Design and Development of a Cassava Planter

Abstract

The manual planting of cassava demands a large quantity of human labor. It is a time-consuming, unpleasant, and arduous job. The labor shortage is one of the major constraints in manual cassava planting in Thailand. Therefore, a cassava planter suitable for use in local farms was developed. It was designed to plant stakes either on flat beds or in ridges and to apply fertilizer at the same time. The machine consists of the main frame, the cutting unit, the planting unit, the fertilizer unit, the ridger, and the soil levelers. A 57.4 kW tractor is used as a power source. Two feeders and one tractor driver are needed to operate the planter attached to a tractor. For field performance evaluation, three traveling speeds (1.7, 2.0 and 2.4 km/h) were used. It was observed that the average field capacity and field efficiency were 0.135 ha/h and 65.3%, respectively. Fuel consumption varied between 19.9 and 24.2 L/ha. The maximum draft requirement of the machine was 1.55 kN. It could plant the stakes at an average inclination of 67 (angle 1, altitude angle of stake in the longitudinal-vertical plane) and 88 (angle 2, altitude angle of stake in the lateral-vertical plane) depending on the forward speed. Field testing showed 89% proper standing of plants. The average missing hills were 3.9%, and average horizontal planting was 4.2% (but buried in the soil). No damaged stakes were observed. Average germination was 90%. The planting pattern and quality achieved by this planter were considered satisfactory. The machine had a break-even area of 24.8 ha/year when it was operated at 2.4 km/h speed. For a one-year payback period, the planting area required was 80.7 ha/year if the planter was operated at 2.4 km/h. The performance test and cost analysis indicated that the machine could be used economically.