Short Note on: (a) Tractors are two or four wheeled machines with rubber tyres or tracks (crawlers). They are equipped with a governor system and a power take off (P. T. O) shaft. It also has an hydraulic control system with lifts mounted implements under the control of the operator. There are also specially designed hitch bars which farm implements can be attached or detached from easily. They can be driven either with a diesel as a machinery or as a power source for equipment such as shelters, threshers, grinders etc. They are also used for or bush clearing and application of insecticides to the farm. The use of tractors can lead to increase in the profit of the farm, production, improved quality of produces as well as farm expansion. However, tractors are expensive to procure.
(b) Incubator is an equipment or a room used for hatching fertilized poultry eggs which requires an ideal temperature of about 39°C to hatch. They are made in varying sizes and designs and different types of fuel are used to supply the heat required. Examples of incubators are natural draught or table type and forced draught or cabinet type. Incubator requires adequate ventilation and it is filled with trays on which eggs are placed. It also needs adequate control of relative humidity with appropriate devices and adequate provision for turning eggs.
(c) Sprayer is made up of a tank, a pump and a spray nozzle. It may be tractor coupled or manually operated and is used to spray both herbicides, pesticides and liquid fertilizer. Sprayers are made of plastic, steel or galvanized Iron. Examples of sprayers include hand spray gun and knapsack sprayers, motorised and boom or electrodial.
(d) Shelters are used to separate the seeds from the husk or cob. Different types are made to suit the type of crop to be shelled, e.g. maize, groundnuts and cowpeas. It may be mechanically, electrically or manually operated. It is commonly' made up of a hopper, bucket, and a drum with rubber or metal spikes