Design and fabrication of motorized maize peeling machine for small scale farmers.

Abstract

Maize, originally a new crop was introduced in Uganda in 19961.maize is the only food crop which is being consumed in the whole world. Maize crop best in deep, well-drained soil fertile where the seasonal rainfall exceeds 500mm.it it tolerant to soil acidity and it is susceptible to both drought and logging .in Uganda maize is grown on large scale in western Uganda. other regions such as Eastern, Northern and central. Maize is the very nutritious crops that is why it is consume all over the world .it contains following food values (70% -87%) is carbohydrate, (6%-13%) protein,4% is protein,2-6% is oil and (1%-3%) sugar. Maize peeling is one of the post-harvest operations of maize .it can be done either from the garden or at home after harvesting. traditionally maize peeling was done using manual method which time consuming, tedious and it is still continuing because of low income of the maize growers in Uganda. Another method of peeling maize is by the use of combine harvester of maize. This mechanical method faster, has high efficiency and lead to increase in the production of maize and the maize loss is also reduced. The problem with this method of peeling is that it is very expensive and few or no farmer in Uganda can afford. To overcome this problem, the is need to design simple machine that perform the same purpose but cheaper than the combine harvester. The motorized maize peeling machine will design to solve problem being faced by the small-scale farmers. Generators can as well as be used but is expensive compare to motor.