Agricultural Machinery, Tools and Equipment
Hand tools and animal traction
Know the main tools: daba (hoe), machete, scythe, seed drill, and the animal-drawn plough, ridger and seeder. Understand the parts of the plough (share, mouldboard, beam, handles) and their maintenance. Trap: candidates confuse the share (which cuts the soil) with the mouldboard (which turns it).
Motorised equipment
Understand the operation of the two-stroke and four-stroke engine, the role of the carburettor, air filter, spark plug, and oil. Know the maintenance schedule of a tractor or motor pump: daily checks (oil, fuel, water, air filter), periodic servicing, and storage. Trap: mixing up the fuel mixture for a two-stroke engine (oil mixed with petrol) versus a four-stroke engine (separate oil sump). Another trap: forgetting that a clogged air filter increases fuel consumption.
Safety and use
Know the safety rules: protective clothing, no loose clothing near moving parts, disconnecting the spark plug before maintenance, and proper lifting technique. Understand the importance of calibrating seeders and sprayers.
Worked example
A knapsack sprayer has a 16 L tank and the recommended dose is 2 L of product per hectare with 200 L of water per hectare. The number of tanks per hectare = 200 ÷ 16 = 12.5 tanks. Product per tank = 2 L ÷ 12.5 = 0.16 L, or 160 mL. This calibration question is very common; always verify units before calculating.