Discuss briefly four sources of farm power

Answer Details

Farm power refers to the energy or force applied to perform agricultural operations such as ploughing, harvesting, pumping and processing. Four sources are discussed below.

1. Human (muscular) power: This is the energy supplied by the farmer and farm labourers using their muscles. It is used for light operations such as hoeing, weeding, planting, harvesting and carrying loads. It is readily available and cheap but is slow, tedious and low in output, making it suitable only for small holdings.
2. Animal (draught) power: This is power provided by work animals such as bulls, oxen, donkeys, horses and camels. The animals are harnessed to implements to plough, ridge, harrow and haul carts. It is cheaper than machines, uses locally available feed and its dung manures the soil, but it is slow and the animals may be attacked by tsetse fly in the humid zones.
3. Mechanical power: This is power supplied by engines and machines such as tractors, combine harvesters, water pumps and processing mills, driven by petrol or diesel. It is fast, does heavy work and can cover large areas within a short time, but it is expensive to buy, needs fuel and skilled maintenance.
4. Electrical power: This is energy supplied through electricity used to drive pumps, mills, incubators, lighting in poultry houses, milking machines and cold rooms. It is clean, convenient and easily controlled, but it depends on a reliable supply and is not always available in rural areas.

Other sources include wind power (windmills for pumping water) and solar power (for drying, lighting and pumping).