Sugarcanes and mechanised commercial agriculture

Jul 24, 2017

The Government of Uganda is aiming at commercialising agriculture by 2020.

'Sugarcane growing accelerating mechanised commercial agriculture in Uganda'

By Peter Basooma

Uganda is a rich agricultural country with favourable environment for the same.  Out of a total area of 241,550.7 square kilometers, 91,152.8 square kilometers (38%) is agricultural land. (UBOS, 2016).

A lot of varieties of cash crops are grown in Uganda but sugar cane has got attention due to its increased demand by the sugar manufacturers.

Currently, there are over 15 licensed sugar manufacturers in Uganda, with Kakira sugar limited with the leading output tonnage and market share followed by Kinyara Sugar limited in Masindi district. They contribute to over 25% to GDP.

The most recent one being Hoima Sugar limited in hoima district employing an estimate of 5,000 people. (Kibandi, 2016).

In Uganda, just like other parts of Africa apart from North Africa and South Africa whose agricultural mechanisation and development is at par with those in Asia and Latin America, humans are the main power source for agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa.

This agrees with FAO's definition of mechanisation as the application of tools, implements and machinery in order to achieve agricultural production mostly operated by manual, animal or engine (fossil fuel or electric) power. (Xinshen, Jed and Hiroyuki (2016)).

The Government of Uganda is aiming at commercialising agriculture by 2020 through improving farmers' access to tractors, bulldozers, graders, combined harvesters, forklifts, agro-processing machinery, farm tools, straw choppers, excavators, bowsers, transformers, among other equipment (BMAU, 2017), however due to high demand of sugar canes, well established sugar manufactures through their agricultural workshops, in  quest to improve efficiencies and huge harvests of the main raw material in their line of production, they are acquiring serious machines with high horse power ranging from 80HP to 265HP.

Common makes are Ford, Mahindra, New Holland, Massey Ferguson,  case, caterpillar and John Deere.

The engines mounted on these equipment ranges from naturally aspirated to Tier 4 interim and Tier 4 final engines. Tier 5 engines are expected in 2019 as the exhaust regulation covering those conditions will be enforced.

Rudimentary tools are common in traditional farmers (Uganda Bureau of Standards (UBOS), 2010) but those taking up the medium large scale production of sugar cane are adopting medium horse power tractors mainly in land preparation and haulage purposes.  Majority acquire second hand machines of HP capacity ranging from 50 to 80. Some always acquire new ones through bank loans and monthly payments remitted to banks while using their machines.

However, from the practical point of view, a series of factors are to be considered when choosing the right equipment for your work for instance, engine capacity (horse power wise), make, model, cost, engine generations extra. Considering engine generation alone, a right engine mounted on the equipment is vital. Traditional engines which are naturally aspirated are always cost effective in repair and maintenance.

From tom (2013), tiers 1 through 4 final engines are costly in both knowledge and skills and the availability of spares in the local market which may be hard for the local farmer to access. Most countries in the world put strict regulations in drastically cutting down exhaust gases pollutants mostly Particulate matter, or PM, which  is mostly unburned hydrocarbons like soot that previously shot out the exhaust stack unimpeded, and nitrates of oxygen or NOx, which is a primary ingredient of smog. Due to this, engine manufacturers for off road equipment are forced to equip them with systems which eliminate such pollutants for instance;

Exhaust- gas- recirculation, EGR takes a portion of the exhaust gas and recirculates it with fresh intake air. The exhaust air reduces the amount of oxygen in the combustion chamber. When this oxygen-reduced air ignites on the compression stroke, the resulting exhaust contains less NOx

Diesel particulate filter, DFP is a large, honeycombed, ceramic filters coated with precious metal catalysts that trap PM in the exhaust stream. It uses a regeneration process.  At idling of an engine, cold starts and light load factors can accelerate PM accumulation. When a DPF becomes full enough to affect backpressure, the engine's ECM injects a stream of diesel fuel into the DPF, raising temperatures and burning off the accumulated PM.

Diesel oxidation catalysts, DOC, are filters with a catalytic coating on the filter media. DOC chemically changes carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, diesel particulates and other pollutants to carbon dioxide and water.

Selective catalytic reduction, SCR, it is an after treatment system whereby, the exhaust passes through a DPF or DPF/DOC combination first and is then doused with a mist of water and urea (a common chemical used in commercial fertilizers) in a catalytic chamber. The urea/water solution is commonly referred to as diesel exhaust fluid, or DEF. The exhaust and DEF in the presence of the catalyst turns the NOx into mostly water and nitrogen.

In general, increased systems mounted on these engines tend to make the whole machine more sophisticated and requires more trainings, skills and knowledge in operational repair, maintenance and a considerable increase in investment cost as compared to naturally aspirated ones.

The writer is an agricultural engineer

 

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