Farm Tools, Equipment and Implements

Introduction

In your day-to-day life you do some work. You probably use your hands and some machines to make work easier You may use a simple object that acts on an object that you are working on directly This is a tool Sometimes you may ne to use a set of tools combined together This is an equipment. Other times you may use machinery being pulled by hands or another machine over a surfaces do work. This is an Implement Tools equipment and implements help you to perform work safely and accurately.

There are activities we carry out on the farm that require use of tools, equipment and implements Tools and equipment also help to measure distance, time, weigh and straightness in agricultural constructions In this chapter you are going to find out different categories of these tool equipment and implements. You will also find out how they can be used safely and how you care for them to maintain their efficiency.

Identifying and Categorising of Farm Tools, Equipment and Implements

Which farm tools equipment or implements have you used before? For which work did you use it? What was your experience like? The number and type of tools, equipment and implements vary from one farm to another. This depends on the work done on the farm, the size of the farm and how much money the farmer has Farm tools, equipment or implements can be categorised according to the specific area in agriculture where they are used

Activity 2.1 Identifying and categorising of farm tools, equipment and implements

You will need: a notebook and a pen, manilla paper and markers. 1. In groups, identity and name the tools, equipment and implements in figure 2.1

Sorting and storing tools separately helps the farmer to quickly see the tools, equipment implements he or she needs at a particular time Small tools can be put in a tool boar minimise damage. As a farmer, you can also make partitions in the store for d categories of tools. This can also reduce on accidents in the store

Use of Tools, Equipment and Implements on the Farm

In activity 21, you named and categorised tools, equipment and implements which are used on the farm.

As a farmer you are supposed to know how to use most of these during farm operations. This can reduce on tabour requirements in agriculture, there are many tasks to carry out and careers which require skills in operating tools, equipment and implements.

In activity 2.2 you will be able to use some of the tools, equipment and implements to carry out farm operations.

Activity 2.2 Discovering how tools equipment and implements are used on a farm

You will need: a notebook and a pen camera or smart phone, and protective gear

In groups

1. Discuss questions you would like to ask farmers. These may include the tools they use. source of these tools, whether they have been in their community for a long time and whether new ones have been introduced in recent years.

2. Put on your protective gear gumboots, gloves, and overall

3. Move out to the nearby farms one after the other (about four farms) and observe the different farm tools, equipment and implements as they are being used. You may ask for the opportunity to use some of them

4. Make note of common farm tools equipment and implements you have seen in your community. If there is one you are not familiar with, ask why it is being used for a particular job and how it is used

5. Keep asking the prepared questions and any other questions you may think of.

6. Gather at a point on the last farm and discuss the different group findings

As you may have seen on the farms you visited, a lot of work can be done with the help of tools, equipment and implements than if human beings had to do everything using bare hands Work is done faster and more efficiently Man can be able to work on a large area and get more yields. Better tools are being developed all the time, making work easier and faster.

Activity 2.3 Practising using farm tools, equipment and implements

You will need: various farm tools, equipment and implements, a notebook and a pen, gumboots and gloves

1. Request for permission to visit the farm and use farm tools, equipment and implements.

2. Put on your protective gear
3. Move to the school farm or nearby farm.
4. Request for permission to use farm tools, equipment and implements
5. Pick a tool, equipment or implement and practise using it for the task assigned to you.

6. Demonstrate to the class how the tool is used.

7. Share your experience and challenges, if any. How can challenges be overcome? If you had no challenges, congratulations!

8. Clean tools or equipment and store them properly.

You can only get better at using farm tools, equipment and implements if you keep practising using them. Use them carefully to avoid breaking them down, which would lead to regular repairs. A well maintained tool or equipment will not hurt the user.

Measurement Tools and Equipment that Agriculture

There are many activities on the farm that require measuring. It can be distance, volume, weight, straightness of structures or temperature. Different scales are used on each measurement tool or equipment. You need to study and understand how different measurement tools and equipment are marked and used. Figure 2.2 shows some of the measuring equipment. Do you notice how they are marked?

Activity 2.4 Practising using measurement tools and equipment

You will need a tape measure a calibrated jug, weighing scale, beans, water piece of wood

1.Put on your protective gear

2. In groups, study the measurement tool or equipment provided and discuss how to read off the measurement in response to what is to be measured

3.You have been assigned three tasks in each group

(a) To measure water.

(b) To see if a piece of wood is in the right size to fit on a window during construction

(c) To find the weight of beans.

4. Pick the appropriate tool for each task and demonstrate how it can be used. Members of the group should come in to help a member using the tool in the wrong way.

5. In which other way can you use this tool? 6 Which other tool can you use for the same purpose?

7. Note down your measurements and present to the rest of the class

8. Clean and store the tools properly after use.

As you may have noticed, you need to hold the measurement tools properly if they are to give you accurate measurements or readings. You need to store them properly so that they don’t bend or get broken. Use of some tools needs to be timed, like the thermometre, Others need proper cleaning before and after use. like a jug. Others need setting, like the scale.

1. Convert 10.000 grams to kilogrammes using the conversion table for mass.

2. Convert 2.5km to metres using a conversion table for length

3. You are sent to the dairy to buy 5 litres of milk You find the seller using a container measuring in cubic centimeters (cm³). How many cm’ of milk will you need to amount to 5 litres?
4. You are given a thermometre measuring in °C to take the temperature of a sick cow on the farm You find the temperature as 39.1 °C What is this temperature in Kelvin?
5. Present your findings to the rest of the class.

It is important to know all systems used in measurements Different parts of the world use different systems and we buy the tools, equipment and implements from these different areas. Where there are no measuring equipment, locally available containers are used as rough estimates Have you seen farmers measuring milk? What do they use? Converting from the different units to SI units is an essential science skill that requires practise. Memorising the different prefixes and their meanings makes it a fot easier to do these conversions, so try to memorise as many as you can.

Occupational Safety and Health Standards in Agriculture

Have you seen people digging without gumboots and gloves? What about people spraying crops or livestock without putting on protective gear? Such people expose themselves to risks that can endanger their lives.

Occupational safety and health standards protect workers from risks resulting from operational factors that are dangerous to health. In agriculture, hazards may be chemical, physical or environmental.

9. What advice would you give to the tamers when handling nach corners

10. What challenges are ly to result from the use of agrochemical conteners to carry food?

11. In your groups prepare and a message to samite Buputa farming community about the dangers associated with use of agrochemicals.

12 Present your findings to the class.

Activity 2.7 Exploring the use of protective gear by farmers

You will need: A book and a pen

1. In groups, study and identify the main figure 2.6 Which of these fems have you seen being used by farmers in your community?

2. Brainstorm about the importance of each am When will it be ideal to use each of them?

3. As a class decuss reports from the different groups.

Activity 2.8 Sering the tang community about have occupational sately and health standards that apply to agriculture

You will need: Flip chart markers, pen, notebook, a pan of how to move into the community, A chart with occupational safety and health standards. A chart with the human body (You may use a computer to design the presentation and a projector)

1. In groups develop occupational safety and health standards.

2. Wear to the community leader asking him to help you mobilise tarmers for a safety and health standards meeting.

3. Get the materials you will need and go out to different meeting places following your plan

4.Introduce the topic of health raks and satety measures to the farmers

5. Ask the particpants to brainstorm on health hazards on the farm. One of your group members should be making the list of ideas suggested on a flip chart that has been hung up.

6. Hang up the chart with the human body and ask participants to draw circles in the vanous areas that have great exposure to chemical and physical danger

7. Ask participants to brainstorm on ways of protecting the farmer from danger at each of the areas on the body they have identified. Note down on flip charts

8. Ask participants which protective measures are already being used and Note that need to be worked on. Note them on flip chart.

9. Hang up your prepared chart with occupational safety and health standards and let participants identity what they had not mentioned

10. Advise participants to follow the standards.

Members of the farming community will easily comply with guidelines in which they are part of the formulation process. Practise these standards on the school farm and when you go home

First Aid on Farms

Workers within the agriculture sector have constant exposure to a wide range of potentially serious and occasionally le-threatening injuries.

People in this sector work with livestock, dangerous machinery, chemicals and in open fields or gardens. Many farms are located in remote areas with limited health facilities. Any injury or accident may take a long period before the emergence services arrive. Figure 2.7 shows some of the first aid box items

Activity 2.9 Discovering forms of First Aid that can be given on the farm.

You will need: a pen and a notebook A health officer has been invited to give a talk on first aid on the farm.

1. Listen to the officer while noting down some of the highlights.

2.Pay particular attention to (a) Definition of first aid.

(b) The first aid box the items it should have and ways they can be used.

(c) Why it is important to keep checking in the first aid box to ensure that all its items are in good working conditions from time to time?

(d) The qualities of a good first aider

(e) How first aid is administered following different cases like snake bite, near drowning and being hurt by a sharp tool.

3. Can you identify the items in figure 2.7 and give their uses?
4. Design a poster sensitising other learners in the school about carrying out first aid

Activity 2.10 Demonstrating First Aid skills that can be used on a farm

You will need: dummies to use as tools and chemicals, First Aid kit. In groups, prepare and present imitation of a physical hazard and a

chemical hazard that has happened to two members of your group, such as chemical spill on the feet, a snake bite or a hand cut by a panga. 2 Using knowledge from activity 2.9, demonstrate how you would give first aid to the two people 3 Explain all the steps that will be followed in the right order

4. After other learners have seen your demonstration, move around to see other learners’ demonstrations
5. As a class, brainstorm on what you have been demonstrating and suggest areas of improvement.

6.Conclude the exercise by awarding each other points.