Third World Hand Planter Brochure:  On this web site, we have included some basic information on maize area in the world and estimates of the total amount planted by hand.  The problem with maize planted in the third world (Sub Saharan Africa, Asia, Central and South America) is that they essentially use heavy sticks whereby 2-4 seeds are planted per hill (first picture below, and left), roughly 35 cm apart.  While incredibly inefficient, this method of planting is commonplace for third world maize farmers, largely dictated by terrain, circumstance, and resources.  If single seeds could be planted 14-17 cm apart, much like conventional planters accomplish in the developed world, production levels could easily increase 25%.  Despite the fact that third world maize yields are generally less than 2.0 Mg/ha (Dowswell et al., 1996), this 25% yield increase on 60% of the hand planted maize area in the third world would be worth more than 2.4 billion dollars/year (see calculations below). 

We have developed a hand planter very similar in shape, size, and weight to the one seen in the first photograph on our web site, but that can reliably plant 1 seed, in various soil textures, moisture, and tillage systems.  Initially, development, production, and delivery would need to be subsidized, thus the need for grant funds.  But with time, local manufacture/industry creation of our new hand planter would also lead to more jobs.  Added benefits of the new hand planter would be to remove chemically treated seeds (organophosphates, carbamates, chlordanes, +others) from the hands of small farmers.  Decreased soil erosion from improved contour planting, and plant proximity will also be achieved. With time, we hope to modify the final prototype so as to accommodate mid season applications of urea fertilizer.  Placing urea fertilizer below the surface, really via any mechanism is critical for improved nitrogen use efficiency.

This tool by itself would offer an affordable, easily adoptable technology for virtually all third world maize farmers.  With modest funding for development and initial subsidized hand planters, this could provide widespread increases in third-world maize production that would rival most advances made in the last 50 years.

CIMMYT mega-environment database; C.R. Dowswell, R.L. Paliwal and R.P. Cantrell, Maize in the Third World, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996.

Source: CIMMYT mega-environment database; C.R. Dowswell, R.L. Paliwal and R.P. Cantrell, Maize in the Third World, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996.

DUPONT

http://www2.dupont.com/inclusive-innovations/en-us/gss/global-challenges/food/planting-better-seeds.html

Chinese farmers currently feed 20% of the global population using only 9% of the world’s arable land. Their traditional corn farming technique — involving planting two to three kernels of corn per mound of soil just to get one plant to grow — highlighted a need for a more efficient planting technology. While this technique may have improved the odds, it had a habit of creating high seed and labor costs. Which is why in 2002, DuPont Pioneer entered the China seed market with the goal of increasing yield by creating a high-quality seed that did not need to be planted at high rates. It wasn’t long, however, before Pioneer realized seed quality was only part of the equation. Farmers there needed to address overall planting and growing concerns to be truly successful.

Quick Facts

33% of wasted corn plants could be saved with vacuum planting.

Planting better seeds, in a smarter way.

Pioneer partnered with Hebei Nonghaha Agricultural Machinery Group, a local equipment manufacturer, to jointly develop a vacuum planter — the first of its kind in the country — that would allow Chinese farmers to plant corn using only one seed per mound. Improved single kernel planting technology raises the productivity and efficiency of Pioneer’s corn, lowers the seed volume farmers need to purchase, reduces manual labor, and ensures more land can be used for other products, like grain, diversifying and increasing the area’s food production output.

So far, it’s working — single kernel planting is becoming a trend in China, and if the vacuum planter continues to be widely adopted, it’s estimated that 1/3 of corn plants wasted by the manual thinning process could be saved. Additionally, China could decrease its amount of seed production land, essentially growing more grain on less land, thanks to better seeding and farming. Farmer feedback is positive, as the program benefits farmers with lower costs, less labor, increased yields, and additional revenue. This collaborative project between Pioneer, Nonghaha, and the farmers of China won the 2008 DuPont Sustainable Growth Award, in recognition of their work revolutionizing the industry and allowing more of the country to be fed in a sustainable way.