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LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan (June 16, 2008) - Provincial
reconstruction teams are engaged daily in large-scale projects in
Afghanistan, building roads, bridges, schools and medical
facilities to help the Afghan government develop its
infrastructure. They also contribute small ideas that have the
potential for large-scale impact.
One such idea was to design and fabricate a hand-held seed
spreader for farmers to spread fertilizer.
"Our Department of Agriculture representative came to me and
said, 'I heard you could design stuff. Is there any way to design a
seed spreader?'" said Air Force Staff Sgt. Tim Bayes, engineering
noncommissioned officer in charge for the PRT here.
Bayes explained that Afghan farmers currently spread their
fertilizer by hand. This method places more fertilizer in some
areas and less in others.
"If you go out there, you can see the inconsistency in the
growth patterns in the fields," Bayes said. "If they can
effectively spread the fertilizer so their growth pattern is
consistent, it could increase their crops by 15 to 25 percent
annually."
Understanding the impact the simple idea could have, Bayes
started the design, and spoke with contractors and local citizens
to find out what materials the local Afghan farmers have
available.
"Nuts and bolts are pretty easy to come by," he said. "Pieces of
plywood or just chunks of wood, and tin cans or canvas bags were
the materials we had to work with."
After a day and a half of design, Bayes met with the Department
of Agriculture representative to review the blueprint and make
final adjustments before building a prototype.
"It took me about half a day to build it," he said. "This is
kind of different -- a little bit unique compared to what we
normally do -- and it was fun to do it."
Bayes added that during a discussion with the Afghan
government's Department of Agriculture representative, the idea of
having prisoners build the spreader for distribution was
addressed.
"They were talking about using the prisoners to possibly build
these so they could do it cheap, effectively and distribute them
out -- at least to get them out so the people can see what they are
made out of and how they are made," Bayes said.
Once the spreader is distributed to some, he explained, the
farmers could share with each other so those without a spreader
could build one themselves.
"It not only helps them as far as income, but an increase in
crops will also help supply and demand in the local economies,"
Bayes said. "If it helps 10 farmers to produce more crops to help
people, then it was worth it."
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