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ISBN 971-104-185-5 v DIBBLE STICKS, DONKEYS, AND DIESELS Contents Introduction 1 Why mechanization? 1 Units and their use 3 CHAPTER 1 Human and Animal Power 5 1.1 Relationships among energy, work, and power 5 1.2 Human power 7 1.3 Animal power 9 1.3.1 Bullocks 14 1.3.2 Water buffalo 21 1.3.3 Elephants 23 1.3.4 Horses 23 1.3.5 Mules 32 1.3.6 Donkeys 33 1.3.7 Camels 33 1.3.8 Llamas 36 1.4 Rotary power from animals 37 CHAPTER 2 Mechanical Power 41 2.1 Engine power 41 2.2 Tractor horsepower 44 2.3 Single-axle pedestrian tractor 45 2.4 Double-axle pedestrian tractor 50 2.5 Compact tractor 51 2.6 Farm tractor 53 2.7 Single-wheel pedestrian tractor 66 2.8 Motorcycle tractor 67 2.9 Winch system 68 CHAPTER 3 Agricultural Production Systems 73 3.1 Climate, soil, and farming systems 73 3.2 Shifting cultivation 74 3.3 Polyculture 77 3.4 Monoculture 79 3.5 Cropping calendars 81 3.6 Soil tilth and compaction 81 vi DIBBLE STICKS, DONKEYS, AND DIESELS CHAPTER 4 Tillage 89 4.1 Tillage tool classification 89 4.2 Hoes 90 4.3 Spades and shovels 91 4.4 Foot plows 93 4.5 Ards 94 4.6 Chisel plows 96 4.7 Field cultivators 99 4.8 Subsoilers 99 4.9 Moldboard plows 101 4.10 Disk plows 110 4.11 Laying out a field for plowing 111 4.12 Rotary tillage tools 111 4.13 Harrows 115 4.14 Puddlers 124 CHAPTER 5 Planting 129 5.1 Tools for planting large seeds 129 5.2 Tools for planting small seeds 136 5.3 Tools for planting cuttings and tubers 142 5.4 Tools for planting seedlings 147 CHAPTER 6 Fertilization 153 6.1 Rate of manure production by animals 154 6.2 Hand tools for applying manure 154 6.3 Machines for spreading manure 155 6.3.1 Box spreaders 155 6.3.2 Flail spreaders 158 6.3.3 Closed-tank spreaders 158 6.4 Machines for applying chemical fertilizer 159 6.4.1 Dry fertilizer 160 6.4.2 Liquid fertilizcr 163 CHAPTER 7 Weed Control 167 7.1 Mechanical weed control 167 7.1.1 Manual tools 168 7.1.2 Animal- and tractor-powered machines 170 7.2 Chemical weed control 174 CHAPTER 8 Insect and Predator Control 183 8.1 Mechanical control 183 8.2 Chemical control 185 vii DIBBLE STICKS, DONKEYS, AND DIESELS CHAPTER 9 Harvesting 189 9.1 Grain harvestting 189 9.1.1 Hand tools 190 9.1.2 Reapers 196 9.1.3 Threshers 199 9.1.4 Combines 205 9.2 Root and tuber harvesting 211 9.3 Forage havesting 217 9.3.1 Hand tools 217 9.3.2 Mowing machines 218 9.3.3 Conditioners and rakes 221 9.3.4 Forage harvesters 227 9.3.5 Hay balers 231 9.4 Fiber harvesting and field processing 235 9.4.1 Cotton 235 9.4.2 Jute 238 9.4.3 Kenaf 239 9.4.4 Flax 239 9.4.5 Coir 241 9.4.6 Sisal 241 9.4.7 Albaca 243 CHPATER 10 Grain Drying and Storage 247 10.1 Basic principles 247 10.2 Cribs 251 10.3 Drying with heat 253 10.4 Drying with forced air 257 10.5 Resistance of grain to airflow 258 10.6 Fan characteristics 260 10.7 Combined forced-air and heat drying systerns 261 CHAPTER 11 Transport 273 11.1 Manual transport 273 11.1.1 Carrying pole 274 11.1.2 Bicycles 277 11.1.3 Wheelbarrows and handcarts 278 11.2 Animal transport 281 11.3 Tractors 285 CHAPTER 12 Social Consequences 291 12.1 Mechanization and agricultural employment 291 12.2 Mechanization and crop yield 293 12.3 Mechanization and farm income 295 12.4 Affordable technology 295 12.5 Mechanization and quality of life 297 Foreword Dibble Sticks, Donkeys, and Diesels: Machines in Crop Pro- duction is a broad study of agricultural mechanization, from simple hand tools to self-propelled harvesters. The book is for the non-agricultural engineer who wants to learn about the wide diversity of power and machines used by farmers to produce our staple food and fiber crops. It provides the reader with information needed to weigh the advantages and disad- vantages of specific types of machines. For example, what are the trade-offs between a pedestrian tractor and a hydrotiller? Why are short-handled hoes used in Africa? For human transport of loads, why is the limber bamboo carrying stick of Asia superior to the rigid poles used in some other countries? The author, Joseph K. Campbell, answers these and many other questions in this survey of technological developlnent in crop production. Over the last 100 years, the shift from muscle to engine power has changed agriculture dramatically. Often ignored, however, is the fact that most of the farmers in the world still depend on animal power as their main source of draft energy. The lessons learned in recent decades are important to document. We now know that direct transfer of knowledge from one environment to another often leads to wrong solutions to critical problems. At the same time, it is most valuable to know how, when, where, and why technological change took place. With this information, the adaptation of knowledge and the development of technological solutions according to local needs are easier to achieve. Not many people today have the combined skills to compile the kind of information found in this book. Professor Campbell has more than 40 years of worldwide experience in agriculture. He was born into a family of Pennsylvania x FOREWORD farmers and learned about crop production literally from the ground up. He chose agricultural engineering as his profes- sion, earning his bachelor's degree at Pennsylvania State Uni- versity and his master’s at Cornell University. Since 1967 he has been on the faculty of Cornell, where he is Professor of Agricultural Engineering. He worked as an in-house consult- ant at the International Potato Center in Peru and spent two years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Phil- ippines. Short-term consultancies have taken him to Bangla- desh, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, and Zaire. Professor Campbell has also had exten- sive practical experience as a design engineer for a leading manufacturer of agricultural implements. Dibble Sticks, Donkeys, and Diesels will be a valuable resource for development workers, economists, extension officers, administrators, students, and agriculturalists through- out the developed and developing world. Klaus Lampe Director General Introduction Why mechanization? In industrial countries, mechanization lowers crop production costs by replacing labor with machines. It is therefore reasonable to question the desirability of mechanization in less developed countries (LDCs), which usually have large, untapped sources of labor and small firms. Crops are produced by the interaction of sunlight, water, and nutrients. Man can utilize energy to improve conditions for crop growth. For example, the manipulation of plant spacing can affect the efficiency of solar energy in producing food through photosynthesis. However, a small plot utilizing mechanization may produce no more than the same plot farmed solely by sufficient human energy. Increased food production is often linked to mechaniza- tion. Unlike a factory, a firm is at the mercy of natural phenomena such as water, temperature and daylength, over which the farmer has little control.