SIMULATION OF CASSAVA GRATING SYSTEMS FOR COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

Abstract

The paper presents a simulation of cassava grating system. Processing of gari is a job for women but its techniques of operation have witness measures of changes in Nigeria. There exist versions of mathematical graters that are powered either by electric motors or small internal combustion engine. This paper describes mathematical model that simulates optimum cassava grating system for various processing cottage capacity and the power source used in the cottage industry. A computer program written in a basic language computes the appropriate size of grater for a given processing cottage capacity and the source of power required at various cost associated with grating operation ;fixed cost, variable cost and timeliness cost; system’s hour requirement; cost of the system and the least cost grating system. The model thus developed was tested on some selected gari processing cottage industries with varying processing cottage capacities. The cost requirement and the associated components of grating system for grating cassava at varying cottage processing capacity up to about 10 ha of crop service area was evaluated  in Bida, Nigeria. The least cost involved for different system was determined.