Evaluation of two jab planters for planting maize in the forest zone of Ghana

2015

english

On-farm experiments were conducted to evaluate two jab planters for planting maize in the forest zone of Ghana in 2014 major season. One of the jab planters was imported from China; and we fabricated the other. The experiments were conducted at 3 farmers’ fields (sites) and the design was a factorial with sites as replications. Factor A was method of land preparation (ridges and no-till with stubble mulch) and factor B was planting device (Chinese jab planter, Local jab planter and cutlass). On the average, it took about 9 hours, 11 hours and 23 hours 37 minutes to plant one hectare of maize with the Chinese Jab planter, local jab planter and cutlass in that order. Consistently, there were more hills with maize seedlings on the ridges than on the no till plots. At one site, pests removed maize from the entire no-till plots, but removal was very low on the ridges. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference in yield among the treatments studied. Some farmers in Ghana now broadcast maize and cowpea seed due to scarcity and/or high cost of labour for planting. Economic analysis showed that it is about 100% cheaper to plant with the jab planters than with cutlass. The jab planters could be promoted to reduce drudgery, time and cost of planting maize.

Osei Bonsu, P.; Omae, H.; Nagumo, F.; Owusu Bio, R.; Pinamang Acheampong, P.