COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURAL AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING

MODULE # 2

Prime movers in the agricultural and bio-production systems

(Human and Animal Power)

Learning Outcomes:

1. Discuss the human power utilized in various farm works.

2. Gain understanding on human power and energy requirement.
3. Explain the human advantages and disadvantages
4. Discuss the Commonly Farm works Using Human Power
5. Discuss the animal power for various farming operations.
6. Identify the different kind of draft animals.
7. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of draft animals.
8. Discuss the animal power and performance efficiency.
9. Solve problems involving Human and animal drafts power.

Introduction:
Human power has been utilized as source of power since time immemorial. Before the
mechanization, human power is utilized in various farm works such as land preparation, seeding
and planting, harvesting and other processing operations. At present human power is utilized in
several regions where labor is sufficient and mechanization is not fully emphasized.
Animal power has been largely used as source of power for various farming operations.
In Asia, about 80 million draft animals are used to sustain power of about 40 million horsepower.
About 2 billion people in developing countries largely depend on draft animals.

Various types of agricultural operations performed on a farm can be broadly classified as:

1. Tractive work such as seed bed preparation, cultivation, harvesting and transportation, and
2. Stationary work like silage cutting, feed grinding, threshing, winnowing and lifting of irrigation water.

These operations are performed by different sources of power namely, human, animal, stationary
engine, tractor, power tiller, and electricity. For doing these operations different types of power available
is classified as:

 Human power
 Animal power
 Internal Combustion Engine power
 Electrical power
Human Power:

Power Output

o Human can develop a total power of 0.5 hp from the food he eats.
o 0.1 Hp is available for useful work and the remaining is use for body functions.
o Man at 20 years of age can generate 15% more power and less by 20% at 60 years of age.
o Man muscles can provide an overload power of approx. 0.6 hp-min.
o Man can generate useful power by pedaling of about 0.27 to 0.53 hp

Energy Requirement and Efficiency

o Minimum energy requirement is 2000 cal per day.
o Conversion efficiency is 25%.
o Working efficiency decreases under hot and humid climate and effective to work under normal
condition.

Power Formula
Pg = 0.35 – 0.092 log t

Where:
Pg - generated power. Hp
t – time, min.

Problems
1. A person is asked to do pumping of water for 4 hours. Compute the power that can be
generated by the person.
Given: t = 4 hours ; Required: power generated = ?
Solution:
Pg = 0.35 – 0.092 log (4 hr x 60 min/hr)
= 0.35 – 0.092 log (240 min)
= 0.13 hp.

2. Four persons working in a farm for harvesting and generated power of 0.4 hp.
How long (in hours) would it take to generate the power?

Given: power generated = 0.4 hp/4 persons ; Required: time (hr) = ?

=0.1 hp/person
Solution:
Pg = 0.35 – 0.092 log t
0.1 = 0.35 – 0.092 log t
0.092 log t = 0.35 - 0.1.
Log t = 0.25/0.092
t = anti-log (0.25/0.092)
t= 521.66 mins-person/4 persons = 130.415 mins.
t = 130.415 mins x 1 hr/60 mins = 2.17 hrs
Advantages and Disadvantages

o Intelligence
 Decision making
 Manual dexterity

o Low power available

 not competitive to animals
 no much to engine as source of power
 not suitable as power source for repetitive jobs

Commonly Farm Jobs Using Human Power

o Operating engine, tractors, and self-propelled machines

o Manual operation of plows and harrow pulled by draft animals

o Seeding and planting operation

o Spraying and weeding jobs

o Harvesting using sickles

o Cleaning of grains

o Operating threshers and shellers

o Sun-drying of Crops

o Handling of crops

o Operating rice mills and other processing equipment inside the plant

o Operating pumps, irrigation equipment and structures

 Table 1 : Some Field Operation Rates by Farmers Using Hand-Tools

Operation Average Human Work Rate (Man-days/ha)

Land Cleaning 32.6

Ridging for Cassava 43.8

Mound Making for Yam 57.8

Cassava Planting 28.3

Yam Planting 28.3

Weeding Root Crops 36.7

Cassava Harvesting 28.5

Yam Harvesting 32.0

Table 2 : Man-Hour Requirement per Hectare of Various Agricultural Operations

Operation Persons-hr./ha)

Tillage with hoe 100 - 300

Water buffalo plowing flooded 30 - 60

soil

Water buffalo comb harrowing 40 – 60

5 hp power tiller plowing wet 20 – 40

soil

10 hp hydro tiller 4.4

Broadcasting 3.3

Hand weeding transplanted rice 120 – 320

Harvesting rice with sickle 60 – 80

5 hp IRRI axial flow thresher, 4 350 – 700 kg/hr.

man feeding.

FORMULA

Number of Persons Needed:

𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 (ℎ𝑎)

No of Persons = x
ℎ𝑎 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ𝑟)
Time to finish work:

𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 (ℎ𝑎)

Time (hr) = x
ℎ𝑎 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠

Area Covered:

𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠
No. of hectares (ha) = 𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 x operating time (hr)
ℎ𝑎

Problems

1. Ten hectare farm is to be planted with rice by broadcasting. The owner of the farm wishes that
his farm could be finished within one day (8 hrs per day). How many people would be required
to do the job?
Given: Area of the farm = 10 ha.
Operating time = one day @ 8 hrs
Required: No. of persons to employ = ?
𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 (ℎ𝑎)
Solution: No of Persons = x
ℎ𝑎 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ𝑟)

From table, Operation is broadcasting; No. of person-hr/ha = 3.3 .

3.3 𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 10 ℎ𝑎.

No of Persons = x = 4.1 persons use 5 persons.
ℎ𝑎 8 ℎ𝑟𝑠

2. There are 100 persons employed in harvesting rice. They will be harvesting a 2 hectare rice
farm. If they started harvesting 8 o’clock in the morning, what time would they finish the
harvesting operation?
Given: No. of persons = 100
Area to be harvested = 2 ha.
Time started = 8 am.
Required: Time to end harvesting = ?

Solution:
𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 (ℎ𝑎)
Time (hr) = x
ℎ𝑎 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠

From table: harvesting operation required 60 -80 persons-hour/ha. If we use average of 70 .

70 𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 2 ℎ𝑎
Time (hr) = ℎ𝑎
x 100 𝑚𝑎𝑛
= 1.4 hrs. x 60 mins./hr = 84 mins.

Therefore, At 9 : 24 in the morning (am), they finished harvesting.

 3. Ten persons harvesting rice using sickle for 4 hrs (man-hr/ha = 60). Calculate the area
harvested.
Given: No. of persons = 10
time consume = 4 hrs.
Required: Harvested area = ?
Solution:

𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠
No. of hectares (ha) = 𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 x operating time (hr)
ℎ𝑎

10
= 60 𝑚𝑎𝑛−ℎ𝑟 x 4 hrs = 0.67 ha.
ℎ𝑎
Animal Power:
Advantages:

1. Great reserve power for emergencies and temporary loads.

2. Use feed that is largely produced in the farm.

3. Flexible in size of power unit. Practically adapted to all draft work.

4. Practically adapted to all draft work.

5. Fairly good traction in wet or loose ground.

6. Can be produced in the farm

7. Provide a relatively deep cheap type of power in area where there are surplus of both grain
and roughages.
 Disadvantages :

1. Require feed and care when not working.

2. Work at heavy load limited to short period.
3. Require frequent resting period.
4. Cannot work efficiently in hot weather.
5. Working speed is limited and relatively low.
6. Not efficient for stationary work.
7. Require a relatively large amount of time for feeding, harnessing, and care.

Draft Animals:

Draft animals are large domesticated four-footed animal that is used for power in agriculture.
Primary draft animals includes:

a. Oxen

b. Water Buffalo

c. Horses
 d. Mule

e. Camels

f. Donkey

Advantages of Draft Animals Compared to Tractor

1. They can feed itself

2. They can maintain itself
3. They can be trained for automatic control
4. They can reproduce by itself

Animals Performance Efficiency

o Animal’s performance efficiency varies from 9- 10% for bovines and 10-12% for horse family.
o Generally draft animal force is approximately 10% of the body weight.
o Of all the draft animal, horse has the highest output.
o Animals can work varies within 8 to 10 hours for horse and5 to 8 hours for adult oxen.
Uses of Animals:
a. Land preparation such as plowing and harrowing

b. Pumping of water for irrigation

c. Transport such as hauling

d. Milling operation
Characteristics Affecting the Performance of Animals

1. Breed
2. Weight
3. Sex
4. Age
5. Health
6. Training
7. Quality of Feed.

Draft Power Mechanics

o A draft animal supplies useful power by exerting a pull at a certain speed.
o The Magnitude of pull exerted by the animal depend on the load and the method of attaching
the animal of animals to the load.
o The maximum pulling capacity of the animal depends on the several factors such as the breed,
sex, age, health, nutrition, training, ground condition, etc.

Power Formula:
𝐹𝑥𝑉
DHP = 76.2

where: DHP - draft horsepower, hp

F - draft, kg
V - velocity of travel, m/s
Problems
Compute the draft power develop by a 800 kg buffalo pulling 80 kg load on a plow and
traveling at a speed of 0.9 m/sec.
Given:
weight of animal - 800 kg
draft - 80 kg
speed - 0.9 m/sec
Required: Draft horsepower=?
Solution:
DHP = (F x V)/76.2 = (80 kg x 0.9 m/s)/76.2 = 0.945 hp.

Draft and Horsepower

Animal Average Average Weight Approx. Pull (kg) Average Speed Power Developed
(kg) (m/s) (Hp)
Light Horse 400-700 Light Light Light
Bullocks 500-900 60-80 0.60-0.85 0.75
Buffalos 400–900 50-80 0.80-0.90 0.75
Cows 400-700 50-60 0.70 0.45
Mules 350-500 50-60 0.90-1.00 0.70
Donkey 200-300 30-40 0.7 0.35
Harnessing Animals
o Animals are harnessed singly or in multiple numbers to match the pulling capacity or load.
Generally, pulling efficiency decreases with the number of animals harnessed together.
o Horses are harnessed in several numbers while oxen are mostly harnessed in pairs.
o A poorly designed or ill-fitting harness reduces the power available from the animals and make
it suffer physically.

Harnessing Factor

No. of Factor
Animals
1 1.0
2 1.9
3 2.5
4 3.1
5 3.5
6 3.8

Draft = No. of Animals x Specific draft x factor

Problems
Six (6) horses can provide a pulling load of 60 kg per animal. How much draft can the 6 horses
provide in pulling a load?
Given:
No. of Animals - 6
Specific draft - 60 kg/animal
Required: Total draft of the animals
Solution:
Draft = 6 horses x 60 kg/horse (3.8/6) = 228 kg .

References:

1. Campbell, J. K. 1990. Dibble Sticks, donkey, and diesels. Machines in Crop Production. The
International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna. 329pp.
2. Johnson, L. Power Requirements in Rice production. The International Rice Research Institute,
Los Banos, Laguna. 29pp.
3. Boie, W. Introduction to Animal-Powered Cereal Mill. GATE/GTZ, Postbox 5180, D-6216
Eschborn 1. Federal Republic of Germany. 70pp.
4. Copland, J. W. Draught Animal Power for Production. Proceedings of an International
Workshop held at James Cook Univresity. Townsville, Queensland, Australia. ACIAR
Proceedings No. 10. July 10-16, 1985.
5. Lowe, P. Animal Powered systems. An Alternative Approach to Agricultural Mechanization.
GATE/GTZ, Postbox 5180, D-6216 Eschborn 1. Federal Republic of Germany. 60pp.

Prepared by: ENGR. BONIFACIO A. HONTIVEROS

Course Facilitator