Animal drawn tillage, the Ethiopian ard plough, maresha: a review

Although the development of animal drawn tillage tools in the world has been on the agenda for thousands of years, there is still room for their improvement. The present study attempts to give an overview of previous works toward development of animal drawn tillage tools and to identify the areas having most potential for future improvement. The socio-economy, natural resource situation, historic perspective of animal traction in eastern and southern Africa and more specifically the ard plough history in Ethiopia are presented. The design, construction, performance and attempts done since 1939 for the improvement of the ard plough in Ethiopia are also presented. Moreover, trials towards the development of appropriate farm implements for Vertisols management, i.e. the broad bed maker (BBM) were also surveyed. From the review, it can be concluded that previous developments in animal traction tillage implements relied on cultural, trial and human experience. With the recent development in farm technologies and mathematical modelling techniques supported by computer-based simulations, new methodologies in research are available to improve animal traction tillage implements. When adopted, these methodologies could significantly assist in optimising the implement designs and operational conditions aiming at minimum draught requirement and best soil manipulation performance.