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  <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>
  <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>Seed sowing tools that low-cost, efficient, and durable tools are crucial for subsistence farmers. </p>
<p>Seed sowing tools that low-cost, efficient, and durable tools are crucial for subsistence farmers. </p>
<p><i>•Electric sowing machines:</i> An efficient option for a seed sowing tool is a motorized seed sowing machine.</p>  
<p><i>•Electric sowing machines:</i> An efficient option for a seed sowing tool is a motorized seed sowing machine.</p>
<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>
 
<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>
 
<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>
<p>[[Image:Ytp.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 3: Manual push-type planter from Alibaba.com]]</p>
<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>[[Image:Poli.jpg|thumb|centre|Figure 4: Low-cost planter for maize establishment designed by Bangladesh Agricultural University]]</p>
<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">Use of the Fanning Mill to Remove Diseased Seed</h1>
       <h1 class="title-bg">Conclusion</h1>
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<p>Smallholder farmers often face the difficulty of diseased crops. Bunts and smuts are a concern for these farmers in Africa as they can greatly reduce yield of a crop and its value and marketability if not dealt with correctly (Agricultural Research Council, n.d.). There is a seed treatment process that is available to prevent bunts and smuts (Agricultural Research Council, n.d.), however, farmers looking to save money or farmers who cannot afford to have their seeds treated may have their crops infected. These diseases can be dealt with using a fanning mill. Bunts and smut balls can be removed during the fanning process along with the chaff and anything else unwanted (Garlough, 2021). In addition to the balls being removed, diseased seeds will be blown, filtered, and separated in the milling process as well.</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>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">Cost / Benefit and Critical Analysis</h1>
       <h1 class="title-bg">Links to Useful Resources</h1>
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<p>A fanning mill would prove to be very beneficial to smallholder farmers. It can help farmers save money and avoid losing crops to disease by getting rid of diseased seeds in the milling process. The price of a fanning mill can still be considerable for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Despite fanning mills being expensive for farmers, there are opportunities for them to obtain financial aid. A few of these options are purchasing through a farmer cooperative or a women’s farmer group or making use of a local fee-for-service entrepreneur who will sell the use of their fanning mill. Farmers could also make use of 50:50 cost sharing with their government or seek out a micro-loan program to assist in the purchase of a fanning mill. It is possible that a community of farmers could all split the cost of one of these machines. This would allow many of the farmers within the community access to more efficient methods of cleaning seeds and benefit everyone. However, the heavy weight of these machines can make transportation to rural mountainous areas very difficult. Literacy is also a requirement as these machines require considerable training to operate effectively. Manuals must also be in the local language if they are to be of any use to the farmers.</p>
<p>https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Electric-vegetable-chili-seed-planter-carrot_1600509625313.html?spm=a2700.7724857.0.0.257a423coBsKYP
<p>The cost of fanning mills can be expensive for smallholder farmers. However, the benefits of using a fanning mill would be considerable as it would save crops from disease and save a lot of time that would have been used separating seeds using more traditional methods. On average, woman can winnow 10 – 30 kilograms of grain each day (Food and Agriculture Organization, n.d.), while a fanning mill can clean 500 kg of seed per hour with one operator (Sun Agro, n.d.). In one hour, a fanning mill can clean between 16 and 50 times more seeds than one woman can in a day. One hour of running the fanning mill could save 16 to 50 days of work for these women farmers. This is an incredible time saver and will allow these women to perform other tasks with their time.</p>
Electric Seed Sowing Machine</p>
[[File:Capture 302.JPG]]
 
<p>Compared to traditional methods of cleaning seed, Figure 1 shows three different fan options. The winnowing fan, Option 1, is a manual fan attached to a crank that can be turned at various speeds to allow another person to clean the seeds. This could be a good option as it does not require waiting for winds strong/weak enough to clean seeds using natural winds (Benson, n.d.). However, it is a two-person job because one person must be operating the fan. By contrast, the small fanning mill (Option 2) is operated using a small crank that generates electricity to power the mill (Sun Agro, n.d.). It can be operated continuously and by a single person. It is a more expensive option, and it is unlikely that many smallholder farmers will be able to purchase one on their own. The last option (Option 3), the fanning mill, is a much larger and more expensive version of the small fanning mill. It is purely electric and can process 4 times the amount of grain as the latter (Meena Industries, n.d.). It is very unlikely that any individual farmer would be able to purchase one on their own.</p>
<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
<p>The fanning mills shown are electric, however, there are options that do not require electricity that would allow farmers to cut down costs of these machines (Garlough, 2021). A manual fanning mill operating by a crank would cost less due to the mill having no electric motor or any electricity requirement for the machine to operate (Garlough, 2021). Furthermore, any expensive motor repairs could be avoided using a manual fanning mill (Garlough, 2021). The development of solar powered technology is much needed and would be massively beneficial in reducing operating costs. Additionally, fanning mills can also make use of a combustion engine as opposed to an electric engine. This would allow farmers who are no connected to a grid to uses powered fanning mills as well.</p>
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>
      <h1 class="title-bg">Practical Resources to Get Started</h1>
 
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<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2e06WZOkpE
<p>https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/manual-winnowing-fan-8872939673.html
Video Demonstration of Hand Sowing Machine</p>  
-Link to Winnowing Fan</p>
 
<p>https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/agriculture-winnowing-fan-22225305788.html
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7elxhlxwwQY
-Link to Small Fanning Mill</p>
Video Demonstration of Pneumatic Seeder</p>
<p>https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/winnowing-fan-22051556262.html
 
-Link to Fanning Mill</p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSGBpcVbhCs
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zKhdxk23LI
Video Demonstration of Push-Type Maize Planter</p>
-Video of Fanning Mill Working</p>
 
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBnkqOpHP6Q
<p><b>Picture Based Lessons to Train Farmers</b></p>
-Video of Alternate Fanning Mill Working</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.6subsaharan_africa_carribean_engversion.pdf</p>
<p>https://www.flamangrainsystems.com/pdfs/downloads/Link-Fanning-Mill.pdf
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/chapter_2.5s.a.e.pdf</p>
-Training Manual / Setup Guide for Link Fanning Mill</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.8east_southeast_asia_englishversion.pdf</p>
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<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.9latin_america_eng_version.pdf</p>
<p>http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.2n._africa_middleeast_eng_version.pdf</p>
<p> SAKBooks Picture Lessons on Sowing and Tools</p>
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       <h1 class="title-bg">References</h1>
       <h1 class="title-bg">References</h1>
         <div class="cont-bg">
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           <p>1. Agricultural Research Council. (n.d.). Small Grain Diseases. Retrieved from Agricultural Research Council, South Africa: https://www.arc.agric.za/arc-sgi/Pages/Crop%20Protection/Small-Grain-Diseases.aspx</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>2. Benson. (n.d.). Benson Mild Steel Manual Winnowing Fan. Retrieved from Indiamart: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/manual-winnowing-fan-8872939673.html</p>
<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>
<p>3. Cleaveland, N. S. (n.d.). Fanning-mill. Retrieved from Pioneergirl: http://www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archives/6013.</p>
<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>
<p>4. DanDem34 (Director). (2016). Chatham Fanning Mill [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBnkqOpHP6Q</p>
<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>5. Flaman Grain Systems. (n.d.). Link Fanning Mill. Flaman Grain Systems. Retrieved from https://www.flamangrainsystems.com/pdfs/downloads/Link-Fanning-Mill.pdf</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>6. Food and Agriculture Organization. (n.d.). Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved from Technical Alternatives: https://www.fao.org/3/t1838e/T1838E0p.htm</p>
<p>7. Garlough, G. (2021, September 30). Former Onterio Federation of Agriculture Director for Dundas County, Ontario, Canada. (J. Garlough, Interviewer)</p>
<p>8. Hutchins, C. A. (1871, November 7). Improvement in Fanning Mills. Retrieved from United States Patent Office: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/8ee4d5ab980512b6b705/US120745.pdf</p>
<p>9. India Environment Portal. (1998, November 14). Winnowing mad easy. Retrieved from India Environment Portal: http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/30931/</p>
<p>10. Lacey, J. (2002, September 1). The Fanning Mill. Retrieved from Farm Collector: https://www.farmcollector.com/equipment/fanning-mill/</p>
<p>11. Meena Industries. (n.d.). Iron Automatic Winnowing Fan, 1HP, Single Phase. Retrieved from Indiamart: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/winnowing-fan-22051556262.html</p>
<p>12. Shuda, M. (Director). (2015). Hero fanning mill cleaning oats [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zKhdxk23LI</p>
<p>13. Slate Run Farm Posts. (2017, June 21). Threshing is done the old-fashioned way at Slate Run Living Historical Farm. Retrieved from Metro Parks: https://www.metroparks.net/blog/threshing/</p>
<p>14. Sun Agro. (n.d.). Sun Agro Mild Steel Agriculture Winnowing Fan, 1 HP, Electric. Retrieved from Indiamart: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/agriculture-winnowing-fan-22225305788.html</p>
<p>15. The Globe and Mail. (1920, December 17). Fanning mill checks disease: By Removal of Light Seeds and Dirt It Saves Millions of Dollars. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada: https://www.proquest.com/docview/1356515940/fulltextPDF/44E0CCAF70E14C3APQ/1?accountid=11233</p>
 
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Revision as of 18:09, 2 January 2023

1.6 - Low-cost tools to sow seeds


Amira Radwan Ahmed, University of Guelph, Canada

4.jpg

Suggested citation for this chapter.

Amira,R,A. (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

Picture Based Lessons to Train Farmers

http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.6subsaharan_africa_carribean_engversion.pdf

http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/chapter_2.5s.a.e.pdf

http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.8east_southeast_asia_englishversion.pdf

http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.9latin_america_eng_version.pdf

http://www.sakbooks.com/uploads/8/1/5/7/81574912/2.2n._africa_middleeast_eng_version.pdf

SAKBooks Picture Lessons on Sowing and Tools

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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