Experimentation and design of animal-drawn implements in developing countries. Example of the "stericulteur", a soil sterilizer for nematode control in Senegal | Experimentation et conception de materiel a traction animale dans les pays en developpement. Le cas du stericulteur de nematicide au Senegal
1998
Havard, M. (CIRAD TERA, Montpellier (France))
In developing countries, experimenting animal-drawn implements mainly aims at meeting manufacturer and public sector's needs for design purposes. Regarding the design of agricultural machinery, the so-called "experimentation-modification" method is generally used. This method is described and analyzed here with reference to research carried out in Senegal (1982-1988) for developing an animal-drawn "stericulteur", i.e. a soil sterilizer for nematode control. Such an example shows how difficult it is to respect methodological exactness, and also that close collaboration is required between users, manufacturers, and experimental centres. Nevertheless, developing prototypes in these conditions results in time losses and high costs. Most agricultural engineering research centres of the South are facing financial problems. Accordingly, they must center their human and financial resources on experimenting agricultural machinery that meets the users's requirements. They must also strengthen their collaboration with the private sector at design level. Finally, it seems necessary to attach primary importance to the improvement of design methods and processes. Some centres, e.g. CIRAD, are working in this respect from industrial engineering research works carried out in the North.
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