Development and Performance Evaluation of a manually operated Cowpea Precision Planter

A manually operated cowpea precision planter was developed and evaluated for performance by laboratory and field investigations. The laboratory test was conducted to investigate the rate of seed discharge, uniformity of intra-row seed spacing and seed damage during operation, while the field test examined the field efficiency, field capacity, planting depth and average seed spacing within the row. An average weight of 4.62g of seeds was discharged during the test, at the planting space varying from 48.4cm to 49.6cm obtained from the field and laboratory test respectively. The planter effectively metred out two seeds per discharge at average planting depth of 2.22cm with minimum seed damage of 2.34 % during operation. The planter could be maneuvered or adjusted to metre more seeds at more or less planting depths depending on the choice of the farmer. The field efficiency of 71.71 % and average field capacity of 0.260 ha/hr were obtained from the test. With good care/maintenance, the planter would relief the difficulties encountered by the rural farmers in cowpea production