Set of Basic Equipment for Peanut Seed Production

Abstract

Experiment was carried out to improve and/or develop a set of equipment, for peanut seed producing, small-scale farmers. The equipments were (1.) hole maker, (2.) hand plow, (3.) peanut digging plow, and 4. peanut pod stripper. At the end of the project, the following peanut producing equipment has been improved and/or developed. The first one was hole maker, it needed human labour to pull backward and two rows of holes were made per run. Labour and time were greatly saved compared to hand hoe, but the land should be prepared well. The second was hand plow, it also needed human labour to pull backward. Labour and time wee saved, compared to hand hoe. However, the hinge at plow beam for height adjustment was not very firm and the plow was quite light, the farmer had to press the plow while using. The third was peanut digging plow, attached to the rear of a two-wheeled tractor, saving a lot of labour and time for harvesting compared to hand hoe or hand pull, and providing that the peanut plot was relatively free from tall and climbing weeds. The fourth was peanut pod stripper to be attached to the front of a two-wheeled tractor, saving a lot of labour and time for pod stripping only compared to hand stripping. Although about 14 percent of the pods stripped still had pod stalk attached, that was good enough for consumption. Apart from that, the stripped pods needed more time for further cleaning. However, seed quality from machine stripped pods was close to that of hand stripped pods. The project improved and/or developed the above set of equipment along with the peanut cultivation techniques in double-row, raised beds to ensure a good fit of both factors. By doing these, time and labour used in peanut production had been greatly reduced and most farmers chose pod stripper.