Neco 2019 Agricultural Science Question 4

Practice essay / theory question 4 from the 2019 Neco Agricultural Science examination. This question covers Farm Machinery .

Neco 2019 Agricultural Science Essay / Theory

Topic: Farm Machinery

Question 4 NECO • 2019 • AGRICULTURAL_SCIENCE • essay

A smallholder farmer is evaluating the purchase of a 25‑horsepower (hp) tractor to replace manual labour for land preparation. The tractor consumes 4 L of diesel per hour when operating at full load. Each planting season the farmer must prepare 5 ha of land, requiring 0.5 hour of tractor operation per hectare at full load. Diesel costs ₦150 per litre. Manual labour for land preparation costs ₦2 500 per hectare. The tractor is priced at ₦1 200 000 and is expected to have a useful life of 8 years with no salvage value. The farmer intends to use the tractor for four planting seasons each year.

( a )

Calculate the total cost of diesel fuel required for land preparation in one planting season.

( b )

Determine the total cost of land preparation per season when using the tractor, including fuel and depreciation. (Assume straight‑line depreciation.)

( c )

Compare the total seasonal cost of land preparation using the tractor with the cost of manual labour and state which method is more economical.

( d )

Explain two non‑economic benefits of employing the tractor for land preparation.

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This is Neco 2019 Agricultural Science Question 4. It is one of the essay questions from the 2019 Neco Agricultural Science examination.

The question covers Farm Machinery .

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