Design and construction of a manually operated rake tool for paddy rice planting.

Abstract

Paddy rice is one of the important crops that are grown in some parts of Uganda that are located at lower altitude i.e. lowlands. it is one of the stable foods for a large proportion of the population and on the subsistence basis, it provides farm household with food while on commercial basis it provides farmers with income after sale. On a large extent it’s important for food security and income generation. Among problems or challenges faced by rice farmers is after planting operation which include weeding, spraying which reduces the final yield. This is because farmers are using traditional planting methods like broadcasting, drilling, dibbling and a simple rake tool that provide improper spacing for the crops, do not allow mechanization of subsequent operations like Weeding and Spraying. The existing technology of planting that include broadcasting, drilling, dibbling and a simple rake on a very small scale which does not provide spacing between the crops and leaves the seeds on top since the furrows are not deep hence exposing the seeds to the birds and rodents, finally the operations are time wasting and labour intensive. As a solution to the planting problems faced by paddy rice farmers this project is geared to design and construct a manually operated rake tool for paddy rice planting that makes furrows and drops seeds the same covering the seeds. This is achieved through designing the components of the rake tool, fabricating constructing, testing for the output and efficiency after construction. To achieve the design and construction of the machine analysis of forces and the loading conditions that will act on the difficult parts of the machine will be carried out to acquire the dimensions of the parts. Drawings of the components will be produced, select the materials, construction and assembling of the parts to acquire the food that is inco-operated with the functions of making furrows, drop the seeds into the furrows made and at the same time cover them. Seed parameters that will be used to determine the design include size, shape, true density and angle of repose of the seeds.