mexico) Ortiz-Laurel, H. (Mexico) Chancellor, William J. (U.S.A.) Goyal, Megh Raj (U.S.A.) Mahapatra, Ajit K. (U.S.A.) Philips, Allan L. (U.S.A.) - ASIA and OCEANIA - Quick, G.R. (Australia) Farouk, Shah M. (Bangladesh) Hussain, Daulat (Bangladesh) Mazed, M.A. (Bangladesh) Wangchen, Chetem (Bhutan) Wang, Wanjun (China) Illangantileke, S. (India) Ilyas, S. M. (India) Michael, A.M. (India) Ojha, T.P. (India) Verma, S.R. (India) Soedjatmiko (Indonesia) Behroozi-Lar, Mansoor (Iran) Minaei, Saeid (Iran) Sakai, Jun (Japan) Snobar, Bassam A. (Jordan) Chung, Chang Joo (Korea) Lee, Chul Choo (Korea) Bardaie, Muhamad Zohadie (Malaysia) Pariyar, Madan (Nepal) Ampratwum, David Boakye (Oman) Eldin, Eltag Seif (Oman) Chaudhry, Allah Ditta (Pakistan) Mughal, A.Q. (Pakistan) Rehman, Rafiq ur (Pakistan) Devrajani, Bherular T. (Pakistan) Abu-Khalaf, Nawaf A. (Palestine) Nath, Surya (Papua New Guinea) Lantin, Reynaldo M. (Philippines) Venturina, Ricardo P. (Philippines) Al-suhaibani, Saleh Abdulrahman (Saudi Arabia) Al-Amri, Ali Mufarreh Saleh (Saudi Arabia) Chang, Sen-Fuh (Taiwan) Peng, Tieng-song (Taiwan) Krishnasreni, Suraweth (Thailand) Phongsupasamit, Surin (Thailand) Rojanasaroj. C. (Thailand) Salokhe, Vilas M. (Thailand) Singh, Gajendra (Thailand) Pinar, Yunus (Turkey) Haffar, Imad (United Arab Emirates) Lang, Pham Van (Viet Nam) Nguyen Hay (Viet Nam) Hazza’a, Abdulsamad Abdulmalik (Yemen) - EUROPE - Kaloyanov, Anastas P. (Bulgaria) Kic, Pavel (Czech) Have, Henrik (Denmark) Pellizzi, Giuseppe (Italy) Wanders, A. Anne (Netherlands) Pawlak, Jan (Poland) Marchenko, Oleg S. (Russia) Kilgour, John (U.K.) Martinov, Milan (Yugoslavia) EDITORIAL STAFF (Tel.+81-(0)3-3291-5718) Yoshisuke Kishida, Chief Editor Shinjiro Tetsuka, Managing Editor Noriyuki Muramatsu, Assistant Editor Zachary A. Henry, Editorial Consultant ADVERTISING (Tel.+81-(0)3-3291-3672) Yoshito Nakajima, Manager (Head Office) Hiroshi Yamamoto, Manager (Branch Office) Advertising Rate: 300 thousand yen per page CIRCULATION (Tel.+81-(0)3-3291-5718) (Fax.+81-(0)3-3291-5717) Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Headquarters 7, 2-chome, Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan URL: http://www.shin-norin.co.jp E-Mail: sinnorin@blue.ocn.ne.jp Copylight © 2006 by FARM MACHINERY INDUSTRIAL RESEACH CORP. SHIN-NORIN Building 7, 2-chome, Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan Printed in Japan This is the 129th issue since its maiden isue in the Spring of 1971 EDITORIAL A sudden rise in the price gas is hitting the car drivers all over the world. There is a good demand for small, econom- ical cars especially in the countries like the U. S. A. where people depend heavily on cars. Asia is the most populated area on the globe. Especially, China and India have an enormous population that is likely to continue to grow. Both these countries are enjoying continued economic growth toward catching up with developed countries. Many people there buy deluxe cars, the symbol of a wealthy life. Oil consumption is going to increase geometrically in those coun- tries. Growing purchasing power by the large population will have a great impact on world economy. As in the case of global warming brought about by CO2 gas emission, increasing pollution of the environment caused by our economic activities has expanded to the point that it can not be readily absorbed in the natural life system. Moreover, there is every indication that natural resources like energy, fresh water and farming land are rapidly running out. With a gradually dropping food supply on a global basis, another serious concern is future food supply to support the expanding population, the key item for our survival. The food situation in developing countries has not been im- proved for decades and many people are still threatened with starvation. The riches and power are unevenly distributed in the world. Most resources are monopolized and consumed by the people of a small number of rich countries. Under such world structure, we who are involved in agriculture are striving to achieve sufficient food production. Despite its importance, the social status of the agricultural profession is not very high. It is a world trend that young people drift away from agriculture. The term “agriculture” might somehow have a negative image and does not at- tract people as long as “agriculture” is used as a key word. Agriculture was originally intended to achieve harmoniza- tion between mankind and other life systems. In other words, mankind will be unable to survive on the earth without continual harmonization with the surrounding eco-system, which is also the only workable solution to the problems of natural resources and environment. Wishing lasting continuation of mankind, we should promote mechanization of agriculture to raise land productivity. AMA will continue to support every effort for that objective. Yoshisuke Kishida Chief Editor Tokyo, Japan November 2006 Yoshisuke Kishida Jagvir Dixit, A. S. Jeena N. C. Shahi, Tahir Wahid Nguyen Hay, Le Quang Giang Gbabo Agidi O. T. Mandiringana, M. Mabi T. E. Simalenga M. P. Sharma, S. R. Misra Ashutosh Mishra Adamu U. Dzivama, J. C. Igbeka I. Audu Rao Xiuqin, Ying Yibin M. Balakrishnan, V. Thirupathi V. V. Sree Narayanan Mohamad I. Al-Widyan Hind M. Al-Qutob Ahmad H. Hajeer Edmundo J. Hetz Fernando A. Venegas Marco A. López F. A. Babarinsa V. Thirupathi, R. Viswanathan K. Thangavel William S. Kisaalita, Allyson Tippie William Faircloth, Justin Franklin Brad Boyer Julius K. Tangka Md. Wali Ullah A. Senanarong, K. Wannaronk News Book Review 7 9 15 21 27 33 36 42 46 49 52 60 66 69 76 81 87 90 91 Editorial Potential of Farm Mechanization in Jammu and Kashmir State of India - a Review Case Study in the Conversion of Fired-Wood Fuel to other Suitable ones in the Rural Areas of Vietnam Establishment and Performance of an Indegeneous Small Scale Rice Processing Plant in Nigeria Evaluation of Soil-Water Conservation Tillage Systems for Com- munal Farmers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa Recent Developments in Sugarcane Mechanisation in India Performance Efficiency of an Active Evaporative Cooling System for the Storage of Fruits and Vegetables in a Semi Arid Environment Inspection of Watermelon Maturity by Testing Transmitting Veloc- ity of Acoustic Wave Development and Testing of a Chilli Seed Extractor Design and Fabrication of a Small-Scale Fruit Picker of Adjustable Height Non Polluting Pesticide Application Windows for Fruit Orchards in South Central Chile Performance Evaluation of an Evaporative Cooling System for Fruits and Vegitable Storage in the Tropics Development and Testing of a Tomato Pulper Cum Straner Comparative Feasibility Analysis of Alternative Renewable Energy Sources for Small Milk Cooling Plants of Southwestern Uganda Development of a Simple Pulper for Leaves of Green Plants Constraints and Prospects of Agricultural Mechanisation in Samoa Design and Development of an Off-Set Rotary Cultivator for Use with a Two-Wheel Tractor for Fruit Tree Cultivation CONTENTS AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA Vol.37, No.4, November 2006 Instructions to AMA Contributors .......................4 Co-operating Editor ............................................94 Back Issues ..........................................................97 ★　　　　　　　　★　　　　　　　　★ AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 9 Potential of Farm Mechanization in Jammu and Kashmir State of India - a Review by Jagvir Dixit Assistant Professor Division of Agricultural Engineering, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore (J&K) INDIA N. C. Shahi Division of Agricultural Engineering, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore (J&K) INDIA A. S. Jeena Rice Research and Regional Station, SKUAST-K, Khudwani, Anantag INDIA Tahir Wahid Rice Research and Regional Station, SKUAST-K, Khudwani, Anantag INDIA Abstract Jammu and Kashmir, being a hilly state, is blessed with naturally oc- curring micro agro-climatic regions suitable for cultivation of a wide range of agri-horticultural crops with a great potential for develop- ment. But the level of farm mecha- nization in the state is very poor with respect to mechanical power, efficient implements, water manage- ment, land reclamation, renewable energy and post harvest technology sectors. The farm mechanization is badly hampered by stepped, small and ir regular f ields, undulating topography, lack of skilled man- power, poor facilities of repair, maintenance and manufacture of implements and high cost solar gadgets. Immediate attention of the state government and other funding agencies is required to strengthen the agricultural engineering wing in Jammu and Kashmir. A strong cell of agricultural engineering should be created to handle the farm mechanization problems. Despite various constraints, there is a great scope for increasing productivity of land and farmer’s economy through creation of small water resources for irrigation, land development, use of efficient farm power and imple- ments, rain water harvest, dissemi- nating renewable energy gadgets and introducing small scale agro based industries employing post harvest engineering principles. Introduction Jammu and Kashmir are situ- ated in the northern region of the Great Himalayan range, spreading over 33-37 ºN latitude and 72-80 º E longitude. The state comprises 6.7 % of the total geographical area of the country, covering over 2.22 lakh square km, of which about 30 % is under cultivation. Despite small geographical area, the state is blessed with diverse agro-climatic conditions, topography and natural resources for cultivation of a wide range of agro-horticultural crops. Agro-climatic conditions vary from subtropical in outer plains and outer hills of Jammu division; subtropical to temperate in mid to high altitude zone including major parts of dis- trict Udhampur, Poonch, Rajori and Doda; temperate to cold temperate in Kashmir valley and cold arid in Ladakh-Kargil area. Each agro- climatic zone can be further divided into various micro-agro-climatic zones based on variation in slope, topography and soil and water avail- ability. These numerous micro- agro-climatic zones make feasible the cultivation of almost all types of agricultural as well as horticultural crops in the state, which include cereals, pulses, oilseed, vegetables, fruits, dry fruits, spices and orna- mentals. The weather conditions also vary greatly with the topography and el- evation. The mean annual tempera- ture ranges from 24.5 ºC in Jammu, 13.3 ºC in Srinagar to 5.3 ºC in Leh. Similarly, the annual precipitation ranges from a minimum of 92 mm in Leh to 662 mm in Srinagar to a maximum of 1,200 mm in Jammu. The later receives most of the rain- fall during monsoon season while Kashmir division receives it in winter. The distribution pattern of rainfall varies greatly with time and space over the year and generally it is erratic in nature, which creates water stress conditions at various VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA10 stages of crop growth. These climat- ic and other edaphically conditions have given rise to different agricul- tural practices and crop sequences in this geographical area. The state has a total population of 7,718,000, with 1,217,000 land hold- ings. The area wise classification of available land in the state is given in Table 1 which also indicates utiliza- tion of only 30.34 % area for crop cultivation while the rest of the area lies under forest, permanent pasture, and fallow land. The operational land holding and percent distribu- tion of area operated by major size groups in J & K are presented in Table 2. The average size of operat- ed land holding in J & K is 0.83 ha, which is half the average operated holding size in India. The fragmen- tation of land holding is expected to be greater, especially under small and marginal farmers’ categories in the state. The majority of the farm- ers in the state are marginal having less than 1 ha land holding. There is an abundance of water in the state received through precipita- tion (snowfall and rainfall) but the major portion goes to waste and is utilized in the lower states and in Pakistan. Only a small fraction of available water is utilized in the state and farmers are deprived of irrigation as well as domestic use. Only 37.38 % of the total cultivated area is irrigated by different sources (Table 3) and the remaining area is rain fed. The major source of ir- rigation is through canals (90.73 %). Similarly, the natural energy sources like sunshine, wind, vegeta- tion, water flow and other biological wastes which are abundantly avail- able in the state are not being har- nessed properly, resulting in very low per capita energy availability, deforestation and poor health. The post harvest losses, poor marketing and traditional farming systems also restrict farmers from using improved inputs. There has been a general increase in the aver- age yield of important food crops during the preceding years, but it is relatively far less than the require- ments of vehemently increasing population. Also the potential yield achieved in experimental fields are not realized in the farmer's field. Thus, a large gap in potential yield and actual yield of most of the crops in the valley is witnessed. Still the main farm power sources for car- rying out different farming opera- tions are animal or human power. High waste of perishable food and fruit products occur every year due to limited agro-processing in- dustries and difficult transport and marketing system in the state. It was focused at the national level in 1998-99 that apart from the use of high yielding varieties and chemi- cal fertilizers, farm mechaniza- tion plays a vital role in increasing agricultural productivity, which is more relevant in the valley. Timeli- ness and efficient energy utilization in various farm operations along with other inputs are key factors in improving agricultural productivity. Mechanization enables the farmers to change their cropping pattern and to shift towards more profit- able crops as they can efficiently use their inputs and enjoy various advantages of f lexibility available with respect to cropping season, resources and marketing. There is a positive relationship between farm power and productivity. A delay of 15 to 20 days can drastically reduce the crop yield, especially in this state, where weather conditions limit the cropping season. Farm mechanization is not a luxury but a necessity. Repeated ploughing over a long period with the traditional plough/tine cultivator have resulted in the formation of hard compact layers beneath the root zone, which restrict the infiltration of water into the soil and its movement. In the long run, this causes soil erosion as the upper layer of the soil is eroded during heavy rainfall. With the use of modern farm equipment, the input use efficiency can be greatly improved and crop cultivation may be converted into more profitable venture. There is a great scope of Classification Area, 1000 ha J & K India Total geographical area 2,220 328,759 Forest 658 - Net area sown 733 140,149 Uncultivated area 582 - Permanent pasture and other grazing land 126 - Land under misc. crops and trees 72 - Culturable waste land 140 - Fallow land 105 - Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Table 1 Land use in Kashmr valley Class Size of holding, ha No. of operational holding, lakh Percent distribut- ion operated Av. size of opera- tional holding, ha J & K India J & K India J & K India Marginal < 1 9.01 567.48 74.04 58.07 - 0.38 Small 1 - 2 1.97 178.81 16.19 18.29 - 1.43 Semi-medium 2 - 4 0.98 132.54 8.04 13.56 - 2.76 Medium 4 - 10 0.19 79.20 1.64 8.10 - 5.94 Large > 10 0.01 19.25 0.08 1.97 - 17.20 Total - 12.17 977.28 100.00 100.00 0.83 1.68 Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) and Statics Abstract India (1990) Table 2 Operational holding and percentage distribution AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 11 farm mechanization in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but small holdings limit the use of large ma- chinery. However, many agro-horti- cultural and cash crops like saffron, black cumin, dry fruits, apple and vegetables can encourage the de- velopment and utilization of small, handy power equipment in the re- gion. Development and adoption of appropriate engineering based tech- nology in farm power implements, land development and irrigation systems, renewable energy and post harvest sectors will certainly benefit the farming community. This paper describes the present status of farm mechanization, its potential and limitations in the state with special emphasis to Kashmir valley. Present Level of Farm Mechanization Farm Power, Tools and Implements The use of improved farm tools and implements is very limited in the state as compared to many other states of India. The traditional tools and implements are still in use with farmers. They carry out preparatory tillage operations, sowing, intercul- tural and harvesting operations by traditional methods, which are more energy and time consuming. The present status of farm implements/ machines under use in J & K is shown in Table 5. It can be clearly understood from the Table 5 that the indigenous (wooden) and soil stir r ing (SS) ploughs are being used in the prepa- ration of fields and sowing. Broad- casting or kera method (dropping seed behind plough) is normally adopted for sowing of various crops, which not only consumes more man-power but also affects the crop stand, resulting in poor yield. The clod breaking is a severe problem in some of the regions particularly in paddy harvested fields, which is usually carried out by women and children with the wooden hammer. This again consumes more energy for non-productive cause. Tangroo (local name of small spade like tool) and rumbas are used by majority of the farmers in the state for execut- ing weeding and intercultural op- erations. However, knapsack spray- ers and wheat threshers are adopted by some of the medium and large farmers. They also use a tractor for different agricultural operations in their fields as well as on custom hir- ing basis to other farms otherwise, animal and human power are the main source of farm power. Very few farmers of the hilly region utilize power tillers for field prepa- ration. In Jammu region, very lim- ited use of manually operated maize sheller was reported in recent past. Harvesting of crops and fodder is be- ing done by plain sickles because of their lower cost and local availabil- ity. However, plucking of fruits and vegetables is still executed manually with great risk of impairing quality of the product. Land Use and Water Management Practices The state has four major rivers and a number of perennial streams. Besides its 1,335.75 mm average rainfall, only 42.74 % cropped area is brought under irrigation, while the state has exorbitant potential water for irrigation. The most com- mon method of irrigation is through open gravity channels. Approxi- mately 3,678 diesel and electric Source of irrigation J & K Area, 1000 ha % distri- bution Canals 284.25 90.73 Tanks 2.57 0.82 Wells 1.42 0.45 Other source 25.02 7.98 Total 313.26 - Table 3 Area irrigated from different sources Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Crops Area, 1000 ha Production, 1000 q Rice 275.33 4,290 Maize 304.88 4,544 Wheat 246.88 4,125 Horticultural 133.00 10,210 Oil seeds 71.03 449.63 Vegetable 41.4 5,844 Pulses 31.36 170 Millets 24.40 175 Barley 7.77 - Condiments & Spices 2.06 - Implements Number Plough 1,075,454 Chaff - cutter 83,890 Pruning scissors - Orchard ladders - Pump - sets 3,678 Tractors 5,765 Paddy thresher 156 Wheat thresher 987 Maize - sheller 35 Sprayer 2,286 Livestock Number, lakh J & K India Cattle 30.550 1,924.530 Buffalo 7.325 697.830 Sheep 29.469 487.650 Goats 17.655 952.550 Horses & Ponies 1.215 9.160 Donkey/mules (others) 0.876 99.140 Total 87.066 3,695.260 Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Table 4 Area and production of various crops in J & K Table 6 Principal livestock population in the state Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Table 5 Agricultural implements and tools in the state VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA12 driven pump sets are available with the farmers throughout the state for lifting water from a surface stream. The state receives abundant quantity of water through precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall, which is many times greater than the water requirement of the state. But a major portion of water flows down to other states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh or even to another country (i.e. Pakistan), through the rivers and their tributaries. A lot of fertile soil is also carried away by runoff water f lowing through the rivers. Despite plenty of water resources in the state, irrigation and domestic water availability is very meager due to undulating topography, poor management of water resources and un-exploitation of ground water. It is shocking to know that about 2/3rd of the cultivable area is rain fed in the state, whereas, the down streams are being a potential source of irri- gation in other states and Pakistan. The land is quite fragile and dis- sected into hills and valleys through numerous streams/gullies. The land slopes are quite high and soil depth is very low at some places. Convey- ance of irrigation water through undulating topography to patchy agricultural f ields is a complex problem in the hilly region. Small sized and scattered fields in small land holding category and absence of path between two fields restrict the use of tractors, power tillers and improved machine operated imple- ments. The whole state is under se- vere soil erosion due to high slopes, deforestation, road construction and traditional cultivation practices. The terraced lands are not properly de- veloped for safe water disposal and irrigation. Post Harvest Technology The fa r mers have thei r own traditional ways of storing and processing the farm produce for their daily consumption. Gener- ally, harvested crops are kept in a heap for long duration to facilitate threshing. Food grains are stored in kuch (local name) made of wood and iron bins. Very high post har- vest losses occur in terms of qual- ity and quantity of perishable fruits and vegetables due to lack of sole market, efficient transportation and processing and packaging facilities. Hence, many promising high value crops/vegetables/fruits are not being grown on a commercial scale. Small scale industries for value addition and canning are also scanty. Renewable Energy The state government has pro- vided electricity to almost all the villages for lighting but due to in- adequate supply of electricity and severe cold, particularly in Kashmir and Ladakh region, fuel wood and coal is also being utilized by the vil- lagers, resulting in deforestation and degradation of land. As a result of special emphasis by the government through several schemes, some of the farmers in the state have ad- opted renewable energy sources for meeting their domestic energy requirements (Table 7). About 1,105 family bio-gas plants of different sizes have been installed in the state, particularly in Jammu region up to March, 1995. Existence of bio- gas plants is negligible in Kashmir and Ladakh region due to very low ambient temperature in winter. The solar water heater, solar lantern, solar photovoltaic pumping system, domestic and streetlight and solar salination system are also in use. More farmers are coming forward for their adoption due to subsidy of- fered by the government. Few farm- ers in hilly regions are using water mills for flour and rice milling but, still, those mills are of old tradi- tional types. Mechanization Potential Farm Power, Tools and Implements There is a great need to develop small tools and implements for till- age, sowing, intercultural, harvest- ing and threshing operations, so that the requirement of about 74 % marginal farmers (Table 2) could be met. Some farmers have trac- tors to execute tillage operations in their own fields as well as on cus- tom hiring basis however the use of tractors is limited to the plains and valleys only. This compels farm- ers of neighboring fields to adjust their cropping system with those using a tractor, as the land holdings are small and scattered. There is a tremendous scope for light weight power tillers with efficient matching equipment for various agricultural operations like tillage, sowing, in- tercultural, puddling, harvesting, threshing, water lifting and trans- portation, which can be carried by the help of 2-3 men from one field to another field. This mechanical pow- er equipment will suit only medium and large category farmers but other farmers may also use this power on co-operative or custom hiring basis. Declining trend has been observed in the use of animal power as their maintenance for taking only 40 to 50 days field work per year is not as beneficial as maintaining a milk cow. However, it is not possible to fully replace animal power with mechanical power. To maintain an eco-friendly system, there is a need to enhance the use of animal power by development of suitable and ef- ficient matching equipment. The present level of land productivity and area under cultivation can only be increased satisfactorily by adopt- ing efficient farm power and acces- Sources Number Bio-gas plant 1,105 Solar lantern 2,625 Home lighting system 1,051 Street lighting 889 Solar water heating system 115 Solar desalination system 70 Source: Digest of statics of Jammu and Kashmir (1996-97) Table 7 Status of renewable energy sources in the state AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 13 sories. Land and Water Management The state is presently utilizing only 30.3 % of its total geographi- cal area for cultivation of different agri-horticultural crops. Hence, bringing additional area under cul- tivation is the need of the day to feed an increasing population of the state. This can be achieved through reclamation measures and conver- sion of fallow land with the help of deep tillage, leveling and bunding. Of course, considering the alarming rate of soil erosion from cultivated fields and, in order to maintain eco- friendship, conversion of forest land or well-vegetated pasture land is not advisable. Conversion of non- agricultural or wasteland also opens scope for increasing cultivable area in the state. These opportunities can only be realized with the help of farm mechanization and efficient land use practices. Besides this, in depth study for water manage- ment is an urgent need in the state, because more than 2/3 of the culti- vatable area is rain fed, in spite of the fact that plenty of water f lows through rivers to neighboring states and Pakistan. Adoption of small ir- rigation schemes and exploitation of ground water may be possible solution of the problem. There is a serious threat to the surface water, which is depleting at an alarming rate. J & K State is rich in ground water resources of which only 3 % has been utilized so far. Attention should be given to embark upon a massive ground water exploration program under which a network of tube-wells, hand-pumps and shal- low wells should be installed. Prac- tically, about 80 % of cropped area may be possibly brought under irri- gation by virtue of excess rain har- vest and ground water exploitation. In hilly areas, the possible ways to bring more cropped area under ir- rigation include rain water harvest- ing in tanks and its recycling, lifting water from perennial streams and conveying it through pipelines to the nearby fields, diverting perennial flow at a higher point of the stream and conveying the water through gravity channels to the fields and collection of small subsurface seep- age water in tanks and using it for irrigation. However, lift irrigation system is not economically viable in some of the cases, where more pipe length and lift energy per unit area irrigated is required due to deep and distant water source. Further, it is possible to save water through minimization of water losses during conveyance, which can be utilized to expand near about 10 % of the present irrigated area. Sprinkler and micro-irrigation systems can also be exploited wherever possible, par- ticularly in high value horticultural crops. Soil and water engineering re- search is prerequisite for adoption of other improved farm inputs in the development of rain fed watersheds. Inter-disciplinary approaches of agricultural engineers with soil sci- entist and agronomist in this sector are likely to increase 100 to 150 % biomass production in the rain fed area of the state. Post Harvest and Agro-Processing According to an estimate, about 10 % grain losses in the case of ce- reals, pulses and oilseeds and up to 40 % in case of fruits and vegetables occur at the country level every year due to lack of storage and post har- vest processing facilities. Therefore, raising agricultural and horticultural production always necessitates im- proved post harvest processing fa- cilities to reduce post harvest losses, so that the improvement in produc- tion can be realized and in turn in- crease the net return to the growers. As far as quality is concerned, the state ranks first in case of fruits like apple, pears and dry fruits, but due to lack of nearby markets, storage facilities, very few agro-processing industries and difficult transporta- tion pose constraints to the farmers to get more remunerative prices for their produce. Losses of perishable items are comparatively greater in the state. Plastic storage struc- tures and vacuum storage of foods including controlled atmospheric packaging have vast potential in the state especially for fruit growers. Farmers are deprived of growing various high valued and off-season vegetables due to lack of post har- vest technology for value addition and preservation. Similarly, estab- lishing food industries would also be helpful for the state, which could enhance the farmer’s income as well as state's revenue. Renewable Energy An estimate shows availability of 8,706,600 livestock in the state (Ta- ble 6), which reflects vast potential for biogas generation. If 60 % of the livestock at 5 kg dung/livestock/day is utilized for this purpose, about 326,000 family size biogas plants of size 2 cu. meters could be run in the state. Consequently, the biogas gen- erated will serve the needs of more than 4,257,000 persons. This energy production will also save more than 1,087.23 m tones of fuel wood/day and also provide a huge amount of biogas from digested manure. Thus, biogas itself will be a milestone in self-reliance on energy and save the forest. Development of appropriate designs of biogas plant to suit the hilly conditions and minimization of low temperature problem are of more concern to the agricultural en- gineers. The mean ambient temperature throughout the year ranges from 13 to 28 ºC in the state. Low ambient temperature gives rise to the energy requirement, which is usually met by coal/electricity/firewood or a combination. The state has about 225 days of sunshine. If only 10 % of solar radiation (1 kw/m2 surface) is harnessed in the state at 10 % conversion efficiency, 0.01 % sur- face area of total geographical area has the potential to generate 2.22 x VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA14 109 MW energy, which will be suf- ficient for domestic energy require- ment of the farmers in the state. The vast and endless source of solar en- ergy can be effectively adopted for heating, cooking, lighting, refrig- eration, drying of grain and farm produce. The state also has a huge quantity of biomass by-products, which can be utilized for electricity generation by the use of gasifies. Hydropower has also great poten- tial among the energy resources in the state. The major rivers and their perennial tributaries can effectively be utilized for domestic energy re- quirements through water mills and small-scale hydroelectric units. At present, the age-old techniques of water mill operating are prevailing in the state. It is urged that coop- erative and constructive efforts are required for efficient harnessing of renewable energy. The agricultural engineers/scientists and develop- mental agencies of government and NGO’s should work on this aspect of non traditional energy resources for the development of eco-friendly, farmer friendly and user friendly power generation system. Skilled Man-Power At present, the state does not have any agricultural engineer- ing college. Hence, the state has a negligible number of agricultural engineers. To meet the above men- tioned challenges and for efficient harnessing of available potential in agriculture, horticulture, power and marketing sectors, the state must produce adequate agricultural engi- neers, diploma holders and skilled man power. The state agricultural universities need to establish full- f ledged agricultural engineering colleges in order to produce special- ized trained personnel in different agricultural engineering fields to cater to the future needs of farm mechanization in hill agriculture of the state. In addition, to develop skilled manpower, the college can also impart training in farm power, farm machinery, land use and de- velopment, irrigation and drainage, water shed management, renewable energy and post harvest technology sectors to the development/ exten- sion workers and entrepreneurs. Conclusion and Sugges- tions The review of the agricultural mechanization in J & K State re- vealed poor adaptability by the farmers due to various reasons as well as negligence of the state gov- ernment. It is seemed to be in the early stage of development. Further, its potential encourages more in depth research and extension activi- ties in this sector for which immedi- ate attention of the government and other funding agencies, NGO’s are needed. Some suggestions for en- hancing the pace of mechanization in the state are given below: • There is first and foremost need to produce adequate agricultural engineering graduates, diploma holders and skilled manpower and their placement by the state government. • Development of an agricultural engineering package for hill ag- riculture. • Mechanization study for the en- tire state to identify mechaniza- tion gaps • Equipment developed elsewhere needs to be tested, evaluated and modified for better use and adoption in lower and upper hills of the state. • Introduction of women friendly technology for socio-economic development in the state. • Light-weight power source (pow- er tiller) for hill agriculture. • Fallow land and unused land should be brought under culti- vation. • Development of water harvest- i ng t an ks /smal l ponds for collecting surface/subsurface runoff should be under taken on community basis for irrigation basis. • There is need to develop new models of biogas plants, prefer- ably prefabricated and suitable to produce biogas under low temperature conditions also. • Eco-friendly renewable energy technologies for conservation of energy and time saving. • Upgrading the present technol- ogy of water mills and their use for domestic electricity produc- tion with small turbines. • Availability of spare parts and small-scale machinery manu- facturing facilities at local mar- kets. • There is need to strengthen the research and development activ- ities in post harvest and agro- processing sectors. • Government should provide nec- essary facilities and subsidies for establishing small-scale agro-processing industries. • There is need to encourage farmers to avail farm mechani- zation aid on co-operative basis. • There is also need to introduce custom hiring system through state government agency. REFERENCES Anonymous. 1990. Statistical Ab- stract, India Central Statistical Organization, Dept. of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Govt. of In- dia. Anonymous. 1996. FAO Year book United Nation, Rome Italy. Anonymous. 1996-97. Digest of Sta- tistics of J & K. Dept. of Statics, J & K. India. Joshi, Veena. 1993. Demand of en- ergy in rural area. Urja Bharati. Vol. 3(3): 19-23. India. Singh, S. P. and H. N. Verma. 2001. Scope of Farm Mechanization in Shivalik hills of India. Agril. Mech. Asia, Africa and Latin Am (AMA), Japan. Vol. 32(1): 59-64 ■■ AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 15 Case Study in the Conversion of Fired-Wood Fuel to other Suitable ones in the Rural Areas of Vietnam by Nguyen Hay Associate Professor Faculty of Engineering, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City VIET NAM nguyenhay@hcm.fpt.vn Le Quang Giang Engineer Faculty of Engineering, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City VIET NAM Abstract Burning agricultural wastes for energy was considered and encour- aged by the government because agricultural wastes would be con- ver ted the to useful energy for agricultural product drying. It also helped decrease the contamination caused by these wastes. For these purposes, we have designed and tested a tobacco dryer using rice husk for burning energy. It was very useful for the areas having an avail- able source of rice husk. Tobacco drying is an important factor in producing a quality prod- uct. To pre-process the product of 9,000 ha we need 3,500 dryers that currently use 40-50 % fired- wood fuel for drying. This activity has been causing the exhaustion of forestry resource and affecting the ecology. So, it is urgent to find a completely alternate fuel that in- creases the drying quality as well as decreases the drying cost. To obtain this goal, it was necessary to rede- sign the heat-supply system and the drying bin. The tobacco dryer structure was changed from a single to a double combustion chamber. The results of the research showed that the double combustion chamber dryer was able to use coal and produce high quality post-drying tobacco of the first and second type and, at the same time, reduce the drying cost. Using coal fuel to process an- chovy has created practical profits, increased the living standards of the peasants in the coastal areas and contributed to the development of the agricultural and fishery econo- my. This was accomplished by us- ing a new type of steam room which maintained a high quality at an ac- ceptable cost. Also, the use of coal for anchovy steaming will preserve our safe and firm environment. Introduction Most dryers in Vietnam use wood and coal fuel for tobacco drying. Among them, coal makes up 50-60 %. Thus, it has remarkably contrib- uted to the forestry exploitation that has adversley affected the environ- ment. It would be desirable to rede- sign the heat-supply and the dry- ing bin so that we could use coal, reduce the drying cost and increase the quality of the dryed tobacco. For many years, we have re- searched many tobacco dryer mod- els to acquire the final aim that is to completely substitute coal for wood. This substitution has initialy obtained satisfactory results. After doing research and constructing the tobacco dryer using coal fuel with heat from a double combustion chamber, we have done the experi- mental research to determine the best operating parameters and the technical and economic norms of this dryer type. We also made and tested a tobacco dryer using rice husk for burning en- ergy. It was very useful for the areas having available rice husk source. The annual anchovy yield of Ninh Thuan province is very high. It is necessary to steam and dry them before exporting. To meet this de- mand, anchovy processing areas in Ninh Thuan province have about 200 steam rooms which mainly use fired wood as fuel. Because of the depleting forests, it is desirable VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA16 to find another appropriate fuel as compared to wood. The Purposes of our Research - Use coal exclusively to decrease the deforestation. - Find a fuel that is less expensive. - Produce a higher quality of post- drying tobacco of the first and sec- ond type. - Improve the quality of steaming anchovy so that they will meet the export criteria. Experimental Method Experimental Design We have used the Completely Randomized Design (CRD) Meth- od: All elements of the experiment were randomly selected. Experimental Plan Choosing the researched param- eters: The choosing of input param- eters is based on the transcendental information, the suggestions of experts and the theory researched results of the basic science. Any unreliable parameter must be deter- mined by monoparameter experi- ment. Setting up the experimental plan: Experimental plan is built correla- tively with the second-degree ex- perimental plan and nonlinear plan. Experimental data processing, constructing and verifying the ex- perimental regression model: - Ap- plying the variance analysis method (ANOVA). - Applying the rough odd suppression method of Aknazarova (1982). - Using Statgraphics-vers 7.0 software to construct and verify the experimental regression model, based on Fisher criteria. Seeking the extremum of the ob- jective function in the experimental plan: Multi-object optimized prob- lems are completely solved on the computer. Multi-object Optimized Method is solved by the Great Num- ber Method of Gass.S.I. Discussion The Heat Exchanger Using Hon- eycomb Coal We calculated and designed the heat exchanger so that the heat that radiates around the burner and the heat exchanging pipe will be greater than the heat quantity lost through the wall, the floor and absorbed by the drying air. It means: Q’ ≥ Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + Q4 + Q5, where Q’ is the heat quantity sup- plied by the heat exchanger, Q1 is the useful heat quantity of evaporat- ing water, Q2 is the heat quantity releasing out, Q3 is the heat quantity lost through the wall, Q4 is the heat quantity lost through the floor and Q5 is equipment accumulated heat quantity. To obtain the desired results for the post-drying tobacco quality and the fuel expenditure, We have re- searched, manufactured and tested two types of heat exchangers (Fig. 2 and 4). Fig. 2 is the heat exchanger with 2 burners (two-layer type), with 4 sub-heat conducting pipes. The diameter of the main heat conduct- ing pipe is 280 mm. There are seven 900 angles on every heat conducting pipe. This heat exchanger uses 100 % honeycomb coal. Fig. 4 is the current heat exchang- er with 3 heat conducting pipes and 1 combustion chamber. The diam- eter of the heat conducting pipes is Fig. 1 Honeycomb coal Fig. 3 Transportation of fresh tobacco leaf to dryer group Fig. 2 The double combustion chamber heat exchanger (two-layer type) Fig. 4 The 3 heat conducting pipes heat exchanger Element Levels Variable interval+ 1 0 - 1 + α - α N 6 5 4 7 3 1 G 4 3 2 5 1 1 T 110 100 90 120 80 10 S 1.8 1.6 1.4 2.0 1.2 0.2 Table 1 Levels and the variable intervals of the research elements in the experiment design AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 17 320 mm. This heat exchanger uses 60-70 % coal and 30-40 % fired- wood. The Heat Exchanger Using Rice Husk as Fuel Dimension: length x width: 1 m x 0.6 m; Combustion chamber’s volume: 0.441 m3; The materials of combustion chamber: Refractory- brick with thickness of 20 cm.; Cylinder-shaped combustion cham- ber, horizontal (Fig. 5); The length of heat exchanger (the pipe): 19.7 m; The height of chimney: 5 m. Anchovy Steam Room Combustion Chamber Volume De- sign; The Basic Parameters of the Anchovy Steam Room The steam room: (square-shaped room top) Length = width = 0.9 m and height: 0.62 m Combustion chamber: The volume of the combustion chamber: (0.9 x 0.9) x 0.45 = 0.36 m3 The fired-grate area: 0.8 x 0.75 = 0.6 m2 The anchovy steam room is de- signed as the following Fig. 6. Case Study Results Tobacco Drying Results Case Study to Determine the Math- ematical Equation Model The Researched Elements: The number of tobacco stories in the dryer: n (stories); The declination of the heat exchanging system: g (de- gree); Fuel supply cycle: t (minute); Exhausting door area: S (m2) The Output Norms: Product qual- ity: L (%); Specific fuel expenditure for 1 kg product: Ar kg (coal)/ kg (dry tobacco) Experimental Results: After pro- cessing the attained data and elimi- nating the regression coefficients that are not reliable out of the mod- el, we have acquired the results. The regression function was determined as follows: + The function of specific fuel Fig. 5 Rice husk combustion chamber used for tobacco drying Drying bin Combustion chamber 16 00 50 0 10 00 Ordinal number Dryer with 1 burner Dryer with 2 burners Dryer with rice husk burner Coal fuel, kg Wood fuel, m3 Tobacco production, kg Coal fuel, kg Tobacco production, kg Rice husk fuel, kg Tobacco production, kg 1 1,220 5.5 566 2,110 546 3,215 530 2 1,110 7.0 580 2,215 577 3,250 540 3 1,350 4.5 571 2,012 529 3,210 534 4 1,315 4.5 528 2,340 641 3,306 562 5 1,260 5.0 543 2,305 629 3,290 535 6 1,410 4.0 555 2,284 616 3,312 558 7 1,387 4.0 510 2,256 585 3,285 516 8 1,256 5.0 531 2,140 555 3,285 520 9 1,365 4.0 522 2,262 601 3,296 527 Average 1,297 4.8 545 2,214 587 3,272 536 Table 2 Fuel expenditure results and dry tobacco production VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA18 consuming level (Ar): A r = 32.23334 - 12.07680.n + 3.20386.g - 1.25417(E-3)t + 2.74323.S + 0.0132687.nt - 0.0265063.g t - 0.484062.gS + 0.953537.n 2 + 0.116537.g2 + The function of product quality (L): L = -127.245 + 12 .3828.n + 0.153244.g + 1.74362.t + 78.5707.S + 0.103313.nt + 4.30313.gS - 2.40353.n2 + 0.937277.g 2 - 0.0121613.t 2 - 25.2757.S2 The Results of the Two-Object Op- timal Problem The function of specific fuel con- suming level (Ar) is minimum at the value Armin = 5.9 kg (coal)/kg (prod- uct) and the function of product quality (L) is maximum at the value Lmax = 56.64 % when the operating parameters of the dryer is satisfied: The number of tobacco stories in the dryer: n = 5 stories; The declina- tion of the heat exchanging system: g = 3º 6'; Fuel supply cycle: t = 97 minutes; Exhausting door area: S = 1.64 m2 The Experimental Results of Dryer with one Burner, Two Burners Us- ing Coal as Fuel and Dryer Using Rice Husk as Fuel Comment: The average consump- tion of the tobacco dryer with 1 burner is 1,297 kg of honey-comb coal and 4.8 ster of wood for every drying batch and the average pro- duction is 545 kg dry tobacco. The average consumption of the tobacco dryer with 2 burners is 2,214 kg honey-comb coal for every drying batch and the average production is 587 kg of dry tobacco, (not use fired wood). The average consumption of the rice husk burner tobacco dryer is 3,272 kg rice husk for every dry- ing batch and the average produc- tion is 536 kg of dry tobacco (Table 2). The Comparison of Experimental Results among the Dryers with 1 Burner, 2 Burners and Rice Husk Burner From Table 2, we have the fuel expenditure, the dry tobacco pro- duction and the price of honeycomb coal fuel is 0.038 USD/kg; rice husk is 0.019 USD/kg and fired-wood is 9.47 USD/ster. We have calculated the fuel expenditure for 1 kg dry to- bacco leaf when dried in three heat exchangers mentioned above (Table 3). Comment: We used the statistical analysis method when comparing the above data and the result of the comparison shows the difference of the drying expenditure among the three dryers. The average drying expenditure of 1 kg dry tobacco leaf when dried by dryer (1 burner) is 0.174 USD/kg, (2 burners) is 0.143 USD/kg and (rice husk burner) is 0.115 USD/kg. Thus, the drying expenditure of the dryer (2 burner) is 0.031 USD/ kg lower than (1 burner) and 0.027 USD/kg higher than the (rice husk burner) dryer. Practically, we use coal for to- bacco drying. The source of supply is very abundant and does not effect on our environment. For rice husk fuel, its source is finite because it is often concentrated in the plains where rice is cultivated plentifully, while in the tobacco cultivated ar- eas, rice husk is very scarce. There- fore, if we transport rice husk to these areas, the transport costs will be very high. As a result, the drying expenditure is higher than coal dry- ing. The Result of Dry Tobacco Leaf Ra- tio among the 1 Burner, 2 Burner and Rice Husk Burner Dryers According to the experimental results and the classified results of post-drying tobacco, we have the following ratios: Comment: The Table 4 shows that the ratio of the 1st + 2nd type of the 1 burner dryer is 56.7 %, of the 2 burner dryer is 68.2 % and of the rice husk burner dryer is 58.1 %. Fig. 6 Anchovy steam room 1: Steam room, 2: Burner door, 3: Centrifugal fan, 4: Burner grate, 5: Coal pieces in the combustion Ordinal number 1 burner, drying expenditure USD/kg 2 burner, drying expenditure USD/kg Rice husk burner, dry- ing expenditure USD/kg 1 0.174 0.146 0.115 2 0.187 0.145 0.114 3 0.164 0.144 0.114 4 0.175 0.138 0.111 5 0.175 0.139 0.116 6 0.164 0.140 0.112 7 0.177 0.146 0.120 8 0.179 0.146 0.119 9 0.172 0.145 0.118 Average 0.174 0.143 0.115 Table 3 The comparison of the drying expenditure among the dryers with 1 burner, 2 burner and rice husk burner AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 19 Ordinal number 1 burner dryer, tobacco leaf ratio % 2 burner dryer, tobacco leaf ratio % Rice husk burner dryer, tobacco leaf ratio % 1st type 2nd type 3rd type 4th type 1st type 2nd type 3rd type 4th type 1st type 2nd type 3rd type 4th type 1 28.5 25.4 25.6 20.5 36.5 30.2 18.8 14.5 28.6 25.4 25.6 20.4 2 27.6 28.3 24.4 19.7 38.2 28.3 19.7 13.8 30.6 28.3 21.4 19.7 3 25.7 28.5 25.5 20.3 40.5 29.6 17.5 12.4 32.7 26.5 22.5 18.3 4 30.2 27.6 22.8 19.4 38.6 31.4 17.5 12.5 30.6 27.2 22.5 19.7 5 30.5 28.4 25.2 15.9 36.4 32.8 20.6 10.2 29.5 28.4 25.2 16.9 6 28.4 28.7 25.3 17.6 37.5 30.8 22.2 9.5 33.2 24.7 24.6 17.5 7 31.3 26.6 22.7 19.4 35.8 31.6 21.4 11.2 31.3 27.6 21.4 19.7 8 29.6 26.5 26.4 17.5 38.2 28.6 20.8 12.4 32.6 27.4 23.5 16.5 9 30.7 27.3 26.4 15.6 39.4 29.5 18.6 12.5 31.7 26.4 26.3 15.6 Average 29.2 27.5 24.9 18.4 37.9 30.3 19.7 12.1 31.2 26.9 23.7 18.3 Table 4 The ratio of tobacco quality among the 1 burner, 2 burner and rice husk burner dryers Fig. 8 The relative graph of L with every two-element couple Fig. 7 The relative graph of Ar with every two-element couple We have used the statistical analy- sis method to compare the differ- ences of the tobacco leaf ratio of the 1st + 2nd type among the 1 burner, 2 burner and rice husk burner dryers. The results show that the tobacco dryer with 2 burner heat exchanger operates well with honeycomb coal fuel and the quality of the post- drying production of the 1st + 2nd type is higher than the 1 burner and rice husk burner. Anchovy Steaming Experiment Experimental Results We have tested the anchov y steaming in three times and realized that the anchovy steam room can absolutely use coal as fuel instead of fired-wood. Anchovy Steaming with Honey- comb Coal We have calculated the fuel ex- penditure for 8-hour steaming per day as follow: The fuel costs for starting up the furnace: 50 pieces of honeycomb coal; The fuel consum- ing costs for 8 hour operating: 25 pieces x 8 hours = 200 pieces; The total quantity of fuel consumed per day: 250 pieces; In cash: 250 pieces x 0.038 USD/piece = 9.47 USD; The fuel expenditure for 1 kg of prod- uct is 9.47 USD/2000 kg = 0.0047 USD/kg. Anchovy Steaming with Fired- Wood The expenditure for 1.2 ster of fired-wood is 11.36 USD and the obtained production is 2,000 kg. The fuel expenditure for 1 kg of product is 11.36 USD/2000 kg = 0.0057 USD/kg Comment: Anchovy steaming us- ing coal as fuel obtain the economic effect as well as preserve the envi- ronment. VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA20 Evaluating the Quality of Post- Steaming Anchovy According to the experimental results, the anchovy quality in color and hardness steamed by coal is analogous with steamed by wood as well. The steaming process with coal is completely the same as with wood. Conclusion 1. With the structure of the dryer changing from 1 to 2 burners, the experimental results show that the tobacco dryer with 2 burner heat ex- changer operates well with coal fuel and the quality of the post-drying products of the 1st and 2nd type is higher than the 1 burner. The experimental results also de- termined the mathematical equation describing the effects of the dryer operating parameters on the two economic and technical norms. In addition, they have defined the op- erating zone and the optimal norms for the 2 burner dryer. From the experimental results of the fuel, the fuel expenditure, the heat efficiency and the quality of tobacco after drying, we have cho- sen the 2 burner heat exchanger for mass production. This new heat exchanger has the following strong points: - The heat exchanger has many pipes spreading heat well in the dry- ing bin making heat uniform in the drying bin. - Transporting coal to the dryer is easier and the labor cost is less than when using wood for drying. - Safer in fire in comparison with the former. - Using coal decreasing the defor- estation, environmental pollution. - Heat uniform in the drying bin and the quality of products of the 1st and 2nd type being high. 2. According to the experimental results, using rice husk for tobacco drying is absolutely possible. The quality of post-drying production is maintained. The drying expenditure is lower than that of wood or coal as fuel. However, we also affirm that using rice husk as fuel for the tobac- co dryer is profitable when the dryer groups are close to the rice process- ing plants; Furthermore, we must be careful in preserving rice husk (the rice husk's weight is very little; it is very easy to cause fire). 3. The anchovy steam room has been suitably designed for using coal as fuel, which helps completely replace fired-wood fuel. The expenditure of coal steaming is 0.09 cents/kg lower than when we use fired-wood as fuel. We are sure that the using of coal for anchovy steaming will attain the desired eco- nomic efficiency as well as preserve our firm environment. REFERENCES Nguyen Canh. 1993. Experimental project. Technical University, HCM City. Nguyen Hay. 1995. Improving the wood combustion chamber of the tobacco dryer for using coal as fuel. MSc Thesis- Nong Lam University, HCM City. Nguyen Hay. 1998. Doing research on natural convection technology of the dryer to increase the quality of pre-processed tobacco.- PhD Thesis - Nong Lam University, HCM City. Phan Hieu Hien. 2001. Experimen- tal design method and data pro- cessing. (Experimental statistics). Agricultural Publishing House- HCM City. Hoang Dinh Tin. 1996. Heat transfer and caculating heat exchanging equipment. Heat-Refrigeration Engineering Department, Me- chanical faculty - HCMC Univer- sity of Technology. A. Hirun and A. Promwungkwa. Flue Curet Tobacco. Department of mechanical Engineering Chi- ang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50002, Thailand. ■■ AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 21 Establishment and Performance of an Indegeneous Small Scale Rice Processing Plant in Nigeria by Gbabo Agidi National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi, P.M.B. 8, Bida NIGERIA Abstract A small scale Rice Processing Plant with 3 tons per day capac- ity was established for the Burma Rice farm in Bayelsa State by the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi. All the machines were fab- ricated in the Institute while the Ni- gerian Agip Oil Company Ltd, Port- Harcourt provided the funds for the whole project including the factory building and other farm structures. The factory was divided into five main sections: threshing and win- nowing area, parboiling bay, dry- ing and tempering section, milling section and quality control/bagging unit. The machines installed in the factory were: one rice thresher, one winnower, three rice parboilers, one rotary steam dryer, four milling ma- chines and one pneumatic cleaner. The overall milling recovery of the plant was about 97 %. The perfor- mances of the various components were also highlighted. Introduction Rice (Oryza sativa L), believed to have originated from ancient China, was one of the most important sta- ple food crops for more than half of the world’s population (Bandyopad- hay and Roy, 1992). The rice seed contains about 66.4 % starch, 12 % iron and 26.3 % amylose (Ressur- rection et al, 1979) while its energy and protein contents are 3.75 % and 7.5 % respectively (IRRI, 1993). The potential of Nigeria in rice production in terms of availability of land, human resources and weather is so enormous but the actual rice production level of the nation is so low that the country imports rice valued at 600-700 million dollars annually (Guardian, 2002). Also, in spite of the huge rice requirement of the country, the per-capita rice pro- duction of 21 kg is very low com- pared to what is obtained in other West African sub-regions such as Guinea, Gambia and Sierra-Leone which have 135 kg, 110 kg and 108 kg, respectively (NCRI, 1997). In order for the nation to be self sufficient in local rice production, individuals, corporate organizations and the state and federal govern- ment need to utilize the available land potential of 4.6-4.9 million hectares (Kehinde, 1997 and In- dachaba, 1985) available in the country. Recently, the federal gov- ernment of Nigeria inaugurated a committee to come up with a blue print on increase rice production in Nigeria by the year 2004. However, as part of an effort by the Bayelsa state government of Nigeria to encourage rice produc- tion, the Burma Rice Farm was established through a collaborative effort by the Nigeria Agip Oil Com- pany limited, Port Harcourt and the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi. The aim of the project was to establish a 3 tons per day rice processing plant to augment the existing rice production capa- bility of the state, provide a source of revenue for local rice farmers to process their crop, provide rural employment for the unemployed youths and generally contribute to rural development in the state. The Nigerian Agip Oil Company limited, Port Harcourt undertakes oil prospecting activities in Bayelsa state and provided the funds for the whole project while the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi provided the processing equipment. This paper highlights the compo- nents of the Burma Rice Processing Factory and gives an overview of VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA22 the general performance of the fac- tory. Factory Layout The rice processing plant layout at the Burma Rice farm has the fol- lowing five main sections: i . Threshing and Winnowing Area: This is the area where har- vested rice from the field is threshed and cleaned. The harvested rice, tied in bundles, is loaded into trucks on the farm road by labours and transported to the threshing area of the factory. The threshed rice is collected and cleaned with a recip- rocating winnower before weighing and bagging. The straw, which is the major by-product of the threshed rice, is spread on the field in order to improve the fertility of the soil. ii. Parboiling Bay: The cleaned rice is treated hydrothermally in this section. Thus, this area basically houses the parboilers and the wet cleaners. Ample space is provided to accommodate bags of rice and allow movement of people while working. A piping network that conveys wa- ter from the over head water storage tank into the boilers, and also serves the wet cleaners, is accommodated in this area. iii. Drying and Tempering Sec- tion: The dryer units are installed in this section. The two units of the dryer, rotary drying chamber and brick wall insulated boiler sections, are conveniently accommodated. A tempering area is also provided in this area to allow for equilibration of moisture between and within rice kernels after parboiling and the first and second pass drying. iv. Milling Section: Tempered rice is milled in this area before taken for f inal cleaning. A husk collection point is provided outside the milling area where they are con- veyed and deposited with the aid of 3 inch PVC pipes and cyclones. v. Quality Control and Bagging area: This is the finishing section where milled rice is cleaned by the pneumatic cleaner before weighing and bagging in varying categories of satchets and bags. Production Process The production process of the small scale processing plant at Bur- ma is explained in Fig. 1. Bundles of harvested rice from the field are left for about 2-4 days depending on the wetness and ma- turity of the seeds so that the field moisture content will be adequately reduced. They are then threshed by throwing in a handful (3-5 kg) of the panicles into the machine at intervals of about 30-60 seconds depending on the load. The threshed rice, which is collected with a fab- ricated rectangular container of 70 cm x 85 cm is poured onto a tarpau- lin. They are then introduced into the winnower with the aid of a ba- sin. The chaff, stones, sand and dust are separated by different screens in a reciprocating assembly while the cleaned seeds are collected through a different spout. The winnowed seeds are further cleaned to remove the chaff and minute impurities and dust that adhere firmly to the husks. About 30-40 kg of paddy are cleaned per 10 minute cycle and discharged into the parboiling tanks where they are soaked in water at a temperature of 70 ºC from the boiler for a period of 8-12 hours. The wa- ter is then drained through valves and is passed on to the rice in 45-60 minutes intervals. The parboiled rice (which is indicated by cracking of over 95 % of the steamed rice) is discharged at about 45 % moisture content and tempered to 25-30 % moisture content within 1½-2 hours before drying. The tempered parboiled rice is dried with the rotary steam dryer for 3 hours before discharging at 25-30 % moisture content and tem- pered for about 3-6 hours. The first pass of tempered rice at a moisture content of 20-22 % is loaded into the dryer for a second pass for about 2 hours. It is discharged at about 16 % moisture content and tempered in S/No. Quantity of threshed rice per hr.(Tr), kg Quantity of threshed rice per day (Trd), kg Quantity of unthreshed rice (Tu), kg Threshing efficiency (ηcy), % 1 400 3,200 0.1 99.98 2 370 2,960 0.5 99.99 3 405 3,240 0.2 99.95 4 420 3,360 0.08 99.98 5 415 3,320 0.1 99.98 Threshing efficiencyηcy = Tr / (Tr x Tu) x 100 % Where: Tr = Quantity of threshed rice (kg), Tu = Quantity of unthreshed rice (kg), ηcy = Efficiency of thresher (%) Table 1 Threshing data Rice straw and other foreign objectsThreshing Chaffs, stone, sand and dustWinnowing Chaffs, fine sand and dustWet cleaning Parboiling Drying Tempering Rice husk and branMilling Pneumatic cleaning Sand and stone Milled rice Weighing Bagging and Storage ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Fig. 1 Flow chart of the burma rice processing factory Production Process AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 23 the tempering area for 18-24 hours before milling. The milled rice is finally cleaned and graded with the reciprocating pneumatic cleaner before bagging and storage. Plant's Components and Performance Assessment The fol lowing machines and equipment were installed at the Burma Rice farm: Rice Thresher The thresher is made up of a trap- ezoidal hopper, threshing assembly, straw outlet, frame and power unit. The threshing assembly is com- prised of the threshing drum that ro- tates within a concave made of steel rods. The drum is mainly composed of studs bolted to flat bars that are arranged longitudinally at a distance of 10 cm from one another. The cy- lindrical threshing drum is powered by a 10 hp air cooled diesel engine. About 5 kg was fed into the thresh- er through the hopper. The impact force of the drum (rotating at an av- erage speed of 500 rpm) on the rice panicles dislodged the seed from the straw. The rice straw and chaff were discharged through the straw outlet due to the spiral arrangement of the bars on the rotating drum while the threshed rice seed and some chaff were collected by gravity through the concave into the collector. The few unthreshed rice grains were dis- lodged from the panicles manually. The total threshed rice after winnow- ing and the unthreshed rice dislodged manually were weighed and recorded as shown in Table 1. The efficiency of the thresher was observed to range from 99.5-99.99 %. Reciprocating Winnower One winnower was installed. It was composed of a hopper, recipro- cating sieve assembly, chaff outlet, fine impurities, spout and seed out- let. The sieve assembly was essen- tially made of three metal screens of 15 mm, 5 mm and 2.5 mm diameter hole sizes. They are arranged at an inclination angle of 45 % to the horizontal plane. A reciprocating cam, which was attached to this as- sembly obtained power from a 5 hp single phase electric motor through pulleys and belts. Centrifugal blower which ob- tained power from the pulley of the reciprocating assembly is incorpo- rated at the rear end of the recip- rocating system to expel chaff and other lighter impurities. About 1,000 kg of threshed rice per batch was fed into the machine through the hopper with the aid of a shutter. The reciprocating action of the screens enabled cleaned seed to pass through the upper and middle screens and be discharged through the seed outlet while the straw, chaff and stones were trapped and dis- charged at the front of the machine due to the combined effect of the screen movement and the centrifu- gal air blower. The fine impurities (sand) and rice seeds were trapped below the upper and middle screens and discharged through different outlets. The winnowed rice was weighed and further cleaned manu- ally. As shown Table 2, the cleaning efficiency of the machine ranged between 87.0-94.0 %. Wet Cleaners Three wet cleaners were provided. These were cylindrical vessels hav- ing removable stirring assembly and drain valves. Cleaning was done by introducing winnowed rice of differ- ent mass into the vessel containing water. The stirrer was then turned vigorously at an average speed of 30 rpm for 2 minutes. The difference in specific gravity of the, chaff and other impurities enabled them to be separated from one another. The lighter impurities that floated on the water were removed with a plastic mesh and the stirrer was turned on again for one more minute for light- er materials to be removed before discharging the filled grains. The time taken for removal of the impurities was also recorded. This operational procedure was repeated with subsequent batches for about 5 to 7 times before draining the water and washing off the sand that Rice variety Initial mass of paddy (Mi), kg Final mass of paddy after winnowing (Mf), kg Time spent on winnowing (t), min Mass of fore- ign separated materials using machine (Ms), kg Mass of sepa- rated materials using manual machine (Ms), kg Mass of lost paddy using machine (Mop) Cleaning efficiency of machine (ηcy), % Seed retention efficiency (ηry), % Output capacity of machine (Cmo), kg/day Faro 52 1,000 992.0 90 7.0 0.5 0.5 93.33 99.95 5,290.6 Faro 35 1,000 991.7 83 7.2 0.7 0.4 91.4 99.97 5,735.13 DA 29 1,000 993.7 75 5.4 0.6 0.3 90.0 99.97 5,746.7 Faro 43 1,000 990.3 92 8.5 0.75 0.45 91.89 99.98 5,166.78 Faro 29 1,000 995.0 80 4.0 0.6 0.4 86.96 99.94 5,970.0 Faro 24 1,000 899.0 76 9.2 0.62 0.38 93.69 99.94 5,677.89 Ms = Mi - Mf, ηcy = Ms / (Ms + Mm) x 100 %, ηry = Mcp / (Mcp + Mlp) x 100 %, Cmo = Mf / t (mins) x 60 mins x 8 hr/day Where: Mi = Initial mass of paddy (kg), Mf = Final mass of paddy (kg), T = Time spent on machine winnowing (mm), Ms = Mass of foreign separated materials (kg), Mm = Mass of manually separated materials (kg), Mf = Final mass of paddy (kg), Mlp = Mass of lost paddy (kg), ηcy = Cleaning efficiency, ηry = Seed (%) retention efficiency (%), Cmo = Output capacity of machine (kg/day) Table 2 Winnowing data VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA24 deposited on the base of the vessel. The time taken for each operation was recorded as shown in Table 3. Although the capacity of the cleaner increased with increasing load per batch, the 45 kg load per batch, which resulted in an average clean- ing capacity of 1,167.57 kg per 8 hr working day, was found to be the optimum loading capacity. This was because it yielded the desired capac- ity of 1,000 kg per day and was also easier to operate compared to the 60 kg and 75 kg load per batch. Rice Parboilers Three rice parboilers were fabri- cated for the farm. The equipment had two main sections: boiler and parboiling units, which were inter- connected by a network of 50 mm diameter pipes. The boiler, which was made of 2.5 mm mild steel sheet, had a pressure relief sys- tem, drain valve, cold water inlet and hot water and steam outlets. It was placed over a furnace made of bricks. The steaming unit was rect- angular in shape and made of 2.5 mm galvanized sheet. A cover was provided to prevent loss of steam while a false bottom was placed 15 cm away from the base of the tank. One thousand kg of rice from the wet cleaner was introduced into the soaking/steaming tank with water from the boiler at 70 ºC. The water was drained after 8 hours and steam was passed on to the tank from the boiler and left until the husks crack. They were then unloaded and tem- pered for about 3-12 hours before feeding into the rotary steam dryer. The duration taken for the rice to crack during the steaming opera- tion, quantity of white belly rice and colour difference of the rice were recorded as shown in Table 4. The parboiling efficiency of the equip- ment was approximately 100 % as the percent white belly was either very negligible or totally absent in all the rice varieties. The colour dif- ference for Faro 52 was lower while that of DA 29 was highest. Rotary Steam dryer This machine dried about 1.5 tons of parboiled rice per day. Two of these dryers were provided in the factory. It was composed of the boil- er placed over a brick furnace and rotary drying unit which were inter- connected with a 4 mm diameter pipe. The rotary drying unit was a double wall insulated vessel having a jacket between the two walls for steam circulation. It also had pro- vision for condensation outlet and sets of screens that permitted exit of moist air from the drying rice. Power of rotation of the drum was obtained from a 20 hp electric mo- tor while firewood or gas was used as source of heat. About 600 kg of parboiled and tempered rice are fed into the rotary drying unit through a detachable hopper. The dryer was turned on while water was heated in the boiler to raise steam. The drum with the content was allowed to rotate at 5 revolutions per minute until the moisture content was reduced from about 30 % to 18 % before it was discharged. The rice was then left to temper for 24 hours and re-intro- duced for the second pass drying for the moisture to be reduced from about 16.5 % to 13.5 %. The content was finally released and tempered for another 12-24 hours before mill- ing. The drying time for the first and second pass for each variety were noted. As shown in Table 5, the average drying time varied from Rice variety Mass of paddy (Mp), kg Time spent on first agitation (ta1), mins Time taken for removal of lighter impurities (tl1), mins Time spent on second agitation (ta2), mins Time spent on removal of more lighter impurities (tl2), mins Cleaned grains discharging time (td), mins Total time per cycle of cleaning (tT), mins Average time per cycle of cleaning (ta), mins Average capacity of cleaner (Ca), kg/day Faro 52 25 2.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 9.0 25 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 12.0 10.33 1,161.67 25 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 10.0 Faro 35 35 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 12.0 35 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 10.0 11.0 1,527.27 35 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 11.0 Faro 43 45 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.5 12.5 45 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 13.0 12.83 1,683.55 45 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 13.0 Faro 29 60 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 4.5 14.5 60 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 13.0 13.83 2,082.43 60 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 14.0 Faro 24 75 2.0 4.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 18.0 75 2.0 3.0 2.0 4.0 7.0 18.0 17.17 2,096.68 75 2.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 5.5 15.5 Caw = Mp / Ta x 60 mins x 8 hr/day Where Caw = Average capacity of wet cleaner (kg/day), Ta = Average cleaning time per batch (mins), Mp = Mass of paddy Table 3 Wet cleaning data AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 25 150-190 minutes during the first pass and 123.33-160 minutes for the second pass. Rice Mills Rice mills were installed in the factory. Each pair dehusked and pol- ished the parboiled dried rice. They were made up of a frustrum hopper, milling chamber, husk aspiration unit, milled rice, spout and power unit. The milling chamber, which ro- tated at about 650-750 rpm, was comprised of a milling cylinder that was enclosed within a half cylindri- cal casing and sets of screens at the upper and lower sides. Power to the Rice variety Mass of parboiled paddy (M), kg Initial drying time from 30 % m.c. to 18 % m.c. (ti), mins Final drying time from 16 % m.c. to 13.5 % m.c. (tf), mins Tempering duration between initial and final drying (tt), mins Tempering duration after final drying (tta) Initial average drying time (tia), mins Final average drying time (tfa), mins Faro 52 600 150 120 12 24 600 150 120 12 24 150 123.33 600 120 130 12 24 DA 29 600 180 140 12 24 600 190 135 12 24 190 131.67 600 200 120 12 24 ROK 5 600 150 140 12 24 600 150 120 12 24 160 131.67 600 180 135 12 24 CK 77- 3-2-2 600 200 150 12 24 600 150 180 12 24 176.67 160 600 210 150 12 24 Table 5 Drying data for rotary steam dryer milling and husk aspiration units were supplied by a 15 hp electric motor through pulleys and belts. The dried rice was put into the ma- chine through the hopper while the shutter was closed. The machine was then turned on for 2-3 minutes before releasing the shutter slowly for the rice to be dehusked in the first mill of each set. Proper dehusking was ensured by adjusting the pressure de- vice at the spout. The dehusked rice was then polished in the second set of rice mills using the same proce- dure. The dehusking efficiency of the rice mill was found to be about 100 % while the whole grain efficiency varied between 99.74 and 99.97 % as the percent broken grains were very minimal as shown in Table 6. Pneumatic Cleaner This machine cleaned milled rice to ensure that fine sand and bran that still accompanied the rice after the initial winnowing and wet clean- ing operations were removed. The machine was somehow similar to the winnower except that the recip- rocating assembly of the pneumatic cleaner was suspended with four flat spring iron bars while the one in the pneumatic cleaner was suspended with spiral spring iron. Three sets of screens inclined at different angles of 15º, 25º and 45º and different Rice variety Mass of rice (Mr), kg Soaking duration (td), mins Streaming duration (ts), mins Mass of white belly rice (Mwb), kg Percent white belly (Wv) Colour difference (E) Parboling efficiency (c), % Faro 52 1,000 480 60 0 0 6.3 100 1,000 480 60 0 0 6.1 100 1,000 480 60 0 0 6.5 100 DA 29 1,000 480 75 0 0 9.3 100 1,000 480 75 0 0 9.7 100 1,000 480 75 0 0 8.4 100 ROK 5 1,000 480 60 0 0 7.5 100 1,000 480 60 0 0 7.0 100 1,000 480 60 0 0 6.8 100 CK 77- 3-2-2 1,000 480 90 0 0 8.2 100 1,000 480 90 0 0 7.9 100 1,000 480 90 0 0 8.5 100 Wb = Mwb / Mr x 100 %, ηpcy = (Mr - Mwb) / Mr x 100 % Where: Wb = Percent white belly (%), Mwb = Mass white belly rice, Mr = Total mass of parboiled rice, ηpcy = Parboiling efficiency of machine (%) Table 4 Rice parboiling data VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA26 directions were incorporated in the reciprocating unit. Also spouts for collection of cleaned rice, fine sand, dust and broken grains were provid- ed within the same assembly. Power to the reciprocating and blower units was proved by a 5 hp single phase electric motor. Milled rice was introduced into the reciprocating screen assembly through the hopper after switching on the machine. The shutter in the hopper was released to regulate the f low rate of the material into the screen assembly. The reciprocating action of this unit, which moved at 1.2 m/sec, resulted in separation of the fine sand, broken grains and whole grains which were collected through different spouts. The rice bran and other l ighter impur i- ties were separated by a forced air stream at a velocity of 7.5 m/sec generated by the blower. Production Input and Raw Materials The major raw material in the plant was rice. Other inputs includ- ed water, firewood, diesel, engine and gear oils. Water was used in wet cleaning, parboiling of rice and heating medium in the rotary driers. Diesel engine and gear oils were used as fuel for the 150 KVA elec- tricity generating plant. They were also used as the source of fuel for the engine of the rice thresher and lubricant for the gear boxes of the rotary dryers. Sources of Raw Materials Rice, the major raw material, is obtained from the Burma Rice farm, which is located around the factory. Currently about 20 hectares of the farm has been cultivated. Since it is to be expanded to 50 hectares within a three year period, enough raw material is expected to be ob- tained from the farm. An outgrowth scheme proposed by the Bayelsa State government after handing over the project by NAOC is expected to ensure the availability of raw mate- rials in the factory. Products/by-Products and their Utilization The main product was milled rice while rice straw, husk and bran were the by-products generated from the factory. The milled rice was packaged in 2 kg polyethylene sachets and 10 kg, 25 kg and 50 kg transparent nylon bags for sale. The rice bran was sold to fish and poul- try farmers while the rice straw was spread and worked into the field as organic manure to supplement the soil nutrients. Conclusion The Burma Rice Processing Fac- tory is the first complete indigenous rice processing machinery pack- age that has been established in the country by the National Cereals Research Institute after elaborate research work on the development of all components of the plant. Results on performances of the various machines and equipment in the plant clearly showed high effi- ciencies. The whole - grain efficien- cy of over 99 % and over-all milling recovery of about 69.0-71.5 % were very ideal since it compared favour- ably with the milling recovery of 70-72 % recorded by the modern rice mills in the world. The equipment was also observed to be sturdy, compact and rugged as breakdown recorded during the test- run period was very negligible. All the equipment was simple to operate and maintain. The federal govern- ment of Nigeria is therefore urged to utilize this opportunity by encour- aging individuals and co-operative farmers and agricultural business Rice variety Mass of dried rice (Md), kg Mass of milled rice (Mm), kg Mass of whole grain rice (Mw), kg Mass of broken grains (Mb), kg Mass of unmilled rice (Mu), kg Avegrage mass of milled rice (Ma), kg Average mass of whole grain (Maw), kg Whole grain efficiency (Wcy), % Dehusking efficiency (Dcy), % Milling recovery (Mr) Faro 52 1,000.0 696.8 696.4 0.3 - 68.68 99.94 100.0 1,000.0 711.3 711.1 0.2 - 71.13 99.97 100.0 704.53 70.43 1,000.0 705.5 705.2 0.2 - 70.55 99.96 100.0 DA 29 1,000.0 690.1 689.1 0.9 - 69.01 99.86 100.0 1,000.0 703.1 702.3 0.7 - 70.31 99.89 100.0 696.30 695.40 1,000.0 695.7 694.8 0.8 - 69.57 99.87 100.0 ROK 5 1,000.0 715.3 714.8 0.4 - 71.53 99.93 100.0 1,000.0 708.6 708.1 0.4 - 70.86 99.93 100.0 706.37 70.58 1,000.0 695.2 694.6 0.5 - 69.50 99.91 100.0 CK 73- 3-2-2 1,000.0 699.9 698.1 0.8 - 69.99 99.74 100.0 1,000.0 685.4 684.6 0.8 - 68.54 99.90 100.0 69.60 694.87 1,000.0 702.6 701.9 0.6 - 70.26 99.90 100.0 Mr = Mm / Md x 100 %, Dcy = Mu / Mm x 100 %, Wcy = Mw / (Mw + Mb) x 100 % Where: Mr = Milling recovery of rice (%), Mm = Mass of milled rice (kg), Md = Mass parboiled dried rice (kg), Mw = Mass of whole grain (kg), Mb = Mass of broken grains (kg) Table 6 Milling data (continued on page32) AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 27 Evaluation of Soil-Water Conservation Tillage Systems for Communal Farmers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa by O. T. Mandiringana Department of Agronomy, University of Fort Hare, Pvt. Bag X1314, Alice 5700 SOUTH AFRICA T. E. Simalenga Professor Dept. of Agricultural and Rural Engineering, University of Venda for Science and Technology, Pvt. Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950 SOUTH AFRICA M. Mabi Department of Agronomy, University of Fort Hare, Pvt. Bag X1314, Alice 5700 SOUTH AFRICA Abstract Three tillage systems, viz. tie- ridging, pot-holing and ripping were evaluated to assess their potential as water conservation techniques on four small-scale farms in two districts in the central Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The con- servation treatments were compared to the farmer’s normal or conven- tional practice (as the control) and they were replicated twice on each farm. All tillage systems were based on the use of animal draught power. Soil moisture content measure- ments were taken at the 0-10, 15-25 and 30-40 cm depths at the time of planting, at first weeding and at tas- seling stage. Moisture content sig- nificantly increased with depth for all treatments at all times, but tillage treatments did not have consistent nor significant effect on soil profile moisture contents. Plant height mea- Acknowledgements: Authors are grateful to the Agrarian Research Development Programme (ARDP) for South Africa for financial sup- port given to the second author to work on the project for Masters degree and to the Animal Traction Centre (ATC) at University of Fort Hare for logistical support and to various individuals, including the farmers, who made the work pos- sible. surements taken at first weeding, at tasseling and at harvest also did not show any tillage treatment effects. However, grain, stover and biomass yields were higher under tie-ridge and pot-hole treatments compared to the rip and conventional treat- ments, indicating a possible re- sponse to better water conservation and use efficiency. Labour requirements for vari- ous field operations increased dra- matically under each tillage system whenever there was a reduction in the utilization of animal draught power. Thus, total labour input demand increased in the order: rip- ping = conventional << tie-ridging << pot-holing. The latter two till- age techniques have a potential for water conservation and increasing yields, but were not readily accept- able to farmers because of their very high labour input requirements. On the other hand, farmers indicated that they would favourably consider adoption of ripping as a labour sav- ing option. Introduction Most areas of the Eastern Cape Province (Fig. 1), receive low and erratic rainfall. Production of sum- mer crops is usually risky as a result of this low and erratic rainfall com- VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA28 bined with the hot dry spells, which are a normal part of the weather pattern during the most important months of the crop’s development. Despite the harsh weather condi- tions most farmers in the region, especially those in communal areas, still endeavour to produce food crops under dryland conditions. Yields are usually very low and only at subsistence levels. It is generally acknowledged that one way to improve dryland crop production in the arid and semi-arid regions is retain all rainfall received by techniques that reduce surface runoff, improve inf iltration and increase the water storage capacity of the soil (FAO, 1984; FAO, 1994). Such techniques have long been used traditionally in various countries in Africa (Reij et al, 1996), for exam- ple, the trus system (U-shaped earth bunds) in the Sudan, the zai system (planting pits dug out with tradition- al hoes) in Mali and Burkina Faso, and the tassa system (planting pits) in Niger. Other systems of soil and water conservation that have been widely tested and used on the conti- nent include tied ridges (Nyagumbo, 1999; Kayombo et al, 1999), clean ripping and mulch ripping (Chuma and Hagmann, 1997; Nyagumbo, 1999); hillside terraces or stone bunds (Reij et al, 1996; Kayombo et al, 1999), micro-basins (Reij et al, 1996) and trash-lines (Reij et al, 1996; Kayombo et al, 1999). During the participatory rural appraisal, several soil and water conservation systems were identi- fied as being practised in the prov- ince (Simalenga et al, 2000). These include terracing, use of vetiver grass, mulching etc. (Figs. 2 and 3). Although these conservation tillage practices have long been practised in arid and semi-arid regions else- where with some success, they have not been widely tested and demon- strated to small-scale farmers in the communal areas of South Africa. Their application here has thus been very limited. The objectives of this work were: • To test on-farm the effective- ness of the three tillage systems of tie-ridging, pot-holing and ripping as water conservation techniques, • To demonstrate the conserva- tion tillage systems to small- scale farmers in central Eastern Cape, and • To assess farmers’ response and their evaluation of the systems for possibility of adoption and use. Materials and Methods The potential of using three tillage systems, viz. tie-ridging, pot-holing and ripping, as water conserva- tion techniques on four small-scale farms in the central Eastern Cape Province were evaluated during the two cropping seasons i.e.1999-2000. Two of the farms were located in a relatively dry district, Peddie, with a long-term rainfall average of 570 mm per annum, whilst the other two farms were locates in a wetter district, Middledrift, with a long- term rainfall average of 703 mm per annum. The conservation till- age treatments were compared with the farmer’s normal practice as the control. The normal practice in the area is to plough the fields using mouldboard plough, either by trac- tor or animal traction, during the autumn or winter months (a practice locally known as winter fallowing) followed by another ploughing at the beginning of the new cropping season. The tillage treatments were therefore applied on “winter fal- lowed” lands and were replicated twice on each farm. The plot size was 10 m by 25 m, giving a working area of 250 m2 for each plot. All treatments, except for pot- holing which was completely done by hand, were based on the use of animal draft power, usually a span of two oxen. Conventional plough- ing was by the ox-drawn plough, tied-ridges were constructed by Percentage, % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Furrow ridging Winter fallowing Stone bunding Mulching Manuring Inter cropping Crop rotation Terraces Control bunds Fig. 1 Map showing the location of Eastern Cape Province Fig. 2 Percentage of farmers practising conservation farming in central region, Eastern Cape AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA 2006 VOL.37 NO.4 29 ridging with a winged ridger at 1 m intervals then cross-tying the ridges at regular intervals by hand, and ripping was done at 1 m intervals by a ripper made from a modified plough. Pot-holes were constructed by scooping soil with hand hoes to make shallow circular basins about 1m in diameter at regular intervals. In conventional system, fertilizer and maize seed are placed in the ap- propriate furrow behind the plough and covered by the next pass of the plough. In the rip system, the fertil- izer and maize seed were placed in the ripper line and covered by a light harrowing of each plot after planting all plots. In the tie-ridge and pot-hole systems, planting sta- tions were opened individually by the hand hoe, fertilizer dropped and lightly covered by soil, then maize seed was dropped and covered man- ually. Planting was done on the side of the ridges or pot-hills. Fertilizer mixture 2:3:2(22) + 5 g/kg Zn (con- taining 6.5 % N, 9.4 % P, 6.3 % K, 12.5 % Ca, 6.3 % S + 0.5 % Zn) was applied at the rate of 300 kg per ha in each case. No top dressing was applied. The crops were weeded twice, first at about 10 days after germination and second about four weeks later. A number of measurements were taken during the season as follows. Soil profile moisture content was measured by taking samples with an auger at the 0-10, 15-25 and 30-40 cm depths at two places in each plot prior to planting, at first weeding and at tasseling stage. The samples were kept in air-tight cans, taken to the lab, weighed fresh and again af- ter drying at 101 ºC overnight. Crop heights of six plants in middle rows of plots were measured at three dif- ferent stages of the crop cycle, viz. at first weeding, at tasseling and finally at harvest. Labour inputs were measured by recording the number of people and actual time it took them to complete each of the following operations per plot, irrespective of use of ani- mal draft power: land preparation, fertilizer application immediately followed by planting, and for weed- ing. The labour input timings were converted to man hours per ha for Treat- ment Middledrift district Peddie district Depth Treat Depth Treat 0-10 15-25 30-40 Mean 0-10 15-25 30-40 Mean Profile moisture at planting Control 8.11 12.55 15.08 11.50a 5.36 8.01 7.43 6.93a Tie ridge 7.45 12.32 14.42 12.39a 5.12 7.27 10.82 7.74a Pot hole 9.63 12.90 15.48 12.67a 3.80 6.86 8.42 6.36a Rip 8.21 12.96 16.07 12.41a 4.66 7.73 9.55 7.31a Mean 8.35c 12.55b 15.08a 11.99 4.74c 7.47b 9.05a 7.08 Profile moisture at weeding Control 10.45 13.31 17.06 13.61b 11.88 16.68 18.66 15.74a Tie ridge 13.48 15.18 19.09 15.92a 10.61 13.84 20.65 15.03a Pot hole 10.36 14.18 15.11 13.21b 9.26 15.08 19.65 14.66a Rip 10.06 13.75 15.84 13.22b 11.82 21.37 23.89 19.02a Mean 11.09c 14.11b 16.77a 13.99 10.89c 16.74b 20.71a 16.12 Profile moisture at tasseling Control 9.09 13.86 16.07 13.00b 9.76 14.40 15.33 13.16ab Tie ridge 11.61 15.36 20.43 15.80a 9.03 10.39 14.84 11.42b Pot hole 9.72 14.90 21.47 15.36ab 9.13 12.27 14.10 11.83b Rip 13.32 14.92 18.54 15.59a 11.35 15.46 17.87 14.89a Mean 10.93c 14.76b 19.13a 14.49 9.82c 13.13b 15.53a 12.83 Table 1 Soil moisture contents (% w/w) at three depths (cm) at three different stages of crop development in middledrift and peddie districts Note: Means with the same letter in a row or column are not significantly different at P <0.05 Percentage, % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Furrow ridging Winter fallowing Stone bunding Mulching Manuring Intercropping Crop rotation Terraces Control bunds Fig. 3 Percentage of farmers practising conservation farming in the northern region of Eastern Cape Soil moisture, % w/w 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Tasseling Weeding Planting RippingPotholeTie ridgeControl Fig. 4 Comparison of moisture content for different treatments VOL.37 NO.4 2006 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA30 each operation for the different tillage systems. Grain and stover yields were measured at the end of the season. Rainfall in each district was recorded by a simple rain gauge placed at each farmer’s homestead whereby the farmer was responsible for taking the daily readings. Results and Discussion The average total rainfall record- ed in Middledrift district for the months of September 1999 to April 2000 was 504.5 mm compared to a long-term (66 year) average of 474.8 mm from the nearest station at Blaney (ARDRI, 1989). Rainfall recorded at farms in Peddie district averaged 445.0 mm for the same months compared to a long-term (25 year) average of 341.4 mm at near by Lime Drift station. Overall then, it seems this was an above average rain fall season. Soil profile moisture contents sig- nificantly increased with depth for all treatments at all times of mea- surement (Table 1). This is to be ex- pected as a result of increase in clay with depth. The soils in Peddie were significantly drier than Middledrift soils at time of planting but the dif- ferent was obliterated by the time of the first weeding. Moisture was also slightly lower in Peddie by tasseling stage as compared to Middledrift sites. From the data given by Hensely and de Jager (1982), it is estimated that the gravimetric moisture hold- ing capacities of soils in the region lie between 15 to 20 % at f ield capacity (FC) and 6 to 14 % at per- manent wilting point (PWP) for top- soils (0-20 cm depth) and between 15 to 18% at field capacity (FC) and 7 to 11% at permanent wilting point (PWP) for upper subsoils (20-40 cm depth). By this comparison, the soil profiles in Peddie were very dry at planting, and this, in fact, affected crop establishment. The surface 10 cm in Middledrift were also dry at planting but the rest of the profile was well recharged. Fig. 4 is a summary of typical moisture content during planting, weeding and tasseling for the three treatments. The results have shown that tillage treatments did not have a consistent effect on soil profile moisture contents. Of note, however, is that in Middledrift district the tie- ridging treatment had a significantly higher profile moisture content than the other treatments both at weed- ing and tasseling stages though the effect was non significant at plant- ing. The inconsistence of the data may be attributed to sampling er- rors as well as delays between sam- pling and the laboratory weightings (sometimes samples were only pro- cessed the following day). This kind of data is best collected by means