One way grain farmers can improve the quality of their produce is by investing in equipment that can remove impurities such as dust, stones, animal droppings and at the same time dry and grade it.
There are currently local agro machinery fabricating companies as well as importers that have machines farmers can use to clean and grade their grains. These engine-powered cleaners can process 700kg-800kg per hour.
The machines have sieve hoppers with a capacity to sieve 100kg at a time. The sieve gauge is changed according to the size of the grains.
They sieve and grade beans, maize, sunflower, rice and groundnuts. The grains are sorted in three standard sizes. The fourth size is considered too tiny, and is, therefore, discarded as reject.
Their cleaner is fitted with a fan that sucks out impurities like stones and dust from the grains. A petrol engine of 3.5-6 horse power(hp) or a single-phase mortar of 1-3hp powers the seed cleaner.
A farmer can opt for manually or electronically-operated grain cleaners, depending on their financial capability.
