Performance Evaluation of Home-developed Four-row Animal Drawn Precision Maize Planter using a Pair of Bull to Plant SAMMAZ 17 Maize Variety in Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Realization of optimum yield per hectare in maize production has always been a challenge especially when using home-developed equipment. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the effect of ground speed, hopper seed quantity and planting depth on plant spacing, germination count, and seed delivery rate of a home-developed four-row animal drawn precision maize planter using a pair of bull to plant SAMMAZ 17 maize variety on a harrowed field. It was drawn by a pair of bull in a 3×3×2 randomized complete block experimental design. The treatment factors were three levels of hopper seed quantity (25%, 50% and 100%), three levels of ground speed (2.16, 2.88, and 3.6 km/h) and two levels of planting depth (15 and 25 mm). The results showed that the effects of planting speed, seed quantity and planting depth were highly significant on the planting performance of the machine. The optimum mean seed spacing, germination counts, field efficiency and seed delivery rate of 23.52 cm, 100 %, 86.9% and 20.3 kg/ha respectively were obtained. The study show that optimum seed stand could be achieved with home-developed planted for optimum yield when ground speed, hopper seed quantity and planting depth were varied appropriately.