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Open Access
Design, development and evaluation of a variable rate applicator for real time application of fertilizer
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2020) Mirzakhaninafchi, Hasan; Manjeet Singh
There is a strong need to avoid use of excessive N as it is unlikely to be effective in increasing crop yields because of its diminishing returns. Therefore, a study was conducted to design and develop a variable rate fertilizer applicator to detect real time deficiency of nitrogen in the field and applying it as per requirement of the crop. To design and develop variable rate applicator, fluted roller type metering mechanism was selected due to having more uniformity than spinner disc type applicator. Suitable nitrogen (N) sensor i.e. Greenseeker was selected for the development of applicator. The microcontroller system was developed and PWM valve was used to vary the rotational speed of hydraulic motor resulting variation in the rotation of metering mechanism shaft. Field performance of the developed machine was measured at different levels of nitrogen (kg/ha), height (cm) of sensor from the crop canopy and at different growth stages of the crop. Fluted roller type metering mechanism was selected having lesser variation (CV ranging from 6.0 to 8.0 %) in fertilizer rate applied as compared to the spinner disc type fertilizer applicator having CV ranging from 20.0-50.0 %. Fertilizer rate at 10 rpm of metering mechanism shaft was minimum i.e. 15.18 kg/ha and was maximum 54.38 kg/ha at 40 rpm of the shaft speed. Speed of shaft of metering mechanism changed from 0 to 40 rpm when NDVI was changing from 0.75 to 0.35. The response time of the control system to apply fertilizer in the field was within the range of 6.45 to 7.81 s. Applied fertilizer by using developed variable rate applicator at different growth stages of the rice crop at 40, 60 and 80 DAT indicated that when fertilizer rate is increasing from N1 to N4, NDVI is increasing from 0.49 to 0.69. Hence, shaft speed is decreasing from 27 to 7 rpm to apply the fertilizer rate 35.47 to 9.00 kg/ha respectively. Total fertilizer applied by variable rate applicator was 122.32 kg/ha instead of 225 kg/ha as recommended by the university resulting 45% saving in fertilizer by using developed variable rate applicator.
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Design, development and evaluation of tractor operated seeder for mat type paddy nursery
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2020) Modi, Rajesh Uttreshawar; Manes, Gursahib Singh
A tractor operated seeder for mat type paddy nursery was designed, developed and evaluated. The machine cuts soil from both sides and transfers it through the inclined belt conveyor to the horizontally placed soil conveying auger which distributes the soil equally on the sieving system. The sieving system drops the soil into the hopper of soil distribution unit placed beneath it. Before soil distribution unit, a soil compaction roller fitted at front of the machine compacts the soil surface. Polythene sheet roller was provided to lay downs the polythene sheet on this compacted soil surface. Soil hopper has a soil metering roller which drops the soil at a uniform thickness on the laid polythene sheet. Simultaneously, seed metering mechanism placed rear of soil distributing unit distributes the seed on the prepared soil bed in a uniform manner in one go. The machine was evaluated in the laboratory/controlled field conditions at three level of sieve oscillation (238, 318 and 398 spm), two level of sieve opening size (25×20 and 50×25 mm) and for two depth of soil cut (40 and 80 mm). These independent parameters significantly affected the dependent parameters namely seed spread, soil mat thickness and pulverization index at 5% level of significance, whereas seed damage and plastic sheet damage were non-significant. The higher overall seed spread at the middle bite of transplanter cut was 91.00 % and overall soil mat thickness at 950 mm bed width was 92.93 % corresponding to the best operational parameter combination of sieve oscillations 398 spm, sieve opening size of 25×20 mm and depth of soil cut of 80 mm. The pulverization index was 2.01 mm whereas, seed damage and plastic sheet damage was negligible. The field evaluation was conducted at these operational settings of the machine on three soil types (sandy loam, loam and silt loam) at three forward speeds 1.7, 2.2 and 2.7 km/h. The soil type had a non-significant effect whereas forward speed significantly affected the performance of the machine at 5 % level of significance. Best results were obtained at a forward speed of 1.7 km/h for 950 mm bed. At these operational parameters the mean overall seed spread was 90.93 %, mean overall soil mat thickness 97.88 %, seed germination 89.73 %, fuel consumption 4.36 l/h and effective field capacity 0.11 ha/h.
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Design, development and evaluation of a dust separation system for wheat straw combine
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2020) Ali, Mudasir; Dixit, Anoop
In northern India, wheat straw is the main and major feed source for domestic milch animals and has huge demand and economic value. During straw combining operation a lot of dust and foreign materials goes into collector which comes from settled dirt on straw lying in the field, the undulations on the field which cause the cutter bar to hit them during operation, very low height of cut with the intention to retrieve more straw and also due to bunds and rodent burrows in the field. Excessive dirt intake may lower feed intake, disrupt digestion and may have adverse impact on animal health. The design and development of an integral dust separation system for straw combine is the need of the farmers particularly in Punjab, so as to obtain the quality straw. An integral dust separation system for wheat straw combine was designed and developed to reduce the soil entrainment into the bruised straw. A perforated sheet of 2050×425 mm effective size with 7 mm diameter hole size, was provided at a distance of 130 mm behind the cutter bar and under the straw conveying unit. To remove soil clods, which goes along the cut straw while straw being pushed towards the bruising unit, a clod trapper was made of rectangular metal sheet of size 1415×180×3 mm hinged vertically and inclined with the lower body of the machine by helical spring. A bruising drum (1450×740 mm) consisting of serrated tooth M type blades (204 blades) for bruising the wheat straw was developed. The width of concave was 1435 mm with peripheral length of 920 mm. A counter cutter (3 rows and 53 blades) for effective size reduction of straw was provided adjacent to concave, under the bruising drum with a cleaning sieve of 5.0 mm diameter hole size placed below it. A centrifugal blower having 762 mm diameter was used for the blowing of bruised wheat straw. The bruised straw was collected into the wire meshed trailer, hooked behind the machine by means of a maneuverable duct. The dust separation was evaluated in the laboratory using sieve setup. During laboratory evaluation of the dust separation system, the independent parameters viz sieve opening size (S), sieve oscillations (O) and straw load (L) had significant effect on the straw quality parameters like ash content, acid insoluble ash and dust concentration. From the laboratory study S3O3 (sieve opening size 5.0 mm and sieve oscillations 400 stroke/min) as operational parameter was selected for field evaluation. The independent parameters for field evaluation were forward speed (2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 km/h), clod/stone trapper mechanism opening (32.5 and 25.0 mm) and wheat variety (HD 3086 and HD 2967). The dependent parameters for field study were straw size, ash content, acid insoluble ash, dust concentration, fuel consumption, and actual field capacity. From field evaluation the best suited performance combination of independent parameters was found at forward speed F1 (2.0 km/h) and clod trapping mechanism opening T1 (23.5 mm) in terms of minimum ash content (8.82 and 8.89 %), minimum acid insoluble ash (4.98 and 5.01%), minimum dust concentration (6.64 and 6.67 %), minimum fuel consumption (6.20 and 6.25 l/h) and desired range of straw size (19.71 and 18.20 mm), respectively for both varieties. The field capacity of wheat straw combine having developed integral dust separation system at forward speed 2.0 km/h was 0.36 ha/h, whereas, it was 0.34 ha/h for commercial wheat straw combine. The ash content, acid insoluble ash, dust concentration and straw size of bruised straw obtained from straw combine with integral dust separation system were 4.68 %, 1.72 %, 4.61 % and 20.86 % lesser compared to straw obtained from commercial straw combine (control). The cost of operation of the improved machine was calculated to be Rs 890/h.
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Design, development and evaluation of tractor operated spading machine
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2020) Karwasra, Nitin; Dogra, Baldev
One of the most important operation in farming is tillage that handles the breaking of soil. Soil tilth needs to be managed by best management practice in order to reduce energy consumption. Primary advantage of spading machine as compared to the other ploughing methods is that it does not over-pulverize and create compact layer at the bottom of tilled soil. The present study was conducted to design, develop and evaluate a tractor operated indigenous spading machine. A crank-rocker type motion of four-bar mechanism was selected to simulate the spading action. Analytical analysis of four-bar mechanism was conducted and the link lengths were optimized using simulation software. The gearbox was developed assuming 50hp tractor to be used for operating the machine and its 3D model was developed in CAD software. The machine was fabricated and assembled with the help of a manufacturer. Field evaluation of the developed spading machine was conducted at three levels of forward speed (S1= 2.26, S2= 3.37 and S3= 4.92 km/h), three levels of depth of operation (D1= 20 , D2 = 25 and D3= 30 cm) and three levels of angle of attack (A1= 30°, A2= 35° and A3= 40°). The performance was analyzed on selected dependent variables i.e. bulk density, PTO torque, pulverization index and cone index. Statistical analysis revealed that forward speed (S) and depth of operation (D) had significant effect at 5% level of significance, while no significant effect observed for angle of attack (A) on bulk density of tilled soil. Maximum and minimum mean bulk density was observed at S3D3A3 (1.54 Mg/m3) and S1D1A1 (1.17 Mg/m3), respectively. PTO torque was affected significantly by forward speed and depth of operation, while angle of attack had no significant effect at 5% level of significance. Maximum and minimum mean PTO torque was observed at S3D3A1 (550.78 Nm) and S1D1A3 (327.66 Nm), respectively. Pulverization index was affected significantly by forward speed and depth of operation, while angle of attack had no significant effect at 5% level of significance. Maximum and minimum mean pulverization index was observed at S3D3A1 (18.20 mm) and S1D1A3 (3.68 mm), respectively. Effect of forward speed and depth of operation was statistically significant while angle of attack had no significant effect at 5% level of significance for cone index. Maximum and minimum cone index was found at S3D3A1 (1888.09 kPa) and S1D1A3 (624.27 kPa), respectively.
Open Access
Design, Development and Evaluation of Manual Drum Seeder for Onion Seeds
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2019) Verma, Kanishk; Thakur, S.S.
Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the major vegetable crops grown throughout the country. The labour requirement in manual transplanting of onion seedlings is as high as 100-200 man-days/ ha as 8.9 lakh seedlings per hectare are to be transplanted. Because of the high requirement and shortage of labour, the area under onion cultivation is low. To increase the mechanization of this crop at low cost a prototype of the manual onion drum seeder was developed and fabricated. Three drums were developed and fabricated with three different hole size i.e. 3.0mm, 3.5mm and 4.0mm based on the physical properties of onion seeds. The drums of the seederwere evaluated in laboratory at three speeds 1 km h-1, 1.5 km h-1and 2.0 km h-1.In the laboratory evaluation it was observed that average seed rate for drum D1, D2 and D3 was 6.60, 6.77 and 12.73 kg ha-1. The average seed spacing was 6.7, 7.7 and 4.10 cm for drum D1, D2 and D3. Average missing index was 11, 11 and 6% for drum D1, D2 and D3. Average multiple index was 14, 14 and 27 % for drum D1, D2 and D3. Average singulation was 75, 74 and 66 % for drum D1, D2 and D3. The developed onion seeder was then evaluated in the field.It was found that forwarding speed of onion seeder was 1.2 to 1.5 km h-1. The field capacity observed was 0.05 ha h-1 and field efficiency was 83%.Seed rate of drum D1 (7.3kg ha-1) and D2 (7.4 kg ha-1) was less than the manual sowing (8.2 kgha-1) and drum D3 (13.4 kgha-1) have higher seed rate than recommended seed rate (10-12 kg ha-1), drum D1 and D2 was found suitable in maintaining plant to plant spacing (7-8 cm).Missing index of Drum D1 and D2 was (11%) more as compared to the data of drum D3 (9%). Multiple index of drum D1 and D2 (14%) was less than drum D3 (28%). Singulation was higher in drum D1 and D2 (74%) as compared to drumD3 (67%). The yield obtained was 28tonnes ha-1, 26 tonnes ha-1 and 21 tonnes ha-1 from drum D2, D1 and D3 respectively.
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Design, development and evaluation of a tractor operated paddy straw bale shredder
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2019) Sunil Kumar; Dogra, Baldev
Paddy is a major cereal crop of Punjab. Paddy cultivation is practiced on more than 3 Mha area of the state. Paddy straw burning is major issue of Punjab and its adjoining states. More than 20Mt of paddy straw is generated annually in Punjab, out of this farmers burn approximately 15 Mt paddy straw in the fields. Paddy straw burning releases a number of pollutants such as particulate matter, sulphur and carbon oxides, besides degradation of soil health. Paddy straw can be used as a mulch for next season crops. Mulching reduces weed emergence, reduces water evaporation from soil surface and improves soil properties. A paddy straw bale shredder cum mulcher was designed, developed and evaluated to use baled paddy straw as mulch. Theoretical design of paddy straw bale shredder cum mulcher was done. Thereafter its 3-D model was developed. This machine was fabricated in Dr S. R. Verma Research Hall of Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering. Performance of the developed machine was evaluated at three levels of forward speed (F1= 2.25, F2= 2.65 and F3= 2.95 km/h), three levels of shredding rotor tip speed (S1= 30.71, S2= 36.47 and S3= 41.84 m/s) and three levels of deflector angle (A1= 25°, A2= 30° and A3= 35°) on garlic planted on 1m wide beds. The selected dependent variables were mat thickness, uniformity of spread, weed count, plant damage, fuel consumption and effective field capacity. The effect of forward speed and rotor speed on mat thickness, coefficient of variation and fuel consumption was significant at 5% level of significance. CV was minimum (43.62%) at treatments combination F1S3A1. CV increased with increase in forward speed and decreased with increase in rotor speed. Maximum mat thickness of 59 mm was obtained for F1S3A1. It decreased with increase in forward speed and increased with increase in rotor speed. The weed count was minimum (10) for treatments combination F1S3A1. Weed count decreased with increase in mat thickness. Yield of the crop increased with the increase in mat thickness. Maximum yield of 47.31 q/a was observed for F1S3A1 that had maximum mat thickness of 59 mm. It was 8.98 % higher than control (without mulch). No plant damage was observed due to machine operation in the field. Average effective field capacity of the machine was 0.25 ha/h. The average fuel consumption during machine operation was 4.61 l/h.Net savings by using the developed machine increased by Rs 6665 per hectare.
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
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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 Tractor Operated Header for Cotton Harvesting
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Mishra, Pramod Kumar; Manjeet Singh
A conceptual design of 3 row finger type cotton header was done by keeping in view the harvesting of locally grown cotton varieties and regional agronomic practices. Tractor operated cotton header was developed and fabricated in collaboration with industry. Based upon review, important design and operational parameters of as finger type cotton header such as finger length, finger spacing, finger angle and forward speed were selected for the study. Field evaluation data was collected for different dependent parameters selected for the study i.e. picking capacity, field capacity, picking efficiency and losses. There was significant effect of forward speed on picking capacity and field capacity for both of the varieties i.e. RCH-773 and F-2383. Maximum picking capacity was 1865.01 and 559.50 kg/h found at combination of 600 mm (FL2), 16 mm (FS1), 12 degree (A1) and 4.5 km/h (S2) for both the varieties i.e. RCH-773 and F-2383 respectively. There was significant effect of finger spacing on picking efficiency and losses for both the varieties i.e. RCH-773 and F-2383. Minimum losses were 3.54 and 5.11 % found at combination of 700 mm (FL1), 16 mm (FS1), 15 degree (A2) and 2.63 km/h (S1) for both the varieties i.e. RCH-773 and F-2383 respectively. The best combination of independent parameters for the machine was found with 700 mm finger length (FL1), 16 mm finger spacing (FS1), 15 degree finger angle (A2) and 4.5 km/h forward speed (S2). Trash content either on seed cotton or lint basis was minimum for boll crusher + pre cleaner method of cleaning which was even lesser than the trash content for cotton picked manually. Based upon the fibre quality parameters of harvested cotton cleaned by boll crusher + pre cleaner machine was of inferior quality but cotton cleaned by boll crusher machine was of superior quality. Harvesting done by cotton stripper using old tractor as well for new tractor can save cost upto 58.2 and 55.2 % respectively as compared to the hand picking.

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