Traditionally, farming has been laborious and time-consuming. However, large cultivators are expensive (see Figure 1) and are suitable for large-area cultivation.
Figure 1
China has many mountainous areas and is not suitable for large-scale mechanical cultivation.
（the mountainous area in China）
After we conceived this project, we conducted a social survey, especially in rural areas.
people in rural areas
Through in-depth exchanges with farmers, we identified the core of the problem – although more advanced seeds are available, rural areas have limited physical strength because they are mainly left-behind elderly. In addition, larger agricultural machinery usually does not enter these poor areas. These problems prevent farmers from taking full advantage of modern agricultural techniques, affecting agricultural yields and livelihoods. In iGEM's hardware innovations, we focus on addressing these specific issues to improve growing conditions and increase production efficiency in rural communities.
In our research, we found that farmers face a serious problem: they urgently need a small-area farming method that saves time, effort and is economical. To meet this challenge, we developed a completely new piece of agricultural hardware (shown in Figure 2): a walk-behind cultivator that can be easily pushed to complete the planting job. The equipment costs less than 100 RMB, but it can complete the planting task quickly and efficiently. As a result, this innovative cultivator enables farmers to easily and cost-effectively complete their farming work, increasing their productivity. This will not only help to improve rural agriculture, but also to increase food production and sustainable rural development.
Figure 2
Our original design (see Figure 3) was based on a gear system consisting of gears, storage compartments and engines. In the design, gears are used to dig the soil, storage silos are used to store seeds, and engines are responsible for power. The principle of operation is driven by an engine, where the gears dig up the soil and sow seeds into the ground in a gap between the two gears.
However, we faced some problems in this design:
- Scrolling issues: The device does not scroll forward smoothly.
- Seed emergence problem: Seeds often only surface on the soil surface and are not effectively buried.
- Cost issues: The cost of the drive system exceeded the initial budget.
- Complexity and automation issues: The operation of the equipment is relatively complicated, and due to the automated mechanical part, farmers are worried that they cannot control it effectively, which may lead to losses.
In the iGEM project, we will continue to improve and optimize our hardware design to address these issues, ensuring that our equipment can complete planting tasks efficiently while reducing costs and improving operability to meet the needs of farmers.
Figure 3
So, to solve the above problem, we brainstormed and designed our second generation product.
Our second-generation model (Figures 10, 11) is a major upgrade over the first generation. In response to problems one and two, we added springs under the gears (Figs. 6, 7). This improvement both pushes the device forward smoothly and separates the gears in the middle by a spring-loaded telescopic mechanism. In this way, when the gear digs the soil to the deepest, we can use the force of the spring to accurately embed the seed into the soil, solving the problem that the seed only appears on the surface.
In response to problem three, we also improved the equipment from driven to walk-behind (Figure 8) to reduce cost and complexity.
In addition, our second-generation products have added seeding openings (Figures 4, 9), which allows us to change seeds according to different types of seeds, thus precisely controlling the number and distribution of seeds. These upgrades will help improve the performance of our equipment, making it more suitable for different crop and growing needs.
Through these improvements, we are committed to providing farmers with efficient and affordable planting solutions that increase agricultural productivity while meeting the needs of different crops. We look forward to bringing this innovation to rural communities and contributing to sustainable agriculture.
First of all, users need to prepare plastic sheets, stainless steel plates and galvanized sheets, and cut them. Next, use screws to join the two plastic plates together, and then weld the stainless steel plates so that they are in the middle position. The pre-cut galvanized sheet is made into a conical shape and connected to the equipment by welding, and then loaded with a spring. Finally, use screws to fix the stainless steel tube in the center of the plastic sheet.
In terms of assembly, first insert the spring into the small hole located under the gear, making sure it is above the gear. Next, fix the stainless steel tube with screws so that it aligns with the center hole of the device. Then, open the inverted seeding, select the desired seeding port and install it in place. Finally, pour the seeds into the device and close the pouring opening.
In terms of use, simply push the device onto the already loose land to start farming operations.
Through on-site testing, we have observed that the seeds are seamlessly sown with consistent spacing, indicating the successful functionality of our hardware system. This robust performance underlines the reliability of our hardware in effectively executing planting tasks, providing a viable solution for agricultural production.
We go deep into rural areas to make our products available to farmers and get valuable feedback. Based on their feedback, we consider the following improvements:
- Landfill function: Farmers suggest adding a landfill function to better handle the relationship between soil and seeds.
- Adaptability of different seed spacing: We conducted farmer interviews and learned that each seed has different planting distance needs. Currently our equipment has five planting openings, but in the future we plan to launch a new version that can adjust the number of planting openings according to the needs of different crops to better control the planting distance.
Therefore, we are considering the launch of the third generation of products, based on the second generation, we will add an adjustable roller section to meet the special needs of different crops. These improvements will further improve the adaptability and usefulness of our equipment, making it better suited to the needs of farmers.
（future schematic diagram）
he documentation of the hardware system in the user manual is comprehensive and clear, enabling easy reproduction by other teams. It serves as a valuable resource for knowledge sharing and collaboration within the iGEM community, contributing to the collective advancement of agricultural solutions."
Our modified seed, we estimate that its size is the same as the size of corn, and corn is also a common cultivated crop in poor areas of China, so we use corn seeds. The plant spacing we choose is also designed to accommodate corn. In order to ensure biosecurity, all of our schematics do not use seeds treated with GM engineered strains.