Estimation of electrical power requirements for mechanized e-farm in Rwanda

Abstract

The main environmental effects of a traditional agricultural tractor come from the use phase, notably from diesel use and exhausts.It is critical to develop a substitute for fossil diesel as a fuel for agricultural machines in order to reduce the environmental impact. The farm characteristics varied depending on location and machinery were selected to perform the required tasks in the available amount of time. Machinery power, time available and area cropped were used to estimate the energy usage per hectare. The efficiency of machine use was then quantified in terms energy required/available, fuel consumption and cost per hectare. The energy required per hectare was found to be 2335MJ/ha for Maize and 1485 MJ/ha for soybeans