Design and Fabrication of a manually operating Mung bean Planter for Ethiopian Sugar cane fields intercropping uses
Planters have fully mechanized systems which enables to plant different crops by changing the metering device. They may power by manpower, animal power or attached on tractors. Even though there are such options, Ethiopian sugar estates/ projects used the traditional method to plant mung bean, soya bean and haricot bean between sugar cane plants. Now a research is carried out to use Mung bean planter and the design and fabrication of the planter has been completed. The planter has one seed and one fertilizer applicators from left side of its wheel and the same is too at the right side. Structurally it has four furrow openers at the front, two seed and two fertilizer applicators at the middle and four furrow closers at the back. The shaft is entering locked with the wheel by rectangular male and female mating systems, and two metering devices also fixed by keys on the same shaft. The housings are splitted in to two above and below the shaft centre. This is done for ease of assembly and disassembly. The upper part of the housings is joined with the hoppers and the bottom ones are with four applicators by welding. The hoppers have partitions for the seed and fertilizer at both sides. These partitions are extended to the housings to prevent mixing of seed and fertilizer. The planter is designed and manufactured to drive by human power pushing like a wheel barrow and made to lay the seed and fertilizer at a distance of 10 cm apart. After manufacturing, when tested in the field it had a promising effect.