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Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization PDF
Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization PDF
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Agricultural
Machinery &
Mechanization
Basic Concepts
Segun R. Bello
[MNSE, R. Engr. COREN]
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Copyright © 2012 by Segun R. Bello
Dominion
Publishing Services
ISBN-13: 978-1456328764
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7290 Investment Drive
Suite B North Charleston,
SC 29418 USA
www.createspace.com
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Dedication
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Acknowledgement
Unlimited gratitude goes to God Almighty, the author of life and the giver of
knowledge, for His grace and inspirations in the pursuit of this divine agenda in the
course of my career. Glory be to His name.
I sincerely thank all students, past and present, of the departments of agricultural
technology, agricultural engineering and engineering technology, Federal College of
Agriculture Ishiagu, Federal College of Agriculture Moor plantation Ibadan, College
of Agriculture Jalingo and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and
all who had come in contact with my books in various fields of agricultural
engineering practice such as Farm power and machinery, Farm power and
mechanization, and Horticultural machinery among several other related courses,
whose teaching experiences and inputs were put together to form major part of this
work.
My special thanks go to my dear friend, companion and wife, who had always back-
up the realization of God’s plan for me. She is a virtuous woman and help meet
indeed. Her understanding and tolerance in taking full responsibility of running our
home during the entire review and upgrade exercise are quite commendable.
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Content
Preface xiii
CHAPTER 1 Concepts of Agricultural Mechanization............................... 1
1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Mechanization .................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Concepts of mechanization............................................................................. 2
1.3 Motorization and tractorization .................................................................... 18
1.4 Machine and human labour measurement ................................................. 19
CHAPTER 2 Agricultural Machinery and Development ............................ 21
2.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 21
2.1 Aspects of agricultural machinery ............................................................... 21
2.1.1 Development of agricultural machinery ...................................................... 22
2.1.2 Adaptation of agricultural machinery .......................................................... 23
2.2 Standardization of farm machinery.............................................................. 24
2.3 System approach to manufacturing ............................................................ 24
CHAPTER 3 Economics of Machinery Use .............................................. 25
3.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 25
3.1 Definition of economic variables.................................................................. 25
3.2 Machinery costs and categories .................................................................. 29
3.2.1 Fixed or ownership costs .............................................................................. 31
3.2.2 Operating costs ............................................................................................... 40
3.2.3 Timeliness costs ............................................................................................. 45
3.3 Decision making in machinery procurement ............................................. 46
3.4 Machinery selection procedure .................................................................... 54
3.5 Determination of machinery capacity.......................................................... 55
3.6 Field machine performance factors ............................................................. 58
CHAPTER 4 Land Clearing and Development ............................................ 65
4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 65
4.2 Land clearing ................................................................................................... 65
4.3 Land clearing methods and machinery....................................................... 66
4.4 Machinery power sources ............................................................................. 69
4.5 Land clearing attachments/detachable ....................................................... 70
5.4 Factors affecting the choice of land clearing ............................................ 77
5.5 Estimation of land clearing cost................................................................... 78
5.6 Disposal of vegetation ................................................................................... 81
5.7 Landform and development .......................................................................... 89
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5.8 Equipment for landform..................................................................................91
CHAPTER 5 Tillage Operation and Equipment............................................95
5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................95
5.2 Soil dynamics and tillage relations ..............................................................97
5.3 Mechanical behaviour of agricultural soil ...................................................98
5.4 Design and performance of tillage equipment ......................................... 102
5.5 Implement and traction machine dynamics .............................................. 103
5.6 Types of tillage operations........................................................................... 109
5.7 Conventional tillage implement................................................................... 114
5.7.1 Primary tillage implement ............................................................................ 114
5.7.2 Secondary tillage implement ....................................................................... 128
5.8 Effects of machinery traffic on agricultural soil ....................................... 137
CHAPTER 6 Bed Planting Operations .............................................................. 141
6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 141
6.2 Bed planting and tillage practices .............................................................. 141
6.3 Method of crop planting ............................................................................... 143
6.4 Crop planting patterns .................................................................................. 143
6.5 Functional requirement for crop planting ................................................. 149
6.6 Functional classification of planting equipment...................................... 154
6.7 Small scale no-till seeders ........................................................................... 168
6.8 Row-type planters.......................................................................................... 172
6.9 Mechanical precision drilling....................................................................... 176
6.10 Crop planters .................................................................................................. 177
CHAPTER 7 Post Planting Operations........................................................ 189
7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 189
7.2 Thinning operations and equipment .......................................................... 189
7.3 Crop protection and equipment .................................................................. 198
7.4 Weed management and equipment ............................................................ 199
7.5 Fertilizer application and devices ............................................................... 205
7.6 Chemical application and equipment......................................................... 212
7.6.1 Spraying system, equipment and calibration ........................................... 212
7.7 Chemigation.................................................................................................... 227
7.8 Fertigation ....................................................................................................... 229
CHAPTER 8 Soil and Water Conservation ................................................. 238
6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 238
6.2 Soil conservation practices and equipment ............................................. 238
6.3 Irrigation practice and equipment............................................................... 243
CHAPTER 9 Crop Harvest and Transport Equipment .............................. 254
9.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 254
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9.2 Grain crop harvest machine........................................................................ 254
9.3 Combine harvester performance................................................................ 259
9.7 Fruit and vegetable harvest machine ........................................................ 260
9.7.1 Methods of fruit harvest............................................................................... 261
9.8 Agricultural transport vehicles ................................................................... 266
CHAPTER 10 Crop Processing and Machinery...................................... 273
10.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 273
10.2 Drying systems.............................................................................................. 274
10.3 Grain cooling methods................................................................................. 281
10.4 Densification of agricultural materials ...................................................... 282
10.5 Agricultural technological process machines ......................................... 284
10.5.1 Pressing/wafering machines....................................................................... 284
10.5.2 Pelleting machine.......................................................................................... 284
10.5.3 Briquetting...................................................................................................... 287
10.5.4 Dewatering machines ................................................................................... 288
10.5.5 Cutting of agricultural materials................................................................. 289
10.5.6 Size reduction processes and machines .................................................. 291
10.5.7 Kneading machines ...................................................................................... 297
10.5.8 Rice milling machines .................................................................................. 299
10.5.9 Destoning machine ....................................................................................... 301
10.5.10 Fruit processing machines.......................................................................... 303
10.5.11 Oil processing machines ............................................................................. 310
10.5.12 Grain transport machines............................................................................ 318
10.5.13 Crop residue processing machines........................................................... 320
CHAPTER 11 Crops Storage Structures .............................................. 329
11.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 329
11.2 Storage of agricultural crops ...................................................................... 329
11.3 Crops storage structures............................................................................. 331
11.3.1 Traditional storage structures .................................................................... 331
11.3.2 Improved traditional storage structures ................................................... 339
11.3.3 Improved storage structures ...................................................................... 340
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 344
Index 352
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Preface
Chapter four presents the principles and practice of land clearing and landform as
well as information and necessary skills for effective land clearing programme.
Chapters five and six described various bed preparation and crop planting operations
including state of the art equipment that facilitate effective bed preparation for crop
establishment and machine operations.
Crop maintenance and protection practices such as crop thinning, weed control and
fertilizer/chemical application and equipment were discussed in Chapter seven. Crop
establishment equipment and sprayer calibration were also highlighted. Chapter eight
described soil and water conservation equipment such as irrigation equipments,
pumps etc. Crop harvesting and processing machine for various agricultural crops
were discussed in Chapters nine and ten, while Chapter eleven described various
crops storage structures.
This book will go a long way to acquaint students and researchers with the nitty-gritty
of agricultural machinery operations and also provide requisite knowledge and skills
for effective agricultural mechanization.
Segun R. Bello
480001, Ishiagu
Nigeria
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CHAPTER 1
1.0 Introduction
Among the three basic essential needs of life (food, clothing and shelter), food remains
the strongest of all human survival factors. Food can simply be regarded as the direct
product of primary agricultural production and it is rated highest among the three
basic essential needs of man; hence agriculture could simply be referred to as a life-
safer profession. To attain security and self-sufficiency in food production and
distribution, all players in agricultural production sector must support traditional
farmers through accelerated input supplies (such as improved crop varieties /animal
species, improved farming systems, improved hand tools etc and procurement of
appropriate agricultural tractors and machinery etc., at all levels.
Agricultural engineers are known to have been involved in solving the aspect of
support to solving major challenges in the traditional and industrial agriculture. They
made significant contributions to transforming basic agricultural operations, meet
basic food needs of the expanding human population, and also help evolve
productive and sustainable agricultural systems and practices which has become a
major area of priority intervention. From the analyses of various agricultural systems,
we can understand the usefulness of various agricultural machines involved in the
conservation and preservation of land, water, and biological resources for future
generations. This involvement is made possible through effective agricultural
mechanization. The concepts of agricultural mechanization are discussed in the
following sections.
1.1 Mechanization
Objectives of mechanization
Purpose of mechanization
Farm mechanization has been known to help in the effective utilization of farm inputs
in order to achieve the following purposes:
Benefits of mechanization
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The most obvious benefit of mechanization is the work potential of the agricultural
tractors utilized versus hand labour and animal traction involvement. This is most
advantageous in communities where labour is scarce or expensive. The labour
requirements for preparing one hectare of land for planting using draught animal
power are only 12% of that required when using hand labour.
When using a tractor with a plough, this falls to less than 1%, increasing labour
productivity tremendously. As labour is a constraint in many farming communities,
the use of animal traction and tractors brings the opportunity to expand the acreage.
Motorization is likely to have an even greater potential for area expansion as long as
land is available. Labour productivity will increase considerably. A farmer owning a
tractor would normally be able to increase his income through increased production
and by doing contract work for other farmers.
Problems of mechanization
The neglect of agricultural mechanization by policy makers who intend to see every
problem from the economist’s point of view caused one of the major problems facing
the use of machines in Nigeria agriculture. Inadequate attention had been paid to
mechanization in Nigeria over a long time which is obvious from the scanty and
uncoordinated nature of data available. This trend is being reversed by the recent
advances of the federal government in the agricultural revolution currently taking
place in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. Despite these advances, the
following problems still hinders agricultural mechanization
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Olaoye (2007) enumerated three other key factors that influence a successful
mechanization programme and these include:
1. Socio-economic factors,
2. Availability of mechanization supporting infrastructure and
3. Land and agro-ecological conditions.
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S/N Programmes and agency Acronyms Remarks
National Centre for Agricultural
12. NCAM Federal level
Mechanization
Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural
13. DFRRI Federal level
Infrastructure
14. National Directorate of Employment NDE Federal level
Rural Agro Industrial Development
15. RAIDS Federal level
Scheme
16. Crop Storage Unit CSU Federal level
17. Rural Artisan Training and Support Unit RATSU Federal level
Agricultural Machinery Mechanics and AMMOT
18. Federal level
Operators Training Centre RAC
19. Tractor and Equipment Hiring Units TEHU State level
National Agricultural Land
20. NALDA Federal level
Development Authority
Federal and
21. Departments of Rural Development DRD
State level
Family Economic Advancement
22. FEAP Federal level
Programme
National Poverty Eradication
23. NAPEP Federal level
Programme
National Economic Empowerment and
24. NEEDS Federal level
Development Strategy
State Economic Empowerment and
25. SEEDS State level
Development Strategy
Local Economic and Environmental
26. LEEMP State level
Management Programme
27. National Programme for Food Security NPFS Federal level
28. National Food Reserve Agency NFRA Federal level
Commercial Agriculture Development Federal and
29. CADP
Programme State level
Source: Adama et al., 2009.
In addition to these agencies and programmes, the New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD) and Millennium Development Goals (MGD) have interesting
programmes aimed at developing African agriculture for poverty eradication (Asika,
2005; FGN, 2006).
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Agricultural mechanization assessment
Several authors have studied the status of mechanisation with reference to the
intensity of power or energy availability, and its impact in increasing the agricultural
and labour productivity. Giles (1975) reviewed power availability in different
countries, and demonstrated that productivity was positively correlated with
potential unit farm power. The NCAER (1981) assessed the impact of tractorisation on
the productivity of land (yield and cropping intensity), and economic growth (income
and employment).
It is clear now that agriculture has always been mechanized, employing four main
sources of power or a combination of two or three sources including: human, animal,
mechanical/engine and renewable energy resources, and giving rise to four broad
levels of agricultural mechanization technology. The level, appropriate choice and
subsequent proper use of these inputs into agriculture has a direct and significant
effect on achievable levels of land productivity, labour management, profitability of
farming, sustainability, environmental and the quality of life of people engaged in
agriculture.
According to Nowacki (1974), the following indices were used in the assessment and
grading of different levels of mechanization:
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1. Hand tools (M1) = 1,
2. Animal drawn (M2) = 2,
3. Tractorized/Mechanized (M3) = 3,
4. Renewable (M4) = 4 (This index is introduced).
For instance in Nigeria, (M1 and M3) were generally applicable. The tools and
implements used in each level of agricultural mechanization are as classified below.
This is the most basic level of agricultural mechanization, where human being is the
power source, using simple tools and implements. A farmer using hand-tool
technology can cultivate only about one hectare of land. He cannot do more than that
because of certain scientifically established facts (Odigboh, 1991). Human power
accounts for the lion’s share of work in overall agricultural production, most
especially in the tropical and sub tropical African countries. It has been suggested
that a power-use intensity of 0.4 kW/ha is required for effective human level of
agricultural mechanization. Some basic features of tools in use include:
Hoes: A wide variety of hoes used in farm operations includes; forked hoes and
pickaxes. The main use for the forked hoes and pickaxes is to dig compacted manure
out of animal compounds.
Material handling tools: Material and earth handling tools such as rakes, shovels and
spades are found within the agricultural hand tool list. The shovels and spades are
mainly of the D-handled type, commonly used in moving materials from one place to
another. Some very old ones have T-handles. Rakes are used mainly to prepare fine
seedbeds in the vegetable plots. Hoes were made by blacksmiths from high-quality
material. Some hoes are also made from old discs from tractor-operated implements.
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Figure 1-2: Material handling tools
Cutting tools: Cutting tools such as axes and sickles in varying sizes made by local
blacksmiths can be bought in local shops. Blacksmiths often use very basic production
methods but turn out effective tools provided they can find the right type of scrap
steel, such as vehicle leaf-springs.
Various types of sickle were seen: some were made locally but others were very old
imported examples. The wooden handles on the latter usually had been broken and
were replaced with a piece of rag wrapped around the tang.
There is a gender perception attached to different tools: some are seen as being ‘men’s
tools’ and others as ‘women’s tools’. Men’s tools are considered to be ploughs,
cultivators, ox-carts, axes, adzes, pickaxes and shovels. Women’s tools are considered
to be hoes, watering cans, sickles, and other lightweight items. These perceptions date
from the times when men and women were more equally present in rural areas and
when there were certain men’s tasks and certain women’s tasks in agriculture. But
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today, even though the gender perceptions about tools still persist, even the men
freely state that women now use all of them.
Because of the limitations of the human power availability on the field, horses, mules,
oxen and bullocks became the principal sources of power on the farm. They develop
more power than human power for agricultural operations. Because of their
availability for use in most stringent conditions, they are often referred to as the beast
of burden.
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Level 3: mechanical-power or engine-power technology (EPT)
Mechanical power as used on the farm consists of internal combustion engine, the
electric motor, and the steam engine sometimes called external combustion engine, the
water wheel and windmill. The internal combustion engine and electric motor are the
most important. Recently internal combustion engine are being complimented by
hydraulic power transmission.
All energy sources mentioned above have an impact on the environment. Concerns
about the greenhouse effect and global warming, air pollution, and energy security
have led to increasing interest and more development in renewable energy sources
such as solar, wind, geothermal, wave power and nuclear energy.
A mechanisation index based on the matrix of use of animate and mechanical energy
inputs as given by could be given by (Singh, 2006) in equation below.
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= = … … … … … … … … … .1.1
+ +
Where:
MIE = Mechanization Index, %
= Average sum of all mechanical operational works of the machine, kWhr/ha
= Sum of all average work outlays in kWhr/ha by animates ( animal,
human), and tractor powered machines.
A mechanization index, (MI) based on the use of human and mechanical energy
inputs, represents the percentage of work of tractors and the total of human work and
that of the machinery and is calculated using the following relations;
= x 100% … … … … … 1.2
For macro-level planning, a mechanisation index based on the ratio of electrical and
mechanical power over total farm power introduced as a measure of qualitative
assessment of modernisation of agriculture, is expressed in equation (1.3) by Singh,
2006:
= … … … … … … … … … .1.3
+ +
Where:
MIE is the mechanisation index (indicator);
PH is the human power
PA is the draught animal power and
PM is the total electrical and mechanical power.
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= … … … … … … … … … 1.4
+ +
The mechanisation index based on equation (1.4), therefore, does not lay emphasis on
quality output and associated cost factors for the matrix of energy sources.
Incorporating the concept of cost factors in to equation 1.5 (Singh, 2006):
= … … … … … … … … … .1.5
+ +
Where:
MImij is the mechanisation index of the ith crop in the jth state;
CEMij is the cost of use of machinery in the ith crop in the jth state;
CEHij is the cost of use of human labour in the ith crop in jth state; and
CEAij is the cost of use of animal labour in the ith crop in the jth state.
The level of mechanization index (LOM) is based on the premise that a mechanized
farmer is the one that finds a way to utilize amounts of mechanical energy that higher
than the typical values using locally available technology. This situation is expressed
by the expression in equation (1.6) below by Zangeneh et al., (2010);
= … … … … … … … … … … … . .1.6
Where
LOM = Level of mechanization
= Tractors power
= Correction factor for utilized power (0.75). The field capacity was multiplied by
rated power so that the quantification of energy expenditure will be in work unit
(kWh)
= Total farmland area cultivated.
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c. Degree of mechanization
The degrees of mechanization of available power for human labour are defined by the
following relations (Nowacki, 1974):
TH
LH = 0.1 x NH x … … … … … 1.7
A
Where
LH =Average energy input or work provided per hectare by human labour kW
hr/ha.
0.1= Theoretical average power of an average man working optimally.
NH = Average number of labour employed.
TH =Average rated working time devoted to manual operation. TH was
determined as a function of rate of energy consumption and resting period
for different manual operations (planting, weeding, fertilizer application and
harvesting).
A = Area of land cultivated (ha). A was determined for each farm settlement by
multiplying areas of cultivated land in hectare allocated to each
participating farmer by the total number of farmers.
t = 60 1 − … … … … … … … … .1.8
Where:
tR = Required resting time for 8 hrs effective working hrs per day in minute per
hour of work
P = Rate of power consumption in watts for various farming activities.
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Mechanical power sources
LM = 0.2 x NM x[ ] … … … … … … … … 1.9
Where;
LM = Average energy input or work per hectare by motorized machines
0.2 = Corrector co- efficient of the tractor-powered machine.
NM = Rated working power of the tractor (kW)
A = Area worked in hectare by motorized machines.
TM = Rated working time of the motorized energy source, hr/ha. TM represents
the inverse of the effective field capacity of the machine given by TM = 1/Ca
(hr/ha)
Ca = … … … … … … … .1.10
Where
Ca = Effective field (area) capacity, ha/hr,
s = Field speed, km/hr;
w = Implement width of cut, m;
Ef = Field efficiency, decimal;
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2. Crop-implement suitability: Implement chosen must be such as to produce optimum
growth condition for the selected crop. There must be a relationship existing
within one operation and the other.
3. Appropriate power-implement match: This implies that there is optimum power
implement match for every available power from the power source. Factors
affecting this include nature of soil-soil types, rock out crops i.e. remnants of rock
materials after weathering.
4. Selection of operation: Operations to be mechanized are affected by some factors
such as:
a. Type of crop to be mechanized
b. Availability of some specific machinery for specific operation
c. Weather condition of the area to be mechanized
d. Topography of the field area.
5. Selection of implement size: The following factors should be considered in choosing
the size of machine to buy:
a. Difference in cost between large and small machine
b. Amount of use that will be made of the machine each year
c. The amount and cost of available labour
d. The financial position of the buyer.
6. Decision of ownership of implement: In large hectares of land, it is advisable to buy
equipment but on small hectares of land or smallholdings, it is better to hire,
considering this from the viewpoint of costing. It may be disadvantaged to get
machine for hire at the appropriate time needed. When purchasing consideration
is made on those implements or machinery that will suite the size or power of the
available machine.
a. Vegetation
b. Climate
c. Type of crop and crop varieties
d. Nature of soil - soil depth varies with location. Soil with deep depth supports
mechanical tillage
e. Insufficient research funding and facilities.
Motorization
The percentage of the productive land tilled with motorized traction remains very low
in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates range from 1% (FAO, 1987 and Gifford and Rijk,
1980 in FAO, 1995) to 4% (Mrema, 1992). Taking into account that more than half
(FAO yearbooks, as in Caumont, et al., 1995) of the tractors are used in Southern
Africa, the percentage of the total area cultivated with tractors in West Africa is
practically negligible. Animals provide the power to an estimated 9% (FAO, 1987 and
Gifford and Rijk, 1980 in FAO, 1995) to 16% (Mrema, 1992) of the area. This leaves 80
to 90% for cultivation by hand.
Tractorization
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1.4 Machine and human labour measurement
⇒A = + … … … … … … … … … … . .1.13
Where:
AM = Productivity of machines, defined as the work carried out as a function of
the machinery employed
AH = Productivity of labour, defined as the work carried out as a function of
labour employed
AT = Total productivity and all other terms as defined previously.
Resting period
According to Caruthers and Rodriguez (1992), resting period tR, for different manual
operations (planting, weeding, fertilizer application and harvesting) was defined as
follows:
250
t = 60 1 − … … … … … … … … … … . .1.14
P
Where:
t = the required resting time for 8 hrs effective working hrs per day in minute per
hour of work
P = rate of power consumption in watts for various farming activities.
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Gross margin analysis for crop production
The profitability of production of a particular arable crop could be determined using
the gross margin analysis. This is the difference between the total revenue and the
total cost of investment. The gross margin is the value of total profit expected from a
production activity, and its value is obtained from the expression given by Jhingan,
(1997, Olaoye and Rotimi, 2010).
GM = TR − TC … … … … … … … … … … .1.15
Where:
GM = Gross margin/gross profit value;
TR = Total revenue, expressed as (TR = P x Y);
P = Price;
Y = Yield tons/ha or kg/ha;
TC = Total cost, expressed as (TC = FC+VC);
FC = Fixed cost and
VC = Cost of the variable inputs
Note: Values of all farm labour should be based on the variable inputs (i.e. the
prevailing agricultural wages per day) and outputs (i.e. the prevailing market prices)
based on the conditions as at the time of the analysis.
FLV = (wage/day, market prices) … … … … … … … … … … .1.16
Where
FLV= Values of all farm labour
f = mathematical function
For any given task, the energy or net output delivered by a power system is expressed
by the relation
( )
( )=
( )
For instance this energy requirement has been estimated as a continuous effort at
26%–29% for donkeys, and 24%–27% for horses (Inns, 1992).
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