Pre-Extension Demonstration and Evaluation of Soybean Grinding Machine for Gender Labour Saving

Soybean is considered to be an important oilseed crop because it contains highly nutritious oil in large quantities. The increasing use of soybean, its high food value, and growth in production and trade have necessitated greater attention to crop-related post-harvest technologies. This study was conducted in FSRP-supported areas of Jimma and Buno Bedele zones of the Oromia region to demonstrate and evaluate the performance of a soybean grinding machine. Two districts, Seka Chekorsa and Banshure, were purposively selected based on soybean accessibility and suitability. Training and a mini-field day were organized to promote the soya bean grinding machine. The machine was evaluated based on grinding capacity, grinding efficiency, and mechanical damage. The results showed that the machine had an average grinding capacity of 407.73 kg/hr, an average grinding efficiency of 91.43%, and mechanical damage of 2.95% at a feed rate of 7 kg/min. Feedback on attributes including minimized soybean wastage, suitability for use, portability, and time and labor saving was collected from farmers. The majority of respondents (on average, 95%) positively perceived the time and labor savings, portability of the machine (80%), suitability to use (77%), and minimized wastage of soybean (70%). Based on the results, further scaling up and popularization of the soybean grinding machine in other soybean-producing areas are recommended.