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  <div class="title"><h1>1.6 - Gloves to help subsistence farmers</h1><br><h3 class="ch-owner">Mitchell van Schepen, University of Guelph, Canada</h3></div>
  <div class="title"><h3>1.6 - Low-cost tools to sow seeds</h3><br><h3 class="ch-owner">Amira Radwan Ahmed, University of Guelph, Canada</h3></div>
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<p>Suggested citation for this chapter.</p>
<p>Amira,RA. (2022) Low-Cost Tools To Sow Seeds. In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org</p>
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       <h3 class="title-bg">Background</h3>
       <h1 class="title-bg">Current Methods to Sow Seeds</h1>
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           <p>The world’s 1 billion women and girls participating in subsistence farming pull weeds by hand to improve their crops and also collect firewood for cooking, resulting in their hands becoming rough and sore (Figure 1). This can be caused by wood splinters being lodged into their skin (Schaffner, 2013). Pulling weeds for hours on end can peel away layers of skin (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). The hands of those farmers can also become dirty and smelly from planting seeds in the soil or spreading manure by hand. To avoid the common aforementioned problems as well as hand injuries, such as cuts and scrapes, they could wear gloves on their hands, see the second picture, (Schaffner, 2013). Gloves are very common in the modern world and can be used for construction, farming, and medical practices. Gloves provide a durable layer between the skin on your hands and whatever you are working with (Espasandín-Arias & Goossens, 2014). There are a few different materials used to make gloves, along with different sizes and grips. With over one billion women and girls working on farms around the world, this grueling work can be made safer and more efficient when wearing gloves.</p>
           <p>The current methods used by small-scale farmers to sow seeds are low cost but may be laborious or unattainable for certain households. Current sowing methods involve 2-3 people working together utilizing very few tools: usually a man will steer the cattle so they can create grooves in the soil while one or two women follow behind and drop the seeds into the grooves. However, as men in more rural communities are often unavailable as they have other responsibilities such as migrant work to generate income, they may not be able to help the women steer the cattle. In certain cultures, there is a certain taboo against women handling cattle (Meyer-Rochow, 2009), and therefore they would be unable to sow seeds if a male is not present to help them. It is important while conducting research on low-cost sowing tools to find tools that are durable, lightweight, and the correct height for women for them to be capable of sowing seeds independently. It is also important that these tools are adjustable for varying seed sizes, low-cost and able to be shared amongst different households to share cost. </p>
 
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          <p>Rubber and cloth are the two main kinds of gloves produced (Melco, 2016). They both have their own benefits and drawbacks respectively. A benefit from rubber gloves is their ability to resist water from coming in contact with a farmer's skin, see part two, (Espasandín-Arias & Goossens, 2014). While cloth gloves can be beneficial because they can draw moisture away from their hands and can be easily washed to be cleaned. Because rubber gloves are usually meant to be disposed of after single use they tend to be cheaper to make and thus cheaper to buy. Yet some rubber gloves can be made thicker to reuse and are slightly more durable (Melco, 2016). Cloth gloves are designed to be washed after being used and last a long time under normal working conditions.</p>
 
          <p>Along with the different materials gloves are made of, there are also different arm lengths. Some gloves are cut off just in front or around the wrist. While others can be up to and over the elbow and everywhere in between (Melco, 2016). The benefits of the shorter gloves is comfort, no bunching around wrist or elbow, and they can be quickly put on or removed. The benefits of the long gloves are more protection, the entire forearm will be covered. All the while there is less of a chance of getting debris in their gloves because the opening is farther away from what you are working with. Farmers can also work in deeper water or mud with the long rubber gloves without getting your hands wet.</p>
 
          <p>When working with smooth items such as hoes and some fruits and vegetables they can be slippery (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). A way to help farmer's hold on to the tools is to get gloves with grips (Melco, 2016). Both rubber and cloth gloves can have grips. Rubber gloves will have ridges in the molds to form grips and granular materials can be added to the outside before drying (Melco, 2016). Another option is to make the rubber gloves out of a non-slip rubber (Melco, 2016). Because cloth alone does not provide grip, cloth gloves must be dipped in liquid rubber to be able to grip smooth objects. The rubber used for grips on cloth gloves can either be non-slip smooth rubber or be rigid (Melco, 2016). </p>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">Low-Cost Tools to Sow Seeds</h1>
       <h3 class="title-bg">Physical Protection</h3>
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          <p>Protection is the main benefit from using gloves. Repetitive motions, such as when pounding grain, can cause irritation to the skin. When collecting firewood the sticks and logs can scratch or cut the skin (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). Weeds can be rough and by scratching their hands many times they can become cut and sore (Espasandín-Arias & Goossens, 2014). By lifting and pulling heavy items the top layer of your skin will separate from the next, causing a blister, by wearing gloves they now will prevent blistering because the glove will act as the top layer of skin and prevent the actual skin from separating (Schaffner, 2013). Manure has a lot of bacteria in it which are harmful if they are swallow, so keeping them away from the hands used to eat with is very beneficial (Furlong, et al., 2015). If farmers are working with firewood or in construction the cloth gloves will work better because they are more durable (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). The disposable rubber gloves would be the worst to use in this scenario because they are so thin, stick to jobs were the main goals are to keep hands dry and dirt free when using disposable rubber gloves.</p>
<p>Seed sowing tools that low-cost, efficient, and durable tools are crucial for subsistence farmers. </p>
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<p><i>•Electric sowing machines:</i> An efficient option for a seed sowing tool is a motorized seed sowing machine.</p>
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<p>[[Image:Mcbv.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 1: Electric seed planter from Alibaba.com .]]</p>
<p>The cost of such machines ranges from $60-90 USD for several vegetable crops and are available from Alibaba.com and Indiamart.com. This machine is made of metal and plastic and is around 55X25X60 cm in size, hence it is not too large and can be easily utilized by women farmers. This product takes away the labour of manually planting vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and greens along with small and medium seeds such as sesame, which would include bending over and digging pits for many hours a day. Utilizing an electric machine would allow a farmer to sow more than 10 acres daily. The machine shown in Figure 1 is easy to operate and is portable which would be very suitable for small areas and sloping fields. This would be very simple for women farmers to utilize as it is small, durable, and simple to use. However, as this is an electric machine, it is more expensive than a manual machine, and may be unaffordable for small-scale farmers. This machinery is very simple to use, hence an unskilled farmer is also able to handle such machine (Swapnil et al., 2017). Such machinery has great potential to increase the productivity of planting; it is made ith raw materials which saves a lot of cost in the project and can be easily replicated in workshops (Swapnil et al., 2017). However, as this is a motorized machine, there is a cost of the metering device and the sensors.</p>
<p><b>•Manual seed sowing machines:</b> By doing some searching on Indiamart.com and Alibaba.com, there are some cheaper manual options that would be easily attainable and usable by women subsistence farmers.</p>
<p>[[Image:Mnty.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 2: Agricultural Manual Seeder from Indiamart.com.]]</p>
<p>On Indiamart.com. there is a “Really Agricultural Manual Seeder RAPL-MS-2D” listed for ₹1,600 which would convert to $19.67 USD (see link at the end of this chapter). As shown in Figure 2: this machine is manually operated and is suitable for cultivated soils, especially sandy soils which would be ideal for subsistence farmers. This tool can be used to sow wheat, maize (corn), peanut (groundnut), beans, cotton and more. The efficiency of this machine is at least 4 times more than that of manual seeding. The price of this tool is much lower than the motorized seed sowing machine, making it  more affordable for subsistence farmers, however it will be much less efficient. Compared to the 10 acres that could be sown using the motorized machine, this manual seeder will only allow one person to sow 8000-10 000 m2. This easy to use tool that can be shared amongst households easily. This tool is very lightweight and easy to use for women farmers as it is small and simple in operation.</p>


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<p>Although these low-cost tools are very attainable for small-scale and subsistence farmers, they are mostly manual which results in a slow and very laborious process, especially for women farmers as they may be heavy or difficult to move around in remote areas. Manual sowing of small vegetable seeds is a slow and labour-intensive operation, which limits the production capacities of vegetable nurseries in India (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008). Although high capacity, imported, motorized seeders are very efficient, they are also high in cost, due to this they have not been adopted by subsistence farmers.</p>  
      <h3 style="background: #FBB03B;padding: 15px;font-weight: 600;color: #000;font-size: 22px;margin:unset;text-align:center;">Defense Against Moisture and Chemicals</h3>
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          <p>Moisture blocking is a way gloves can prevent your skin from drying out and from getting too wet and dehydrating farmer's hands. By keeping the moisture from the hands inside the gloves they will prevent the skin from cracking and becoming infected (Schaffner, 2013). As well when working in wet conditions your hands can shrivel and become dehydrated if they are constantly in contact with water.</p>
          <p>Pesticides can be absorbed by your skin and become harmful to the body, gloves provide an extra barrier to block them from entering in a farmer's body (Furlong, et al., 2015). Fertilizers such as nitrogen can also be caustic, and these are usually spread through broadcasting by hand. Mud can get under your nails and into cracked or cut skin and can infect a farmer's hands. Gloves will keep the mud out and keep hands clean. Both liquid pesticides and dry fertilizers can irritate skin if they come into contact with it (Kim, et al., 2013). Wearing the proper gloves, rubber ones in this case, can save their hands from becoming itchy (Keeble et al., 1996). Human skin can also absorb the pesticides which are harmful to your body, wearing gloves would prevent the pesticides from ever touching your skin.</p>
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<p><b>•Manual push-type planter:</b> To increase efficiency while also maintaining a low-cost and attainable manual labour for women subsistence farmers, a manually operated push-type planter is ideal as shown in Figure 3 below.</p>  
      <h3 class="title-bg">Wearable</h3>
<p>[[Image:Ytp.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 3: Manual push-type planter from Alibaba.com]]</p>
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<p>This machine has one wheel and is pushed by a farmer along a row to plant seeds. This machine is lightweight, affordable, and easy to use as it controls the planting depth and the number of seeds that can be planted in each hole.  The Department of Farm Power and Machineries at the Bangladesh Agricultural University conducted research on the design and development of a low-cost planter for maize seeds as shown in Figure 4 below:</p>
          <p>Comfortable gloves help farmer's work longer because their hands will not hurt from completing your task. Sizing is very important when finding comfortable gloves (Melco, 2016). Make sure gloves are the proper length and width, as not to restrict movement. There will be less pain from pulling weeds and they will be able to pull more weeds because they would not have to wait a long for the pain to subside between pulling each weed, because there will be no pain if wearing gloves (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). If farmer's find they are working hard and their hands start to sweat the gloves should be removed , dry your hands, and put on a new pair. Cloth gloves are more breathable then rubber ones, using them is another way to prevent hands from getting sweaty. The cloth gloves can also be softer and easier to clean, but are more restricting to movement due to their durability and tougher material. Since children will also be farming, smaller glove sizes can be found. Gloves are designed to fit a farmer's hand snugly, so children should not wear adult sized gloves when working. </p>
<p>[[Image:Poli.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 4: Low-cost planter for maize establishment designed by Bangladesh Agricultural University]]</p>
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<p>This study explains how maize cultivation is manual, which is extremely time consuming, labour intensive and costly (Rabbani et al., 2016). This maize planter reduces these problems as it consists of two runner wheels, a seed hopper, an inclined plate type seed metering device, a seed tube, a pair of bed former and handle (Rabbani et al., 2016). This machine has two runner wheels that are used to move the planter forwards or backwards. The handle is used to push the planter, and the machine is manually operated to make it cost effective. This planter was designed to maintain the desired seed rate of 25-30 kg/ha; the operational cost of this planter was tested to achieve 410 Tk/ha while manual planting of maize is normally 5250 Tk/ha, showcasing that this planter can save around 92% of the cost for maize planting. The pushing force of the planter was 90 N which is quite low, meaning it is very attainable for women to operate it (Rabbani et al., 2016). The planter is cost effective, easy to operate, simple in design and light in weight. From the research conducted by the Bangladesh Agricultural University, this planter is very efficient, durable, and cost effective, however it was only designed to plant maize which can be noted as a disadvantage as subsistence farmers would require a cost-effective tool that is versatile in planting many different types of seeds. This product has not yet been sold to subsistence farmers as it was designed and tested as a prototype. The findings of this prototype showcase that this tool would be extremely beneficial to small-scale farmers and the idea could easily be picked up for production and sales by entrepreneurs.</p>
<p><b>•Pneumatic seeder:</b> Another great and effective low-cost tool for sowing seeds is a pneumatic seeder that was tested for its performance on sowing capsicum and tomato seeds in a plug tray as shown in Figure 5:</p>
<p>[[Image:Ftyu.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 5]]</p>
<p>Figure 5: Pneumatic seeder for nursery plug trays from Biosystems Engineering Journal
This seeder is capable of making indents in one row of cells in a plug tray while simultaneously placing single seeds in the indented holes (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008). This seeder transfers the seed from the seed hopper into an air duct by an electrically controlled seeding shaft. This seeder can handle a bulk quantity of seeds and plant across large acreages efficiently. It also requires low maintenance and upkeep. However, as this is a motorized machine, it would be cost effective and may need some skills to operate which would not be ideal for small-scale farmers. The capacity of this seeder ranges between holding 38,000 and 60,000 planting holes. This tool is also in a prototype stage as it was being designed and researched for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness; if it were picked up for production by entrepreneurs it may be cost effective. The total cost of sowing 1000 holes using a prototype precision plug seeder was found to be equivalent to around $0.034 USD, which was only 15.27% of the estimated cost of manual sowing (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008). </p>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">Conclusion</h1>
       <h3 class="title-bg">Constraints To Adoption</h3>
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          <p>Gloves are very useful to farmers, but there can still be some drawbacks. Possible culturable taboos might vary from location to location. Gloves might seem feminine and not easily adopted by men in the community. Gloves act as a second, tougher skin, but they are not a farmer's skin and can slide around while working. This may feel odd and uncomfortable but farmers can get used to the new feeling over time. Gloves can come in many colours and thicknesses, which may make a farmer's hands look funny or larger. Human skin is very stretchy and flexible, while glove materials tend to be tougher than skin and will reduce movement, but not enough to hinder work. Rubber gloves can stretch well, but make hands sweat, while cloth gloves are breathable but reduce dexterity.</p>
<p>It is important that subsistence farmers have access to low-cost tools to sow seeds for that can easily be operated by women by being light-weight, simple in design, not extensively laborious and most importantly, efficient. On Indiamart.com and Alibaba.com, there are very affordable manual options that would be easy to use and can be easily shared amongst households, such as hand sowing machines and manual seeders. The studies and research conducted by agricultural scientists in Bangladesh and India showcase the best, low-cost tools for subsistence farmers such as the push-type planter for maize establishment and the pneumatic seeder for sowing capsicum and tomato seeds in a plug tray. Both tools have proven to be even more efficient and lower in cost than manual planting and seeding. Even though there are disadvantages to low-cost sowing tools such as extensive manual labour and low rates of efficiency, these two seeders have been tested on their performance and efficiency and have proven to be more effective than manual sowing or other low-cost tools. As mentioned previously, one of the most important factors of utilizing low-cost tools is the ability for them to be easily operated and utilized by women subsistence farmers, meaning that they must be light in weight, appropriate in height and easy to move around in remote areas; the push-type planter for maize establishment is a great example of this. Low-cost tools may not always be the most efficient or effortless, however in low-income, remote, and small-scale areas, they are most definitely a necessity; finding the correct tool that decreases the disadvantages of low-cost tools is crucial. </p>
          <p>Farmers can find gloves to use and get started from local vendors (European Commission For The Control Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease, 2016). Once you have completed your work for the day you can clean them are reuse them, or dispose of them if they were ripped or torn (Kim, et al., 2013). You can get gloves made of rubber and like materials as well as ones made of durable cloths. The thin rubber gloves tend to be made for a single use only. A trick that the European Commission For The Control Foot-And-Mouth Disease mentions that you can wear two pairs of rubber gloves at the same time for extra protection (European Commission For The Control Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease, 2016).</p>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">Picture Based Lesson to Train Farmers </h1>
       <h3 class="title-bg">Helpful Links To Get Started </h3>
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          <p>Here are websites to find more information about how to obtain gloves:</p>
[[Image:2.5 page-0001.jpg|thumb|centre|Picture Based Lesson to Train Farmer|Click on the image to access a higher resolution image as well as lessons adapted for different geographic regions.]]</p>
          <p>[https://www.alibaba.com/ Alibaba]</p>
[[Image:2.6a page-0001.jpg|thumb|centre|Picture Based Lesson to Train Farmer|Click on the image to access a higher resolution image as well as lessons adapted for different geographic regions.]]</p>
          <p>[https://www.indiamart.com/ Indiamart]</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.6subsaharan_africa_carribean_engversion.pdf</p>
          <p>[http://www.store.nzfarmsource.co.nz/ Store Nzfarmsource]</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/chapter_2.5s.a.e.pdf</p>
          <p>[https://www.adenna.com Adenna]</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.8east_southeast_asia_englishversion.pdf</p>
          <p>[https://www.farmcity.co.za/ Farmcity]</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.9latin_america_eng_version.pdf</p>
          <p>[https://www.crazystore.co.za/ Crazystore]</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.2n._africa_middleeast_eng_version.pdf</p>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">Links to Useful Resources</h1>
       <h3 class="title-bg">Usefull Images</h3>
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<p>https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Electric-vegetable-chili-seed-planter-carrot_1600509625313.html?spm=a2700.7724857.0.0.257a423coBsKYP
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Electric Seed Sowing Machine</p>
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                  <div class="fakeimg fakeimg-use">[[File:1.jpg]]</div>
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<p>https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/really-agricultural-manual-seeder-rapl-ms-2d-26173527173.html?pos=21&kwd=seed%20sowing&tags=||||8042.3813|Price|product
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Really Agricultural Manual Seeder - Indiamart.com</p>
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<p>https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hand-sowing-machine-5-rows-seeds_1600091127571.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.14ba2381JqKBvo
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Hand Sowing Machine - Alibaba.com</p>
                  <div class="fakeimg fakeimg-use">[[File:3.jpg]]</div>
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<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2e06WZOkpE
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Video Demonstration of Hand Sowing Machine</p>  
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                  <div class="fakeimg fakeimg-use">[[File:4.jpg]]</div>
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<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7elxhlxwwQY
Video Demonstration of Pneumatic Seeder</p>


<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSGBpcVbhCs
Video Demonstration of Push-Type Maize Planter</p>
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       <h3 class="title-bg">References</h3>
       <h1 class="title-bg">References</h1>
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           <p>Espasandín-Arias, M., & Goossens, A. (2014). Natural rubber gloves might not protect against skin penetration of methylisothiazolinone. Contact Dermatitis, 70(4), 249-251. doi:10.1111/cod.12221</p>
           <p>1. Gaikwad, B. B., & Sirohi, N. P. S. (2007) Design of a low-cost pneumatic seeder for nursery plug trays Biosystems Engineering 99(3), 322-329. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S153751100700298X#!</p>
          <p>European Commission For The Control Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease. Suggested FMD PPE guidelines - Food and Agriculture, (2016)  
<p>2. Meyer-Rochow, V. B. (2009). Food taboos: Their origins and purposes - journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 5, 18. https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-5-18</p>
          Food and Agriculture Organization. Rural women in household production: Increasing contributions and persisting drudgery. (2016).
<p>3. Rabbani, M. A., Hossain, M. M., Asha, J. F., & Khan , N. A. (2016). Design and development of a low-cost planter for maize establishment. Journal of Science, Technology and Environment Informatics, 4 (01), 270-279. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311393820_Design_and_development_of_a_low_cost_planter_for_maize_establishment</p>
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<p>4. Swapnil, T., Kasturi, M. L., & Girish, P. (2017). Design and fabrication of seed sowing machine. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 4(9), 704-707 Retrieved from https://www.irjet.net/archives/V4/i9/IRJET-V4I9122.pdf</p>
          <p>Furlong, M., Tanner, C. M., Goldman, S. M., Bhudhikanok, G. S., Blair, A., Chade, A., . . . Kamel, F. (2015). Protective glove use and hygiene habits modify the associations of specific pesticides with Parkinson's disease. Environment International, 75, 144-150. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2014.11.002</p>
<p>5. Thomas, D. (2004). Low-cost tools for seed collection and seed sowing. Native Plants Journal, 5(1), 54–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43310306</p>
          <p>Keeble, V. B., Correll, L., & Ehrich, M. (1996). Effect of Laundering on Ability of Glove Fabrics to Decrease the Penetration of Organophosphate Insecticides Through in vitro Epidermal Systems. J. Appl. Toxicol. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 16(5), 401-406. doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1263(199609)16:53.3.co;2-6</p>
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          <p>Kim, J., Kim, J., Cha, E., Ko, Y., Kim, D., & Lee, W. (2013). Work-Related Risk Factors by Severity for Acute Pesticide Poisoning Among Male Farmers in South Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(3), 1100-1112. doi:10.3390/ijerph10031100</p>
          <p>Melco, M. (2016). Gardening Gloves. Retrieved from [http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Gardening_Gloves Garden Lovetoknow]</p>
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Latest revision as of 13:50, 19 August 2024

1.6 - Low-cost tools to sow seeds


Amira Radwan Ahmed, University of Guelph, Canada

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Suggested citation for this chapter.

Amira,RA. (2022) Low-Cost Tools To Sow Seeds. In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org

Current Methods to Sow Seeds

The current methods used by small-scale farmers to sow seeds are low cost but may be laborious or unattainable for certain households. Current sowing methods involve 2-3 people working together utilizing very few tools: usually a man will steer the cattle so they can create grooves in the soil while one or two women follow behind and drop the seeds into the grooves. However, as men in more rural communities are often unavailable as they have other responsibilities such as migrant work to generate income, they may not be able to help the women steer the cattle. In certain cultures, there is a certain taboo against women handling cattle (Meyer-Rochow, 2009), and therefore they would be unable to sow seeds if a male is not present to help them. It is important while conducting research on low-cost sowing tools to find tools that are durable, lightweight, and the correct height for women for them to be capable of sowing seeds independently. It is also important that these tools are adjustable for varying seed sizes, low-cost and able to be shared amongst different households to share cost.

Low-Cost Tools to Sow Seeds

Seed sowing tools that low-cost, efficient, and durable tools are crucial for subsistence farmers.

•Electric sowing machines: An efficient option for a seed sowing tool is a motorized seed sowing machine.

Figure 1: Electric seed planter from Alibaba.com .

The cost of such machines ranges from $60-90 USD for several vegetable crops and are available from Alibaba.com and Indiamart.com. This machine is made of metal and plastic and is around 55X25X60 cm in size, hence it is not too large and can be easily utilized by women farmers. This product takes away the labour of manually planting vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and greens along with small and medium seeds such as sesame, which would include bending over and digging pits for many hours a day. Utilizing an electric machine would allow a farmer to sow more than 10 acres daily. The machine shown in Figure 1 is easy to operate and is portable which would be very suitable for small areas and sloping fields. This would be very simple for women farmers to utilize as it is small, durable, and simple to use. However, as this is an electric machine, it is more expensive than a manual machine, and may be unaffordable for small-scale farmers. This machinery is very simple to use, hence an unskilled farmer is also able to handle such machine (Swapnil et al., 2017). Such machinery has great potential to increase the productivity of planting; it is made ith raw materials which saves a lot of cost in the project and can be easily replicated in workshops (Swapnil et al., 2017). However, as this is a motorized machine, there is a cost of the metering device and the sensors.

•Manual seed sowing machines: By doing some searching on Indiamart.com and Alibaba.com, there are some cheaper manual options that would be easily attainable and usable by women subsistence farmers.

Figure 2: Agricultural Manual Seeder from Indiamart.com.

On Indiamart.com. there is a “Really Agricultural Manual Seeder RAPL-MS-2D” listed for ₹1,600 which would convert to $19.67 USD (see link at the end of this chapter). As shown in Figure 2: this machine is manually operated and is suitable for cultivated soils, especially sandy soils which would be ideal for subsistence farmers. This tool can be used to sow wheat, maize (corn), peanut (groundnut), beans, cotton and more. The efficiency of this machine is at least 4 times more than that of manual seeding. The price of this tool is much lower than the motorized seed sowing machine, making it more affordable for subsistence farmers, however it will be much less efficient. Compared to the 10 acres that could be sown using the motorized machine, this manual seeder will only allow one person to sow 8000-10 000 m2. This easy to use tool that can be shared amongst households easily. This tool is very lightweight and easy to use for women farmers as it is small and simple in operation.

Although these low-cost tools are very attainable for small-scale and subsistence farmers, they are mostly manual which results in a slow and very laborious process, especially for women farmers as they may be heavy or difficult to move around in remote areas. Manual sowing of small vegetable seeds is a slow and labour-intensive operation, which limits the production capacities of vegetable nurseries in India (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008). Although high capacity, imported, motorized seeders are very efficient, they are also high in cost, due to this they have not been adopted by subsistence farmers.

•Manual push-type planter: To increase efficiency while also maintaining a low-cost and attainable manual labour for women subsistence farmers, a manually operated push-type planter is ideal as shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Manual push-type planter from Alibaba.com

This machine has one wheel and is pushed by a farmer along a row to plant seeds. This machine is lightweight, affordable, and easy to use as it controls the planting depth and the number of seeds that can be planted in each hole. The Department of Farm Power and Machineries at the Bangladesh Agricultural University conducted research on the design and development of a low-cost planter for maize seeds as shown in Figure 4 below:

Figure 4: Low-cost planter for maize establishment designed by Bangladesh Agricultural University

This study explains how maize cultivation is manual, which is extremely time consuming, labour intensive and costly (Rabbani et al., 2016). This maize planter reduces these problems as it consists of two runner wheels, a seed hopper, an inclined plate type seed metering device, a seed tube, a pair of bed former and handle (Rabbani et al., 2016). This machine has two runner wheels that are used to move the planter forwards or backwards. The handle is used to push the planter, and the machine is manually operated to make it cost effective. This planter was designed to maintain the desired seed rate of 25-30 kg/ha; the operational cost of this planter was tested to achieve 410 Tk/ha while manual planting of maize is normally 5250 Tk/ha, showcasing that this planter can save around 92% of the cost for maize planting. The pushing force of the planter was 90 N which is quite low, meaning it is very attainable for women to operate it (Rabbani et al., 2016). The planter is cost effective, easy to operate, simple in design and light in weight. From the research conducted by the Bangladesh Agricultural University, this planter is very efficient, durable, and cost effective, however it was only designed to plant maize which can be noted as a disadvantage as subsistence farmers would require a cost-effective tool that is versatile in planting many different types of seeds. This product has not yet been sold to subsistence farmers as it was designed and tested as a prototype. The findings of this prototype showcase that this tool would be extremely beneficial to small-scale farmers and the idea could easily be picked up for production and sales by entrepreneurs.

•Pneumatic seeder: Another great and effective low-cost tool for sowing seeds is a pneumatic seeder that was tested for its performance on sowing capsicum and tomato seeds in a plug tray as shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5

Figure 5: Pneumatic seeder for nursery plug trays from Biosystems Engineering Journal This seeder is capable of making indents in one row of cells in a plug tray while simultaneously placing single seeds in the indented holes (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008). This seeder transfers the seed from the seed hopper into an air duct by an electrically controlled seeding shaft. This seeder can handle a bulk quantity of seeds and plant across large acreages efficiently. It also requires low maintenance and upkeep. However, as this is a motorized machine, it would be cost effective and may need some skills to operate which would not be ideal for small-scale farmers. The capacity of this seeder ranges between holding 38,000 and 60,000 planting holes. This tool is also in a prototype stage as it was being designed and researched for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness; if it were picked up for production by entrepreneurs it may be cost effective. The total cost of sowing 1000 holes using a prototype precision plug seeder was found to be equivalent to around $0.034 USD, which was only 15.27% of the estimated cost of manual sowing (Gaikwad & Sirohi, 2008).

Conclusion

It is important that subsistence farmers have access to low-cost tools to sow seeds for that can easily be operated by women by being light-weight, simple in design, not extensively laborious and most importantly, efficient. On Indiamart.com and Alibaba.com, there are very affordable manual options that would be easy to use and can be easily shared amongst households, such as hand sowing machines and manual seeders. The studies and research conducted by agricultural scientists in Bangladesh and India showcase the best, low-cost tools for subsistence farmers such as the push-type planter for maize establishment and the pneumatic seeder for sowing capsicum and tomato seeds in a plug tray. Both tools have proven to be even more efficient and lower in cost than manual planting and seeding. Even though there are disadvantages to low-cost sowing tools such as extensive manual labour and low rates of efficiency, these two seeders have been tested on their performance and efficiency and have proven to be more effective than manual sowing or other low-cost tools. As mentioned previously, one of the most important factors of utilizing low-cost tools is the ability for them to be easily operated and utilized by women subsistence farmers, meaning that they must be light in weight, appropriate in height and easy to move around in remote areas; the push-type planter for maize establishment is a great example of this. Low-cost tools may not always be the most efficient or effortless, however in low-income, remote, and small-scale areas, they are most definitely a necessity; finding the correct tool that decreases the disadvantages of low-cost tools is crucial.

Links to Useful Resources

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Electric-vegetable-chili-seed-planter-carrot_1600509625313.html?spm=a2700.7724857.0.0.257a423coBsKYP Electric Seed Sowing Machine

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/really-agricultural-manual-seeder-rapl-ms-2d-26173527173.html?pos=21&kwd=seed%20sowing&tags=%7C%7C%7C%7C8042.3813%7CPrice%7Cproduct Really Agricultural Manual Seeder - Indiamart.com

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hand-sowing-machine-5-rows-seeds_1600091127571.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.14ba2381JqKBvo Hand Sowing Machine - Alibaba.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2e06WZOkpE Video Demonstration of Hand Sowing Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7elxhlxwwQY Video Demonstration of Pneumatic Seeder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSGBpcVbhCs Video Demonstration of Push-Type Maize Planter

References

1. Gaikwad, B. B., & Sirohi, N. P. S. (2007) Design of a low-cost pneumatic seeder for nursery plug trays Biosystems Engineering 99(3), 322-329. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S153751100700298X#!

2. Meyer-Rochow, V. B. (2009). Food taboos: Their origins and purposes - journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 5, 18. https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-5-18

3. Rabbani, M. A., Hossain, M. M., Asha, J. F., & Khan , N. A. (2016). Design and development of a low-cost planter for maize establishment. Journal of Science, Technology and Environment Informatics, 4 (01), 270-279. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311393820_Design_and_development_of_a_low_cost_planter_for_maize_establishment

4. Swapnil, T., Kasturi, M. L., & Girish, P. (2017). Design and fabrication of seed sowing machine. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 4(9), 704-707 Retrieved from https://www.irjet.net/archives/V4/i9/IRJET-V4I9122.pdf

5. Thomas, D. (2004). Low-cost tools for seed collection and seed sowing. Native Plants Journal, 5(1), 54–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43310306

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