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Small Scale Rice Farming for South East Asia Joanna Lok Bachelor of Industrial Design Humber College of Technology and Advanced Learning 2018

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Is there a way to provide physical support to farmers and streamlining the rice farming process while increasing production to meet the world’s growing population?

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WHERE

South East Asian countries can be divided into three groups according to rice policies (Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, 1993) Group I: Self sufficient countries such as Japan, Taiwan Republic of China, and Korea. These countries are highly industrialized with high incomes. There is a focus on rice quality, using non-chemical growing methods, and allowing larger farms since there are land ownership restrictions to a hectare.

Group II: Lower income countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia is part of the second group that produces rice to meet domestic needs and is a major source of export earnings. In order to advance, these countries should focus on crop diversification, rice quality, exporting rice, mechanization, and efficiency in marketing and post-harvest operations.

Group III: Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, eastern India undergo large population growth and maintain rice self-sufficiency.

To improve growth, these countries need to focus on infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, repairing old systems and building new ones, encourage efficient use of water and inputs for farms.

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DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE STATISTICS OF THAI RICE FARMERS FROM A STUDY SAMPLE OF 145 (Santaweesuk, S. Chapman, & Siriwong, 2014) AGE: 50.9 ± 12.3 GENDER: Female: 51.3% Male: 48.7% CULTURE: Buddhist INCOME: $404 USD/month EDUCATION: 76.1% Graduated primary school DURATION: 7.7 ± 12.3 hours/day of work LOCATION: Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

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PAINS

In a study of 249 farmers, descriptive statistics were used to analyze lower extremity malaligment after months of work.

(Karukunchit, Puntumetakul, Swangnetr, & Boucaut, 2015)

ABNORMAL PELVIC TILT ANGLE: 30.52%

LIMB LENGTH INEQUALITY: 22.49% ABNORMAL TIBIAL TORSION: 21.29%

FEMORAL ANTETORSION: 28.11% FOOT PRONATION: 36.14%

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A CLOSER LOOK: ACCORDING TO A STUDY ANALYZING THE EFFICIENCY OF VIETNAM FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS (Hoang Linh, 2012):

“The results from the deterministic, semi-parametric and parametric approaches indicate that among other things, technical efficiency is significantly influenced by primary education and regional factors. In addition, scale efficiency analysis shows that many farms in Vietnam are operating with less than optimal scale of operation.”

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USABILITY

MANUAL - SICKLE - Lightweight - Easy to carry - Control - Requires bending over - Time consuming - Physically strenuous

ANIMAL - PLOUGH - Durable - Has some ergonomic considerations - Hard to control - Transportation

MOTORIZED- TRANSPLANTER - Ergonomic - Reliable - High yield - Cost - Nursery mat growing - Replacement parts

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NEEDS ANALYSIS

LATENT NEEDS

IMMEDIATE NEEDS

WANTS

Easy to replace parts

Easy to transport

Adjustability/versatility

Maintenance

Affordable

Intuitive

Aesthetic styling

Comfort

Low environmental impact

Reduce strain on body

Combination of two machines

UNMET NEEDS/BENEFITS EFFICIENCY

USER COMFORT

High yield, accomplishing multiple small farms for landlord in a small amount of time Comfortable for farmers to operate and maintain. Ergonomics should be simply incorporated without increasing cost of product.

FUNCTIONAL

Intuitive for small scale farmers to use with limited knowledge.

DEPENDABLE

Easy to operate, maintain various parts locally, and be able to last multiple seasons.

PERFORMANCE

Has to be able to work on multiple fields, producing high yield, easily transport between fields and storage.

COST

Small farmers cannot afford expensive equipment that are difficult to replace parts. Landlords are more likely to purchase equipment that is cheap with the ability to have parts replaced but able to work multiple farms.

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User Experience

ACTIVITY EXPERIENCE GRAPH Transportation

Starting Machine

Machine Use

Maintenance

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Positive Neutral Negative

Storage

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Time / Activity (Not to Scale)

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Target User Experience Current User Experience

Efficiency is defined as the effort required to perform at a particular level. This is related to control the user has during the activity (autonomy). User Comfort in this context is decreasing the physical strain on the user (minimizing possibilities of injury and loss of control, both of which decrease one’s sense of protection). Security and safety are the major fundamental human needs met. Functional rice farming equipment creates a sense of control, confidence, and accomplishment of completing tasks (transplanting, plowing, harvesting) and producing crop for the health of family. Dependable/Performance in this context provides autonomy, self-esteem, confidence, employment, accomplishment and security. By the equipment being long lasting, dependable, high performing allows users to meet needs for previous needs with an emphasis of confidence and achievement. Cost and affordability of equipment is strongly related to safety – security of the user and for the family.

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VALUE PROPOSITION

The customer needs vary depending on region in the world because of the accessibility to technology and knowledge.

South east Asia, which is considered the second group among three in the world (Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, 1993), requires mechanization, improving rice quality, and post-harvest operations. Understanding the culture and mindset behind the customer is important to outlining their needs. The needs of high yield, less physical strain, and affordable equipment along with specific pains such as transportation of equipment to fields, turning at the end of a row, walking in marshy environments, moving bundled crop, and health hazards from pesticides are revealed after understanding the environment and culture that the farmer is surrounded by.

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To create value for the customer, this thesis project aims to help rice farmers who want to optimize yield by reducing physical strain and providing affordable lifetime equipment. Being customer inspired and creating products based on feedback from users and designing based on core foundations allows successful, well thought out ideas. With the product and service it provides, this thesis project hopes to create gains and alleviate pains for customers. This is done by designing a machine that is easily maintained, require less labor, reduce back and knee strain, and being adaptable for two of the three processes of rice farming. Studying anthropometry and successful existing products will inform the human factor aspect of this thesis project.

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IDEATION

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ERGONOMIC STUDY Rice is second to wheat production in the world. With the shift from rural to urban living, there is a decrease in the farming working population. This solution supports rice farmers by reducing chances of chronic non-specific lower back pain and yielding more crop. Long term effects of poor rice farming posture involve of pain, functional disability, decrease in quality of life, and economic burden of lower back pain. Even with developing agricultural technology most Thai farmers use traditional methods to farm rice(Karukunchit et al., 2015). Traditional methods result in abnormal mechanical loading and repetitive strain to lumbar spine such as bending and trunk twisting.

Short coming of large motorized harvesters and transplanters is the accessibility (cost, viability) to Thailand and various areas within south east Asia. To combat current issues facing rural lower income south east Asian regions, the proposed design aims to provide affordable, intuitive, safe, comfortable, and reliable rice farming equipment.

Key findings from this study demonstrate that it is important to have an adaptable handle height, additional contact points to ease turning, and having a constant motor height. To further the ergonomic study, it is imperative to study mechanics and understand the ways the implements will attach to the main body and focus on the transportation of the machine.

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Academic journals provide information relevant to understanding the anthropometry of people in specific areas. In Henry Dreyfuss’ Measure of Man and Woman, it is stated that the 99th percentile man within the age of 20 to 65 years has an average height of 1920 mm. In addition, the 1st percentile woman within the age of 20 to 65 years has an average height of 1176 mm. According to a study of a southern Thai population, the 99th percentile man within the age of 18 to 25 years has an average height of 1824.6 mm. The 1st percentile Thai female within the age of 18 to 25 years has an average height of 1474.5 mm (Klamklay, Sungkhapong, Yodpijit, & E. Patterson, 2008). The difference between the measurements of a 99th percentile male is 95.4 mm and 1st percentile female is 298.5 mm. There is less of a difference between the tallest and shortest height of southern Thai population. As a result of the variance between Dreyfuss and the anthropometry of southern Thai population, this report will include figures from both sources below. The repetitive motions and long exposure to farming may result in the malalignment of limbs. A study of 249 Thai rice farmers describes the prevalence of lower extremity malalignment and analyzes the risk factors that could lead to malalignment (Karukunchit et al., 2015). The results of this study show that the highest occurrence of lower limb malalignment was foot pronation, abnormal tibiofermoral angle, pelvic tilt angle, femoral antetorsion, limb length inequality, tibial torsion, and genu recurvatum (Karukunchit et al., 2015). Hand tools, implements, and machines can be designed based on the knowledge on anthropometric data and potential physical risks.

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1st Percentile woman with E hands at lowest R G ONO comfortable point.

MIC STUDY

99th Percentile man at resting position.

1st Percentile woman with active pushing motion.

99th Percentile man at active pushing position.

Various hand positions on buck handle.

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ERGONOMIC STUDY CONCLUSION

Ergonomic evaluation is important to better understand what areas need to be explored as the design progresses. Initial objectives included finding a comfortable handle length, height for motor start up cable, and obser ving var ying hand positions. While making the buck and moving it around, it became apparent that an additional contact point would be necessar y to turn the equipment 90 degrees. This contact point is the backrest of the chair used in the buck. By lifting at that pivot point and steering with the handle it becomes easier to maneuver. The optimal lengths used in the buck includes: two feet measured from the point where the end of the handle meets the body to the ground, two feet long handle, and two and a half feet as the length between the two sides of the handles. Additional handles should be added for variability in pushing grips to prevent exhaustion. Critical human dimensions that are impertinent to the design would include arm span, hand length, hand grip circumference, static strength, and lower limb length. The full overall size has not been created to scale, in further study it would be helpful to understand the scale of the main body in addition to the other parts.

It is important to consider the anthropometric data in the location the design is intended for. The data varies between men and women from the study of southern Thai and Henr y Dreyuss’ (Klamklay et al., 2008). Ergonomic considerations such as handle grip diameter, handle height, weight, and proportions of components will result in a positive user experience. A successful hand should not have the longest finger touch the palm while not exceeding the internal grip diameter (Vyavahare & Kallurkar, 2016). Good grip handles tend to have the diameter of the handle lesser than the inside grip. According to a study of northeastern male India farmers, the suggested “handle length for a direct paddy seeder is 122.0 cm� (Vyavahare & Kallurkar, 2016). This is adopted from the optimum geometr y of the operator at an extension of 60 degrees.

Some limitations of this study include the lack of mechanical understanding. With the knowledge of where a motor would go, what would be needed to support it, and how to attach various implements to the front of the main body the attachment considerations could be made.

In the future, the ergonomic study could be further developed by understanding mechanics, creating a shell for the rough size of main body and attachments, and attaching the implements to the main body.

Current ergonomic issues with rice farming equipment includes replacing parts, the weight of the equipment, rigid handles, lack of user considerations, transportation of equipment, and starting up the motor. Solutions to these issues exist at a higher price and may not be feasible for small scale rice farmers relying on manual labour.

This study of testing hypothesized values based on academic journals has opened future prospective areas to test such as the attachment mechanism, alternatives to the cable start up motor, an additional attachment to aid in turning the machine, and how to make the machine easy to transport. This study to understand the ways users interact with a product will inform better design to improve the user experience. Some of the user interactions included handle positioning, maneuvering equipment to turn, and a comfortable height to start the motor. Moving for ward, the existing buck will be used to further understand various implements attachments, handle variations, and an overall shell.

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CONCEPT ONE

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CONCEPT TWO

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CONCEPT ONE DETAILING

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CONCEPT TWO DETAILING

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CAD MODELING

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TECHNICAL DRAWINGS

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ERGONOMICS

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HARD MODEL FABRICATION

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FINAL MODEL

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Ci e r prov ide s t he us e r w it h f unc t iona lit y, ef f icienc y, and com for t. The mo du l ar it y of t he de s ig n mot ivates l and lords to ma ke a purchas e b e c aus e of it s f u l l ye ar us e s. O ut s ide of t ranspl ant ing and har vest ing , a ploug hing i mpl e me nt c an b e att ache d and aid far mers w it h l and prep arat ion. The cost of t he e qu ipme nt is c omp e t it ive to exist ing wa l k ing har vesters or t ranspl anters, t he c ombi nat ion p ote nt i a l of C ie r dist inguishes it f rom c ur rent pro duc ts on t he marke t . T he adjust abi lit y of t he f rame to change t he heig ht, lengt h, and ang l e of e quipme nt ac c ommo d ates a w ide range of famers w hich app e a ls to l and l ords . Wit h us e r c omfor t in m ind, Cier aims to re duce phy sic a l st rain and i mprove e f f ic ie nc y t h roug hout t he r ice far m ing pro cess. R e ducing t he numb er of move me nt s re qu ire d, maint aining an upr ig ht p osit ion, and a djust ing hand l es b as e d on t he t yp e of work t he f ar mers are doing are s ome of t he b enef its of t h is d e s i g n . T he c ost of manuf ac tur ing and maintenance is kept low to app e a l to l and l ords, w it h t he go a l of improv ing t he lives of r ice far mers and its su r rou nd i ng c ommu n it y. Wit h a motor ize d wa l k ing r ice far m ing e quipment, it w i l l help t he ag ing p opu l at ion ke ep up w it h demands and may inspire younger ge ne r at i ons to in novate ways to help t heir f r iends and fam i ly.

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Sust ainable manufa c tur ing a ddress es e conom i c, env ironment a l, and s o ci a l cha l lenges (Mut ing i et a l., 2017). This is manifeste d by m inim iz i ng env ironment a l imp a c t and re duce energ y and res ou rce consumpt ion. As a resu lt of lim it ing nonrene wabl e res ources, sust ainable manufa c tur ing is more emphasize d in t he desig n pro cess. St r ic ter reg u l at i ons on env ironment a l and o cc up at iona l s afet y c omb at dim inishing res ources. Mo du l ar desig ns lend it s el f to g re en life c ycle eng ine er ing . To ke ep up w it h demand for pro duc t var iet y and c ustom izat ion, mo du l ar it y en hances comp et it ion w it hin t he market. It i mproves pro duc t ion and cont rol of c ustom izat ion w h i ch a l l ows for a fo c us on env ironment a l considerat ions b as e d on ef f icient g rouping or cluster ing met ho ds (Mut i ng i et a l., 2017).

D ur ing t he manufa c tur ing of r ice far m i ng e quipment, t here is a me dium imp a c t on t he env ironment. There are no har m f u l chem ic a ls t hat w i l l b e rele as e d into t he water or air, and t he des i g n is most ly an ass embly of r udiment ar y mater i a ls r at her t han c ustom pie ces. The va c uum for m ing of outer housing w it h Ma k roblend may c aus e of f-gass i ng but w i l l not have a sig nif ic ant imp a c t.

O vera l l Cier is t argete d to b e a low-co st ma chine t hat pro duces hig h y ields. D esig ne d ergonom ic considerat ions w it h e asi ly repl a c e abl e p ar ts to a ccom mo d ate t he busy lifest y le of r i ce far mers.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable product strives to be a source of positive change rather than an alternative to harm (Dyllick & Rost, 2017). It is vital to consider the economic, ecological, and social impacts of a product; in addition, the effects on the people directly involved with the product’s life cycle and indirect impacts on society and ecosystems (Dyllick & Rost, 2017). The concept of sustainability is strongly embraced as a result of depleting resources and negative impacts on the environment. An academic journal for cleaner production pushes the meaning of a sustainable product (Dyllick & Rost, 2017).

Stating that a true sustainable product is valuable for society and the Earth and suggests a framework to characterize products and inspire companies. This product has a net positive contribution in addition to solving sustainability problems society is facing. Through research of academic journals, it is clear that there are various methods to measure sustainability. It ranges from life cycle assessments, fuzzy cluster grouping for modularity, to partial sustainable product design (P-SPD) tools (Ahmad, Wong, Tseng, & Wong, 2018). The journal reviewing tools, applications, and research prospects of sustainable product design and development details methods to push sustainable design thinking. In addition, they analyze various tools that can be used to improve the approach to design.

There is high strain on a rice farmer’s health in the lower income south east Asia areas. Psychological stress such as economic issues, sense of insecurity, lack of social standing, lack of educational opportunities, lack of prospects, and risk of unexpected calamities can reduce the confidence in a farmer to provide for their family.

In addition, there are intensive strain on muscles, bones and joints resulting in physical fatigue, reduction of work capacity, and increase in injuries and accidents in the field. This results in a high risk of musculoskeletal disorders that can cause long term implications from a few months of poor posture work (Kabir-Mokamelkhah et al., 2016).

In addition, farmers should be equipped with the proper protective equipment to prevent diseases, blisters, parasites, and chemicals (Kumar et al., 2002).

The mechanization environment includes the crop environment, production strategy, operations, machiner y, and support. Sustainability of the environment is connected to the use of the equipment as a result of its impact on it. For instance, pesticides, fertilization, maintaining crops and post-har vest has a direct impact on the rice field surroundings. Chemical used to feed crops can seep into the surroundings, or the nutrient of the next har vest can be impacted by overturning the soil. The usage of rice farming equipment can lessen the impact on the environment by holistic design. In the initial product design stage designers have to maximize resource while minimizing environmental damage (Mutingi, Dube, & Mbohwa, 2017). This method called the green lifecycle engineering considers product use and disposal or recycle. Areas of focus for this type of design revolves around environment, recycling, and disassembly (Mutingi et al., 2017).

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