A computer Program for Agricultural Machinery Management in Multi -Farm System

Abstract

The program APAMM, is a Windows based program that can be run on a Windows xp or higher system on computers. It is a user-friendly interactive program written in a Visual Basic (VB) programming environment for machinery management. It allows the user to interact with it by entering the required inputs and it will carry out the interactive calculations. The program enables the user to print out the output which is displayed on the screen . The APAMM can predict the effective field capacity for different implements(ha/hr), determines the drawbar power needed for each implement (kw),calculates the power take-off power for each implement (kw).Predicts the number of tractors and implements required for each agricultural operation. Calculates the total operation cost per ha, and per hour and finally estimates total costs of owning and operating machinery for various crop rotations, giving the user an option to hire or purchase the machine. APAMM was successfully validated statistically (chi-square)in comparison to Rahad scheme machinery system season 2006-2007. The comparisons indicated that there were no significant differences. In general, the results indicated that the APAMM could be applied to any real-life case successfully and with confidence.