What makes this product stand out?
Though this machine is “small” in industrial perspective, it would have a tremendous impact in the diverse agricultural systems seen throughout developing world. Being only five feet wide and completely mechanical, means that the Dart is; lightweight, rugged/versatile, consistent, low maintenance and suitable for year round use (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014). Amazingly only 15 horsepower (hp) is needed to pull this machine (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014). This can be accomplished obviously with a small tractor but also with a team of oxen (Paudyal et al., 2001).
With the addition of wide turf tires to the Dart it would move easily through saturated fields, not slide on steep slopes and its narrow design would work perfect for planting in small strips; all the while providing consistent seed spacing and depth. A variety of row spaces are possible thanks to the systems innovative ground-drive metering system which lays seeds according to the size of sprocket being used (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014). The simplicity of the planter’s design and its mechanical function are very simple compared to that of commercial planters commonly found throughout the developed world; consequentially, this results in low maintenance, easy repairs (if needed) and overall dependability in any season.
With the addition of wide turf tires to the Dart it would move easily through saturated fields, not slide on steep slopes and its narrow design would work perfect for planting in small strips; all the while providing consistent seed spacing and depth. A variety of row spaces are possible thanks to the systems innovative ground-drive metering system which lays seeds according to the size of sprocket being used (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014). The simplicity of the planter’s design and its mechanical function are very simple compared to that of commercial planters commonly found throughout the developed world; consequentially, this results in low maintenance, easy repairs (if needed) and overall dependability in any season.
Image sourced from Clean Seed Capital.
The Underlying Benefits
In the third world, women and children are generally responsible for maintaining crops while men usually work strictly with livestock, machinery (if any) and/or work off the farm (Ladha and Garrity, 1994) (R. Khalan, personal communication, October 3, 2014). Since the Dart is a no till planter it could reduce the manual labour of women and children significantly rather it be cultivation, seeding, weeding or fertilizing while still increasing profitability of farm.
To understand how effective this product would be one must realize the benefits of no-till planting: it reduces weeds, prevents the need to cultivate (very costly in fuel, time and/or labour), reduces erosion and fertilizer runoff (which benefits the environment), helps to retain soil nutrients and raises yields per acre- which could benefit those in rural or urban areas. Basically, as listed above, the Dart’s biggest use is as a “time and labour saver”. It has been calculated that a farmer could go from a planting time of 4-7 days (depending on the crop, cultivation techniques, labourers, etc.) per 1 hectare (ha) to an astonishing 2-3 hours (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014) (Paudlay et al., 2001)! This would obviously reduce input costs and manual labour (especially of women and children) by far. An increase in yield would also be observed when compared to areas that used broadcast seeding techniques which have been proven to be very inefficient (Joshi et al., 2012).
To understand how effective this product would be one must realize the benefits of no-till planting: it reduces weeds, prevents the need to cultivate (very costly in fuel, time and/or labour), reduces erosion and fertilizer runoff (which benefits the environment), helps to retain soil nutrients and raises yields per acre- which could benefit those in rural or urban areas. Basically, as listed above, the Dart’s biggest use is as a “time and labour saver”. It has been calculated that a farmer could go from a planting time of 4-7 days (depending on the crop, cultivation techniques, labourers, etc.) per 1 hectare (ha) to an astonishing 2-3 hours (W. Jensen, personal communication, October 6, 2014) (Paudlay et al., 2001)! This would obviously reduce input costs and manual labour (especially of women and children) by far. An increase in yield would also be observed when compared to areas that used broadcast seeding techniques which have been proven to be very inefficient (Joshi et al., 2012).