HUMAN AND ANIMAL POWER

Arsenio N. Resurreccion
CEAT, UPLB

• Oldest sources of power in the farm

 Man used his muscles to walk long distances, hunt animals and till the
soil.

 Man learned to tame animals he hunted for food to work for him by
providing pulling power.

 Man learned the use of sleds for transporting cargoes; use of rollers
underneath the sleds; and finally the use of wheels.

Figure 1. Sled

Figure 2. Sled with rollers

 While fire is considered the greatest discovery of man; the wheel is the
considered the greatest invention of man

Figure 3. Evolution of the wheel

• Today, human and animals are still considered the major sources of power in
the farm because of:

1. Size of farm
2. Topography
3. Crops grown
4. High cost of equipment
5. High cost and non-availability of fuel
6. Availability of low cost labor.

HUMAN POWER

• Poor source of power.

• Develops only 0.1 hp working continuously under favorable conditions

(good health, well fed, and favorable environment).

Figure 4. Human power

• Considering that there are 3M farms, 12M hectares of agricultural lands, and
assuming 5 farmers per farm, human power contribution is about 0.125
hp/ha.

• Man is suited to farm operations requiring judgment rather than simple

power.
Table 1. Human energy output in rice production

OUTPUT
TASK/TECHNOLOGY
HP MAN-DAYS/HA
Land preparation
Plowing with carabao 0.06 5.80
Plowing with hand tractor 0.05 1.69
Harrowing with carabao 0.05 2.05
Harrowing with hand tractor 0.08 0.51
Planting
Hand transplanting (dapog) 0.08 12.84
Broadcasting 0.11 0.39
Mechanical (IRRI drum seeder) 0.20 0.53
Weeding
Hand 0.10 9.75
Push-type rotary 0.10 3.72
Power 0.14 1.48
Herbicide broadcasting 0.12 0.19
Harvesting
Cutting with sickle 0.07 8.84
Hauling and piling 0.08 5.80
Threshing
Table thresher 0.05 3.70
Frame thresher (hampasan) 0.07 3.93
Source: Beeghy, W. 1972. Nutrition, Employment and Working Efficiency: Toward
Measuring Human Activity in the Rural Tropics. Cornell Agricultural
Economics Staff Paper No. 72-73, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

ANIMAL POWER

• In the Philippines, the Carabao is the major beast of burden.

• It can generate 1 hp walking continuously under favorable conditions.

• Its work is confined mostly to pulling operations such as plowing,

harrowing, cultivating and transport.
 Figure 5. Animal power

• There are about 2.7M carabaos in the Philippines and about 70 – 75% is used
for draft work.

• The contribution of animal power in the farm is about 0.16 hp/ha.

• Compared with mechanical energy sources, the carabao offers the following
advantages:

1. Low initial cost

2. Easy to maintain
3. Rarely bogs down in mud
4. Can work closer to the levees
5. Mobile in most terrain conditions
6. If female, is capable of reproduction
7. Source of milk, meat, leather and fertilizer

• As a power source, it also has its disadvantages:

1. Low work output

 25 -50 hours plowing once per hectare

 77 km walking per hectare
 Limited working hours to avoid intense heat of the sun

2. Prone to disability by disease, poisoning, lost by rustling and death

3. Requires daily attention such as feeding and pasturing
4. Under poor management practices, causes unsanitary conditions
• About 15% of the weight of the carabao is the optimum draft the animal can
sustain.

500 kg Carabao  75 kg draft at 4 Kph  1.1 hp (0.82Kw)

SAMPLE PROBLEM:

Determine the time required and distance traveled in plowing a one-hectare field
using a 13-cm wide animal-drawn plow with a field efficiency of 70%. If the
draft is 60 kg and the animal is traveling at 3 kph, what is the horsepower output
of the animal?

Given:

Area = 1 ha Draft = 60 kg
Width = 13 cm Speed = 3 kph
Field efficiency = 70 %

Required:

A. Time to plow one hectare

B. Distance traveled per hectare
C. Horsepower output of animal

Solution:

A. Time to plow one hectare:

SWEff
C = ----------- EQN. 1 where:
10
C = effective field capacity, Ha/hr
S = speed of travel, Kph
W = width of cut, m
Eff. = field efficiency, decimal

Therefore:

(3 kph) (0.13 m) (0.70)

C = ------------------------------- = 0.0273 Ha/hr
10
 1 1
t = ------ = ------------------ = 36.63 Hr/ha
C 0.0273 Ha/hr

B. Distance traveled in one hectare:

WD
A = ------------ EQN. 2 where:
10
A = area, Ha
W = width of cut, m
D = distance traveled, Km

Therefore:

10A 10 x 1 Ha
D = ----------- = --------------------- = 76.92 Km
W 0.13 m

C. Horsepower output of the animal:

DS
Hp = --------- EQN. 3 where:
274
D = draft, Kg
S = Speed, Kph

Therefore:

60 Kg x 3 Kph
Hp = ----------------------- = 0.66 Hp (0.49 kW)
274

Human and Animal Power Questions

1. Oldest sources of power in the farm are:

a. man and animal b. animal and mechanical

c. man and mechanical d. all of the above
2. In the Philippines, the major beast of burden is the:

a. horse b. cattle
c. carabao d. all of the above
3. A three-ha field is plowed using a 13-cm wide animal-drawn plow with a
field efficiency of 70 percent. The draft is 60 kg and the animal is
traveling at 3 kph.

Determine the time (hr) required to work the field:

a. 36 b. 72
c. 110 d. 144
5. Twelve man-days is equivalent to the output of:

a. 3 men X 4 days b. 3 men X 4 hrs

c. 12 men X 1 hr d. all of the above
6. The greatest invention of man is:

a. fire b. sled
c. wheel d. all of the above
7. The animal working continuously under favorable conditions can
generate:

a. 0.5 hp b. 1.0 hp
c. 1.5 hp d. 2.0 hp
8. A three-ha field is plowed using a 13-cm wide animal-drawn plow with a
field efficiency of 70 percent. The draft is 60 kg and the animal is
traveling at 3 kph.

Determine the total distance traveled (km) in working the field.

a. 77 km b. 154 km
c. 230 km d. 300 km
9. If the output of a man working continuously can all be converted to
electrical power, then it would be sufficient to light a:

a. 50-watt bulb b. 75-watt bulb

c. 100-watt bulb d. 150-watt bulb
10. Man working continuously under favorable conditions can develop:

a. 0.01 hp b. 0.1 hp
c. 1.0 hp d. 10 hp
11. If there are 2.7M animals in the farms, 70 – 74 % of them are used for
draft work and 12M ha of agricultural lands, the contribution of animal
power in the farm is:

a. 0.12 hp/ha b. 0.16 hp/ha

c. 0.21 hp/ha d. 0.23 hp/ha
12. A three-ha field is plowed using a 13-cm wide animal-drawn plow with a
field efficiency of 70 percent. The draft is 60 kg and the animal is
traveling at 3 kph.

Determine the horsepower output of the animal.

a. 0.1 hp b. 0.33 hp
c. 0.66 hp d. 1.0 hp
13. Considering that there are 3M farms, 12M ha of agricultural lands and
assuming five farmers per farm, the human power contribution in the
farm is about:

a. 0.1 hp/ha b. 0.125 hp/ha

c. 1.0 hp/ha d. 1.25 hp/ha
14. A three-ha field is plowed using a 13-cm wide animal-drawn plow with a
field efficiency of 70 percent. The draft is 60 kg and the animal is
traveling at 3 kph.

Determine the horsepower output of the animal. (code 12)

a. 0.1 hp b. 0.33 hp
c. 0.66 hp d. 1.0 hp
15. Determine the number of 13-cm animal-drawn plows needed to complete
plowing a 4-ha field in one day (8 hrs/day). Field efficiency is 78 % and
speed of travel is 3.5 kph.

a. 4 b. 9
c. 14 d. 20
16. If there are 2.7M animals in the farms and 70 – 74 % of them are used for
draft work, 3M farms and assuming 5 farmers per farm, and 12M ha of
agricultural lands, the contribution of human and animal power in the
farm is:

a. 0.22 hp/ha b. 0.285 hp/ha

c. 1.21 hp/ha d. 1.48 hp/ha
17. What farm operation in lowland rice production requires the highest labor
input?

a. plowing with carabao b. hand transplanting

c. manual threshing d. hand harvesting