Development of Indigenous Fertilizer Applicator for Row Crops - Part I

Abstract

Transforming the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy requires the development of local technology to boost food production. Among Nigeria peasant farmers, granular fertilizer is most commonly applied to farms to increase yield. Manual labour, employing hand placement, was most common among them. This is partly due to the high of cost agricultural machineries and partly to their sophistication. This paper therefore focused on the design of a fertilizer applicator that is cheap, simple and can be operated without the requirement of any special training or expertise. Four types of fertilizers, Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK), Single Superphosphate (SSP), Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), and Urea, with average bulk density of 957.83kg/m3, were considered in this design. The machine, with a field capacity of 0.21ha/h while operating at a speed of 3.5km/h, was operated by pushing by the handle and has variable rate of application ranging from 80kg/ha to over 250kg/ha.