Abstract:
Cassava is one of the most important food crops grown in various parts of Uganda; - Several
varieties of cassava are mostly grown due to tolerance in both poor soils and unreliable weather
conditions. Cassava is a propagated plant with its stems being the leading source of planting
material which affects the yields and results in low productivity depending on the method of
preparation, Quality of stem and the time it’s needed. The common method used for cutting is
manual labor using a panga, machetes among a few which is labor intensive, time consuming
and leads to drudgery that leads to unequal and bruised nodes on stakes which lower the stake
viability which intern leads to low productivity.
This project undertook the development of a motorized cassava stake cutter with the aim of
reducing on the drudgery during cutting operations and increasing the timeliness production of
quality stakes. The main objective of the project was to design and construct a cassava stake
cutter which will meet the production of the required stakes for mechanized and commercial
farming per day. In achieving the above objective, basic engineering principles and the physical
properties of cassava stems were considered in the design of the various components of the
stake cutter. Appropriate engineering drawings were produced using solid edge and the
designed stake cutter was constructed at Munyegera Workshop using the locally available
materials (mainly mild steel) and common production technologies, including cutting, bending,
welding, etc.
The performance of the constructed prototype was determined by the no of stems produced and
there quality in terms of length bruised nodes etc. From the tests performed, it was found that
the machine output capacity was 7500 stakes per hr., with up to 75% of the machine efficiency
and 72% of the cutting efficiency. Thus the use of the machine has a big role in reducing
drudgery and making farming attractive; thereby improving crop production and alleviating the
labor shortages experienced during cutting. This increases the income and stem availability of
poor resource farmers in Uganda.
