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Open Access
Design and Development of A Tractor Mounted Air-Assisted Sprayer for Cotton
(College of Agricultural Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, 2005) Kumar Singh, Shashi; Singh, Surendra
Open Access
Development of Relationships between Spectral Reflectance Data and Selected Biotic-abiotic Stresses in Cotton Crop
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Soni, Rishabh; Singh, S.K.
The present study was conducted to develop the relationships between spectral reflectance data and biotic-abiotic stresses in cotton crop. Four levels of urea application with rate of 225, 275, 325 and 375 kg ha-1 were applied in experimental plots. Row to row spacing for cotton crop were kept as 67.5 and 80 cm for the experiment. All the plots for the experimental field were georeferenced using GPS device. Data was collected at various growth stages of cotton crop using drone mounted cameras and Green Seeker for computation of variations in NDVI at different nitrogen levels. NDVI obtained from different sensors were increasing from vegetative stage (Mean NDVI = 0.454) till bud formation stage (mean NDVI = 0.7089) and decreased at boll opening stage (mean NDVI = 0.5232) till maturity stage (mean NDVI = 0.1432) of cotton crop. It was evident from the regression analysis that NDVI values obtained from NIR+R camera and Green Seeker had a good relationship having R2 = 0.74. Study also revealed that when mean insect population varied from 7.18 to 23.027 mean NDVI values obtained from NIR+ R camera after image processing varied in the range of 0.477 to 0.5441 and mean NDVI obtained from Green Seeker varied from 0.801 to 0.831. It was also found from the spatial maps and drone imagery that part of crop having more vigour, NDVI values in the vegetative stage was most affected by whitefly attack.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of multi-nozzle backpack type power sprayer
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Avesh Kumar Singh; Manes, G.S.
The study deals with the development and evaluation of multi-nozzle backpack type power sprayer, which can be used to spray at all stages of cotton crop by using the boom both in horizontal (during early stages of crop) and in vertical (during maturity stage) position. Three types of nozzles N1, N2 and N3 were evaluated in laboratory using patternator at three nozzle pressures P1 (3.0 kg/cm2), P2 (4.5 kg/cm2) and P3 (6.0 kg/cm2) and at three target distance D1 (540 mm), D2 (340 mm) and D3 (250 mm) respectively. Based on laboratory results, rate of discharge, angle of spray and swath width were found non-significant for nozzle N1 & N3. Thereby, Nozzle N1 and Nozzle N2 were selected for mounting on the boom according to overlapped pattern (minimum CV) of nozzle N1 and Nozzle N2 at a pressure of 3.0 kg/cm2 at different target distance. The sprayer was evaluated in the field for spraying on cotton crops at four different stages of growth (60,75,90 and 105 DAS) by fixing water sensitive paper on the plant at three locations of plant canopy (up and down of leaf). Uniformity coefficient and droplet density varied from 1.19 to 2.91 and 34.33 to 76.67. However, at a particular stage of crop the uniformity index and droplet density for some combination of locations was found non-significant thus depicting uniform spray. Field capacity for Nozzle N1 and N2 decreased from 0.34 ha/h to 0.09 ha/h and 0.28 ha/h to 0.09 ha/h when the position of boom was changed from or horizontal to vertical positions. Fuel consumption for spraying with nozzle N1 and nozzle N2 increased from 0.42 l/h to 0.60 l/h and 0.37 l/h to 0.50 l/h when the position of boom was changed from horizontal to vertical positions.
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Refinement and evaluation of sugarcane trench planter to suit local conditions
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Mohit Kumar; Dogra, Baldev
Trench planting of sugarcane is being popularized by PAU as it gives better net returns, requires less water and management to avoid cane lodging is easy. At present, trench planting is practiced by making trenches using tractor operated trencher and remaining operations are done manually involving 200-250 man-h/ha. To reduce labour requirements, no such machine is being utilized by farmers in Punjab for planting sugarcane in trenches. There is shortage of labour Therefore, a sugarcane trench planter, which was commercially available in Uttar Pradesh, was modified according to suit local condition of Punjab to bridge this mechanization gap and thereby increasing the level of mechanization in Punjab. The preliminary evaluation of sugarcane trench planter was carried out at three different cutting rollers peripheral speeds (0.93 m/s, 0.81 m/s and 0.69m/s) and three forward speeds (2.26 km/h, 2.6 km/h and 3.0 km/h) on three varieties of cane (Co118, CoPb93 and CoJ-85). Thereafter, the field evaluation of modified sugarcane trench planter was carried out by selecting one cutting rollers peripheral speed 0.69 m/s and two forward speeds (2.26 km/h and 3 km/h) on same three varieties of cane (Co118, CoPb93 and CoJ-85). The selected dependent variables were cane length, cane diameter, set length, bud damage, set damage, number of set cut, overlap/ gap and germination count. The observed data was statistically analyzed by using statistical software ´SPSS`. The average cane length observed during field evaluation in Co118, CoPb93 and CoJ-85 was 212.33, 193.80 and 173.68 cm respectively. The average cane diameter observed during field evaluation in Co118, CoPb93 and CoJ-85 was 2.65, 2.35 and 2.73 cm respectively. Set length increased with the decrease in diameter of cane and cutting roller peripheral speed. Bud damage increased with the increase in cutting roller peripheral speed. Bud damage in variety Co118 was higher due to relatively more toughness of cane. Number of set cut increased with the increase in cane length and decrease in set length. Average overlapping decreased with the increase in forward speed. Practically no set damage was observed. Germination percentage on left side of trench observed in Co118, CoPb93 and CoJ-85 was 50.71%, 43.00% and 48.50% respectively, whereas, on right side of trench observed was 48.11%, 38.68% and 43.15% respectively. Germination of cane observed by machine planting was more than the conventional planting. There was 20 to 30% reduction in cost of planting and 55 to 60% reduction in labour cost as compared to conventional method.
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Development and evaluation of vertical disc type vegetable transplanter for cell type nursery
(2018) Bhambota, Shiva; Dixit, A.K.
A tractor operated semi-automatic two row vegetable transplanter using plug type nursery was developed. The machine released the seedlings close to the ground in near vertical position without any damage. Coco-peat, vermiculite and perlite in the ratio of 3:1:1 on volume basis (M1) and another media recommended by Punjab Agricultural University (M2), the contents of which are not yet in public domain were studied. The cell volume of the three cells (C) studied were: 63.8 cm3 (C1), 18.70 cm3 (C2), and 16.28 cm3 (C3). Higher values of all the plant growth parameters were observed in cell size C1 as compared to cell size C2 and C3 which had non-significant differences, for the same media and seedling age. Higher values of all the plant growth parameters were observed for media M2 as compared to media M1 at all stages of growth for all cell sizes. The effect of media, however, varied with the crop as well as the plant growth parameter. Plucking rating was highest in lowest cell size (C3) with media (M2) at higher stage of plant growth. Nursery used for field evaluation of all the crops studied was grown in with media M2 in cells C3. Plant missing and heart rate increased with increase in feed rate for all the subjects. However, the effect of cell size (C) on plant missing and heart rate was non-significant. Plant missing and plant doublings in both the field conditions (i.e. with or without raised bed) were similar which increased with increase in forward speed for all the crops studied. The plant missing on raised beds, in the range of forward speeds studied (1.00 km/h to 1.50 km/h), were: 3.70% to 28.40%, 0.0% to 13.73% and 0.0 % to 2.80% in case of tomato, brinjal and chilli respectively. Plant doubling in the field with raised bed was observed only at speed of 1.50 km/h which were: 7.41% and 2.33% in case of tomato and brinjal respectively. No plant missing or doubling was observed in case of chili even at forward speed of 1.50 km/h. All the plants transplanted were erect (plant inclination less than 30o) at average depth of planting ranging from 4.0 cm to 7.0 cm. for all the crops and field conditions studied. No plant mortality was observed for the crops transplanted with the machine. Estimated field capacity of the machine was 0.103 ha/h, 0.126 ha/h, and 0.152 ha/h for tomato, brinjal, and chili respectively at the recommended forward speed of 1.00 km/h, 1.25 km/h, and 1.50 km/h respectively for these crops. Savings in labour and transplanting cost was 84.71% to 86.20% and 24.07% to 31.46% respectively, as compared to manual method.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of an engine operated walk type drop down sprayer for cotton crop
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Dhaliwal, Ranjot Singh; Narang, M.K.
An engine operated walk type drop down sprayer was developed for spraying on cotton crop. The developed sprayer had eight nozzles. Boom was developed in T-shape. Six nozzles were attached on vertical part of the boom with three nozzles spraying in left horizontal direction and other three spraying in right horizontal direction. The boom was mounted on a wheel hand vehicle. Nozzle selected for the sprayer was tested under laboratory conditions under different fluid flow pressures (7.5, 10 and 12.5 kg/cm2). The spray width, spray angle and discharge rate of the nozzle were noted. The discharge rate increased from 611.47 ml/min to 829.53 ml/min; Spray angle increased from 75.7 to 83.0 degrees and swath width varied from 85.1 to 99.8 cm with increase in pressure from 7.5 to 12.5 kg/cm2. The sprayer was evaluated in the field at 10 kg/cm2 for three different forward speeds (1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 km/h) and three different plant height of cotton crop (1.0, 1.3 and 1.75 m) at Research Farm of the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, PAU, Ludhiana The spot size, area covered, droplet density and field capacity were recorded and analyzed. The droplet density varied from 185.67 to 386 drops/cm2 for 1.5 km/h and at forward speed of 2.5 km/h, the droplet density varied from 53.33 to 286 drops/cm2. The maximum field capacity was found to be 0.16 ha/h at forward speed of 2.5 km/h and at plant height of 1.0 m. The bioefficacy of the developed sprayer was also evaluated at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Goneana and at farmer’s fields in village Goneana, district Shri Muktsar Sahib at three levels of forward speed of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 km/h and at three heights of crop i.e. 1.0, 1.3 and 1.75 m and compared with the knapsack sprayer. The population of whitefly was recorded before spray and after three, seven and ten days of spray. The maximum percentage reduction over control was found at forward speed of 2.0 km/h and at plant height of 1.0 and 1.3 m.
Open Access
Evaluation of respirable dust filtering materials for agricultural field operations
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Narjeet Singh; Khurana, Rohinish
Indian economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Most of the agriculture operations had been mechanized. Mechanization leads to dust generation especially during tillage, harvesting and threshing operations. Prolonged exposure to dust is harmful for the agricultural farm workers. A study was conducted to identify agricultural field operations requiring intervention of personal protection from respirable dust as health hazard. Protective measures available were evaluated during the study. Observations were made to measure the density of three different particle sizes i.e. 1µ, 2.5µ and 10µ of the dust generated during tillage, harvesting and threshing operations using dust monitor. The selected implements were cultivator, disc harrow, rotavator, planker, laser leveler, thresher and combine harvester. Mean values of dust density across all operations were found to be within permissible limit of 5.0 mg/m3 as defined by OSHA. Four most dust generating operations were identified as disc harrow, rotavator, combine and thresher with mean dust density values 2.501, 2.600, 3.404 and 3.167 mg/m3. Fifteen different filtering elements were evaluated for their dust filtering performance during the selected operations. Mean values of dust density for all filter elements during the selected operations varied between 0.175 and 0.505 mg/m3. The overall mean dust filtering efficiency value for all the filter elements varied between 76.4 to 96.1%. Cloth type filter elements with three layers were found to be most efficient out of all the filter elements. Cloth 1(68% polyester and 32% cotton fabric) type having three layers was most efficient with 96.1 % filtering efficiency.
Open Access
Evaluation of soil compaction as affected by different tillage practices
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Abhishek Kumar; Saimbhi, Varinder Singh
A study for evaluating the soil compaction caused by different tillage practices was undertaken. The independent parameters for the study were two soil types (sandy loam, S1 and silty loam, S2), six different tillage practices (conventional tillage practice as P1, P2, rotavator practices as P3, P4 and spading machine as P5, P6), two forward velocity ranges (V1 and V2) and two operation depth ranges (D1 and D2). Replicated (three) trials in factorial in RBD were adopted for the study. Soil bulk density and cone index values were taken at selected sampling depths for determining the initial soil compaction i.e before tillage treatments. Effect of irrigation on soil compaction was also noted at optimum moisture level after irrigation but before tillage treatments. Cone indices of both types of soils were found lesser, after irrigation, than that of before irrigation conditions. Bulk density of soil S1 was higher after irrigation, whereas of soil S2, it was lower than that of before irrigation, before tillage conditions. Cone indices in both types of soils were observed lesser than that of initial compaction, in top 10 cm of soil, after different tillage treatments. Cone indices, at sub-soil depths (at 15 cm and beyond) of both soil types, in P3, P4, P5 and P6 tillage practices were found to be comparatively more that of initial soil compaction for most of the treatments. Bulk density was observed lower than that of initial soil compaction for all the treatments in both soil types. Mean weight diameter of soil clods formed were minimum whereas fuel consumption (l/h) values were maximum in case of rotavator among all the treatment values.
Open Access
Development and Evaluation of Metering Mechanism of Tractor Operated Multicrop Planter for Sowing of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) Seed
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Manik, Badgujar Chetan; Dhingra, H.S.
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is one of the important vegetables in India and it is leading okra producing country in the world which contributes 72.9 per cent of world’s okra production. Sowing of okra is mostly done by manual method (kera and pora) this resulting in non-uniform inter-row and intra-row distribution of seeds that leads to seed cluster or gap filling, low input use efficiency and poor plant establishment. As a result, the yield and product quality are low and cost of cultivation is high. The seed coat of okra was very hard and does not take up water easily after sowing in the soil which causes very poor germination, thus to increase the germination of okra, sowing of soaked seed is common practice adopted. The engineering properties of two seed varieties (Pusa-A4 and Punjab-8) were studied for both soaked (24 h) and unsoaked condition and inclined plate was designed for sowing of soaked okra seeds. Subsequently the metering mechanism of okra planter was developed and mounted on a seed drill to make a multicrop planter. Preliminary evaluation of the developed planter was done in the laboratory on the basis of following parameters: three type of inclined plates (A, B and C), three angle of inclinations (45°, 50° and 55°) and four forward speeds of operation (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 km/h). The performance of planter was evaluated on the basis of number of seeds per meter row length, average spacing, multiple index, missing index, quality of feed index and seed rate. Based on average seed spacing and index values the best combination found in laboratory evaluation were selected for sowing of soaked okra seed and thus for Pusa-A4 it was plate A at 2 km/h forward speed and 45° angle of inclination of plate were selected for field evaluation of the machine and compared with control. The machine was used to sow soaked okra seed on flat field at two field location. The average spacing, quality feed index, missing index, multiple index and seed rate was observed 15.98 cm, 0.61, 0.17, 0.21 and 4.42 kg/acre respectively. The field capacity of machine was found 0.31 ha/h and fuel consumption during the sowing operation was 3.21 l/h. The germination count were 13.1 plants per 2 m row length after 15 DAS and 13.8 plants per 2 m row length after 30 DAS.

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