Design and development of a combined seedbed compactor and teff seed cum fertilizer drill machine.

Teff, which is surged in other continent and a cornerstone Ethiopian grain used as injera, suffers from low yield due to outdated sowing practices and minimal use of modern fertilizers. The traditional method is inefficient, squandering seeds and fertilizer, and relying on a large number of animals for trampling. Researchers addressed this challenge by creating a new machine that combines a seedbed compactor with a tool that sows both teff seeds and fertilizer. They conducted lab tests to analyze how different settings affected the machine's performance. These settings included the speed (varying from 2.11 to 3.14 km per hour), the amount of fertilizer and seeds in the hopper (full, half, or quarter full), and the shape of the opening in the metering plate (circular, square, or a specific angled square). The weight of the compactor was also adjusted (40, 50, or 60 kg). Analysis of the results using Design Expert-13 software showed that a circular opening in the metering plate combined with a speed of 2.6 km per hour yielded optimal results, distributing 4.2 kg of seeds and 96.2 kg of fertilizer per hectare. Additionally, the compactor filled with 50 kg of sand generated a compaction force of 483.7 N. These findings satisfy the design requirements of applying 3-5 kg of seeds, 50-100 kg of fertilizer, and achieving a compaction force of 480 N per hectare. This method significantly reduces seed waste by 81 % compared to traditional techniques.