ITS BACK TO PLOUGHING - Ministry of Agriculture

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About the QueleaBird ScarerMachineThe Department of AgriculturalResearch in collaboration withBotswana Technology Centre(BOTEC) invented a machine that islikely to help farmers’ combat Queleabirds which are usually a nuisance tofarmers.Theresa Mokgwathi of AgrinewsMagazine had a tete-a-tete withthe inventors of the machine;Messers Elias Kethobile, MogorosiKeatlhotswe, Martin Pheko to hearmore about this machine.Question. What is Quelea BirdScarer machine?Answer. It is a machine designed toscare Quelea birds in the fields.Q. Is the machine particularly madefor a certain type of birds?Ans. The machine is specifically forQuelea birds, but can be used toscare other birds on the field.Q. How does it work?Bird scarer inventor’s teamAns. It is an electronic machine, ituses electronic components. Themachine can be time programmed. Itis programmed in the morning from 5am to 10 am and goes off after everythree minutes. During the day it isprogrammed from 10 am to 5 pmand goes off after every 30 minutesand in the evening it is programmedfrom 5pm to 7pm and it goes off afterevery three minutes. The machine isprogrammed to produce the scarynoise after every three minutes in themornings and in the evening as thoseare the peak hours for birds attack.November 2010
Q. What powers the machine?Ans. The machine uses solar energy.Q. Can the machine function duringrainy days?Ans. Yes, it has energy storage in thebattery that can last three weeks.Q. Where can farmers get hold of thismachine?Ans. Quelea birds scarer machine isstill a prototype, we are still workingon it, for more enhanced features.Q. The noise emanating from themachine can cover how manyhectares in a field?Ans. It covers one hectare effectively,but if it is more than one hectaremore units can be availed to coverthe whole area or the machine’sloudspeakers can be spreadthroughout the field.Q. Is this technology well receivedby farmers?Ans. Farmers have shown muchappreciation of this machine,because the Quelea bird destroysmostly sorghum crops. Most farmerscannot wait to own the machine toenable them have crops in their fields.Q. Can you tell us more about thesounds incorporated in the machine?Ans. There are various types ofsounds in the machine. The soundsinclude that of different animalsmeant to scare the Quelea birds. Thesounds cause distress to the bird.The sounds were incorporated afterstudies of which noises the Queleabird was sensitive to.Q. Are there any security featuresprovided to avoid theft of themachine?Ans. We have not incorporated anyas yet but we are going to incorporatean alarm and a detector for intruders.Q. Where in the field is one supposedto position the machine?Ans. It is best to keep the machine inElias Kethobilethe middle of the field for it to coverthe whole area.Q. Are there any technical difficultiesthat one may encounter when settingup the machine?Ans. We will try to minimizethe technical difficulties, but weare going to educate agriculturalinstructors about the machine sothat they can be in a position to helpfarmers when and if they experiencesome difficulties.Q. When can farmers expect to putthis machine in use?Ans. I believe in a year’s time we willbe finished working on the machine.We are going to complete workingon this first machine then give privatecompanies to produce the machinefor sale.Q. How much would you say themachine will cost?Ans. It cost between P6000 andP7000Q. Is the machine operated manuallyor automatically?Ans. At the moment the machine isdesigned to operate manually andautomatically. The next phase of themachine will have a sensor/detectorthat detects movement of birds.Q. Why did you decide to use amachine that operates on solarenergy?Ans. The decision was inspired bythe energy crisis that Botswana isexperiencing of late.Q. During rainy seasons will themachine not get damaged by water?Ans. The machine has two partsthat are delicate, the battery and themain control box and these two arewell covered to protect from harshconditions.November 2010
Page 1: BOTSWANAVolume 40, No.11 November 2
Page 4 and 5: Article and Photos: Moreri Moesi“
Page 7 and 8: Montshwedi Galebope recieving his a
Page 13 and 14: ee drip irrigation projectsHe added
Page 15: Article: Kgomotso MatshabaPhotos: G
Page 19 and 20: By Kgomotso MatshabaWhy is a tomato

ITS BACK TO PLOUGHING - Ministry of Agriculture

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