Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur

The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established on 12th June 1964 at Hyderabad. The University was formally inaugurated on 20th March 1965 by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India. Another significant milestone was the inauguration of the building programme of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi,the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India on 23rd June 1966. The University was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on 7th November 1996 in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga, who rendered remarkable selfless service for the cause of farmers and is regarded as an outstanding educationist, kisan leader and freedom fighter. HISTORICAL MILESTONE Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) was established under the name of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) on the 12th of June 1964 through the APAU Act 1963. Later, it was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on the 7th of November, 1996 in honour and memory of the noted Parliamentarian and Kisan Leader, Acharya N. G. Ranga. At the verge of completion of Golden Jubilee Year of the ANGRAU, it has given birth to a new State Agricultural University namely Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University with the bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014. The ANGRAU at LAM, Guntur is serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication. Genesis of ANGRAU in service of the farmers 1926: The Royal Commission emphasized the need for a strong research base for agricultural development in the country... 1949: The Radhakrishnan Commission (1949) on University Education led to the establishment of Rural Universities for the overall development of agriculture and rural life in the country... 1955: First Joint Indo-American Team studied the status and future needs of agricultural education in the country... 1960: Second Joint Indo-American Team (1960) headed by Dr. M. S. Randhawa, the then Vice-President of Indian Council of Agricultural Research recommended specifically the establishment of Farm Universities and spelt out the basic objectives of these Universities as Institutional Autonomy, inclusion of Agriculture, Veterinary / Animal Husbandry and Home Science, Integration of Teaching, Research and Extension... 1963: The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) Act enacted... June 12th 1964: Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established at Hyderabad with Shri. O. Pulla Reddi, I.C.S. (Retired) was the first founder Vice-Chancellor of the University... June 1964: Re-affilitation of Colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Hyderabad (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Osmania University), Agricultural College, Bapatla (estt. in 1945, affiliated to Andhra University), Sri Venkateswara Agricultural College, Tirupati and Andhra Veterinary College, Tirupati (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Sri Venkateswara University)... 20th March 1965: Formal inauguration of APAU by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... 1964-66: The report of the Second National Education Commission headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, Chairman of the University Grants Commission stressed the need for establishing at least one Agricultural University in each Indian State... 23, June 1966: Inauguration of the Administrative building of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... July, 1966: Transfer of 41 Agricultural Research Stations, functioning under the Department of Agriculture... May, 1967: Transfer of Four Research Stations of the Animal Husbandry Department... 7th November 1996: Renaming of University as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga... 15th July 2005: Establishment of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University (SVVU) bifurcating ANGRAU by Act 18 of 2005... 26th June 2007: Establishment of Andhra Pradesh Horticultural University (APHU) bifurcating ANGRAU by the Act 30 of 2007... 2nd June 2014 As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014, ANGRAU is now... serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication...

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Open Access
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOTYPE RIPENED CHILLI HARVESTER
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) PRABHAKARA RAO, T; RAMANA, C
India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of chilli. Chillies are cultivated mainly in tropical and sub-tropical countries like India, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, United states of America and African countries. Chilli is believed to have been introduced to India by Portuguese explorers at Goa in 17th century. The fruit of chilli plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. It is commonly called chilli pepper, red or green pepper, or sweet pepper in Britain, and typically just capsicum in Australian and Indian English. In Indian subcontinent, chillies are produced throughout the year. Two crops are produced in kharif and Rabi seasons in the country. Chilli grown best at 20–30°C temperatures, growth and yields suffer when temperatures exceed 30°C or drops below 15°C for extended periods. Now-a-days, cost of cultivation of chilli is increased day by day due to indiscriminate use of inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and also scarcity of labour. The major harvest season is between December-March with supply reaching peak levels in February-April. Planting is held mainly during August-October. Chilli cultivation needs more number of labourers for harvesting apart from the usual field operations such as sowing, weeding, pesticide applications, etc. as compared to other field crops. It is harvested (picking) 2 to 4 times and these harvestings are within a short span of time to get the quality produce, otherwise market price of chilli will be reduced. High cost and dearth of labour for hand harvest has resulted in increased chilli production cost declining even as consumption grows. Mechanization is only the way to reduce the cost of harvest and there by cost of production to make farmer comfortable with cost of harvest. The experimental set up was designed with two counter rotating double helical rollers of each length 200 cm and overall diameter 14 cm. The base frame was developed with the height of 100 cm, width of 85 cm and length of 160 cm to house the double helical rollers inside of the base frame. The rollers were fixed in the base frame inclined to the horizontal. The electrical motor was used as a prime mover to operate the double helical rollers at required speed for harvesting of ripens chilli pods. The experimental set up was tested to optimize the design parameters to get the maximum harvesting efficiency.The experimental unit of chilli harvester was fabricated to accommodate four different gaps between two rollers and four rotational speeds of counter rotating double helical rollers. The pulleys were changed on the double helical roller to get the four numbers of speeds like 289 rpm, 393 rpm, 484 rpm and 658 rpm by keeping constant pulley on power source. The four numbers of gaps were provided between the two rollers as 31cm, 32cm, 33cm and 340cm. The chilli harvester efficiency was calculated and varied from 29% to 31%. The harvesting efficiency of experimental set up was not in the acceptable range. The experimental set up was tested in all possible operating parameter combinations. The computed harvesting efficiency of machine observed at rollers speed of 289 rpm and rollers having gap of 320 mm was 9.41% at 2.0 km. h-1 forward speed. Likewise efficiency of machine at 330 mm gap of rollers was 9.97%, 14.00% efficiency was got at 340 mm space between rollers and 13.88% machine efficiency was observed at 350 mm gap between rollers with same 289 rpm of rollers speed with 2.0 km. h-1 forward speed. The roller speed was changed to 393 rpm and the computed resultant efficiencies of machine were 15.65%, 21.04%, 42.16% and 43.78% at rollers gap 320, 330, 340 and 350 mm respectively. The machine was run at 2.0 km. h-1 forward speed 481 rpm rollers speed with 320, 330, 340 and 350 mm space between rollers and computed efficiencies were 15.50%, 46.09%, 73.21% and 64.95% respectively. The efficiencies of machine at 658 rpm rollers speed with variable gaps between rollers 320, 330, 340 and 350 mm were 15.81%, 65.52%, 73.75% and 67.02%, respectively at same forward speed 2.0 km. h-1. In the similar way the machine was tested at 3.5 km. h-1 forward speed with variable gaps between rollers 320, 330, 340 and 350 mm at variable roller speeds 289, 393, 481 and 658 rpm respectively. The maximumefficiency 59.52% at rollers speed 658 rpm with gap 340 mm and minimum efficiency was observed 7.04% at 289 rpm rollers speed with gap between rollers 320 mm. The maximum mechanical damage of the harvested crop was 3.6%. The experimental set up was modified with regards power supply to double helical rollers, rotational speed and gap between the two rollers. The prototype ripened chilli harvester was fabricated with optimized design parameters and hitched to the high clearance tractor with help of two linkages. The power was transmitted to run the double helical rollers from the high clearance tractor PTO. The machine was evaluated in the farmers fields at Murikipadu village in Guntur district. The prototype harvester was operated with the optimized combinations of rollers speed and gap between two rollers like S1G1, S1G2, S1G3, S1G4, S2G1, S2G2, S2G3, S2G4, S3G1, S3G2, S3G3, S3G4, S4G1, S4G2, S4G3 and S4G4. The prototype chilli harvester was evaluated at each combination of rollers and the harvesting efficiency of prototype ripen chilli harvester was 72.08% at the speed 2.0 km. h-1 and roller gap of 340 mm. Thecalculated efficiencies were compared with existing practice of harvesting in manual harvesting. The labour required for harvesting of ripened chilli varied from 350 to 400 man.days per acreand approximate cost incurred for pickings was Rs.93750/- per acre whereas mechanical harvesting with developed machine was Rs.1567 per picking and for two pickings it is Rs.3134 per acre (Rs.7835/- per hectare). More importantly the labour saving was 98% and 2904 man hours when compared to manual harvesting.
Open Access
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRACTOR OPERATED GROUNDNUT COMBINE FOR HARVESTED CROP
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) VENNELA, BASIREDDY; RAMANA, C
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oilseed crop in India cultivated in an area of 6.7 million hectares with a production of 7.0 million tonnes annually. The crop can be grown successfully in areas receiving the rainfall ranging from 600 to 1250 mm. The best soils for groundnut crop are sandy loam, loam and medium black with a good drainage system. The present practice of manual harvesting and threshing consumes huge amount of labour to a magnitude of about 175 to 200 women h ha-1. It is very tedious and time consuming operation and is being adopted by for small scale farming. The manual method is the process of harvesting groundnut manually by hand, using expensive human labour. Since it is a labour intensive operation, scarcity of labour is often experienced during the peak harvesting season. One of the solution for reducing losses and dependency on human labour is to mechanize both harvesting and threshing simultaneously in groundnut cultivation. Several efficient independent machines are available for harvesting and threshing separately by manual feeding, but collecting harvested crop and feeding into thresher is again a labour intensive operation. Moreover, the harvesting requires maximum energy and combining may not be feasible with a commonly available tractor. Hence, the combine was developed by designing collecting, conveying and threshing systems for harvested groundnut crop. In this process, available machines like digger shaker and wet pod thresher were evaluated and synchronized the harvested quantity with the threshing ability of selected threshing mechanism. The tractor drawn groundnut digger shaker implement was tested in a total area of 0.27 hectares of sandy loam soil. Trials were carried out and the crop was sown with recommended row spacing 30 cm and 10 cm intra row spacing. The results revealed that plant height, plant width, root length, number of plants, number of pods per plant and number of filled and unfilled pods at the time of harvest was recorded as 35.8 cm, 17.53 cm, 25.27 cm, 27.12, 20.04 and 7.08 respectively. The highest average effective field capacity obtained using tractor drawn groundnut digger shaker was 0.35 ha h-1. The highest average field efficiency of 80.10% recorded for tractor drawn groundnut digger shaker at a soil moisture content of 12%. The haulm yield of the windrows formed for a harvested distance of 10 m was 1.011 kg for xv single row, 2.128 kg for two rows and 3.518 kg for three rows. Performance of wet pod thresher selected for a design was observed at a feed rate of 870 kg h-1 and the thresher output was 227.25 kg h-1 with the total number of the labours of 7. The designed collecting unit was provided with a rake angle of 600. The maximum conveying efficiency of the groundnut combine of 82.40% for the lateral conveyor was obtained at a combination of 1.19 ms-1 peripheral velocity of picker conveyor, forward speed of 1.59 km h-1 and 10 cm spacing of flaps. From the statistical interaction it was confirmed that the second speed of the prime mower i.e. 1.59 km h-1 is optimal for the collecting, conveying and hence the forward speed of the operation was fixed as 1.59 km h-1 for ensuring better collection. Similarly, the spacing of the flaps out of 5, 10 and 15 cm, the 10 cm spaced flaps gave best results in all independent trials with respective conveying of collected crop mass. Hence spacing between flaps designed to be 10 cm. The highest lateral conveying efficiency of 92.40% was obtained at a combination of Sf2-F2-Pv2 i.e. 10 cm - 1.59 km h-1- 1.19 ms-1 which confirmed for designed collecting mechanism. In the design of vertical elevator, the increase in slat spacing from 50 to 100 mm increased the conveying efficiency at all selected levels of peg end projections and peripheral velocity. The highest vertical conveying efficiency of 92.56% was obtained at a combination of S2-Pf2-Pv2 i.e. 10cm -1200- 1.19 ms-1, which confirmed results obtained during the trial. The performance of the developed combine for the harvested crop was observed that efficiency of the lateral and vertical conveyor was 92.40 and 92.56 respectively and the effective field capacity was 0.122 ha h-1 with an average fuel consumption of about 4.67 l h-1. The threshing efficiency of the developed groundnut combine was 82.54% compared to wet pod thresher because of slow feeding of the crop into the thresher from the trough. It was observed that the operation of groundnut combine resulted in 74.92 % saving in cost when compared to conventional method of manual collecting and hand stripping. It was also concluded that, the number of hours required for operating the developed combine harvester was 6.67 machine hours + 16 man hours which was least compared to treatment T3 conventional method of collecting and threshing was 200 h. As cost reduction between T1 and T2 were 1253.75 Rs ha-1 and 1370.94 Rs ha-1, the time required for collecting and threshing was more in T2 which is of 5.7 machine hours and 56 man hours, whereas for T1, it requires only 6.67 machine hours and 16 man hours. An overall saving of man hours from the developed machine was 92% and 71.42% over T3 and T2 respectively. It was observed that the output capacity of the thresher was 216.6 kg h-1 and the broken pod loss was 1.27%. The threshing capacity was 83.58% and the cleaning efficiency was 81.68%. The machine was tested in the experimental plot and field efficiency was found to be 76.72% with optimized design parameters at 1.59 km h-1 forward speed.
Open Access
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF PUNCH PLANTER FOR MAIZE IN RICE FALLOWS
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) HARI BABU, B; JOSEPH REDDY, S
Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal food crop of the world with the highest production and productivity as compared to rice and wheat. It is the most versatile crop grown in more than 166 countries around the globe. During the year 2017-18, Andhra Pradesh ranked in 2nd in maize productivity in India.(Anonymous, 2018) Sowing is an important and time bound operation for crop cultivation. Early or delayed sowing adversely effects crop yield. The recommended seed rate has to be maintained by adopting adequate inter and intra row distance especially in maize crop. The crops grow uniformly if seeds are planted at uniform spacing. Thus, to obtain maximum yields, seeds should be planted at the desired spacing and in such a way all viable seeds germinate and emerge promptly To offer better seeding performance than conventional planters under no-till conditions a punch planter was developed which moves a minimum amount of soil and residue and offers precision in seed spacing. Minimal research has been carried to overcome limitations in punch planting concept, specifically making punches and simultaneously seed placement to obtain optimum population rate. The developed method of punch planting involves placing seeds into holes instead of furrows, which creates favorable environment for seed by providing good contact between seed and soil. The increase in use of mini tractors in all the states necessitated to design the technology for precision planting of maize to benefit the farming community. A mini tractor operated punch planter was designed and developed at College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla. It consisted of two major units with different components. The first unit was punching unit and second one seed placing unit. Punching unit draws power from tractor PTO and the main function is to punch holes in the field at a desired spacing and depth. The seed dropping unit is operated by punching rod and the main function is to drop single seed in the punches. The overall speed reduction ratios from engine to punch wheel were 22.61 and 15.53 for PTO lever position 1 and 2, respectively. In PTO lever position 1 and gear position 1, the forward speed of the tractor increased from 0.35 to 0.98 kmh-1 by increasing engine speed from 800 to 2400 rpm. In gear position 2 and 3, it was 0.80 to 1.53 kmh-1 and 1.69 to 3.28 kmh-1 , respectively. In PTO lever position 2 and gear position 1, the forward speed of the tractor increased from 0.35 to 0.99 kmh-1 by increasing the engine speed from 800 to 2400 rpm. In gear position 2 and 3 it was 0.85 to 1.68 kmh-1 and 1.75 to 3.50 kmh-1 , respectively. No effect of PTO lever position on forward speed of the tractor was observed. The mean punch spacings of 10, 16, 24, 35 and 53 cm were obtained in different gear and PTO lever positions. No significant effect on punch spacing in a particular gear and PTO lever position with forward speed of the tractor was observed. The punch spacings obtained in PTO lever position 1 and varying gear positions 1, 2 and 3 were 16, 24 and 53 cm, respectively. The punch spacings were obtained in PTO lever position 2 and varying gear positions 1,2 and 3 were 10, 16 and 35 cm, respectively. The required punch spacings can be obtained by selecting the gear and PTO lever position and the forward speed of the tractor can be maintained between 0.35 to 3.28 kmh-1. The seed miss index increased with the increase of punch planter speed in both punch spacings and also for two types of punch shapes. It was observed that in sandy clay loam soil, seed miss index was increased from 9.6 to 13.9% and 7.5 to 10.8% for 24 cm punch spacing and for type1 and type 2 punches, respectively, as the speed increased 0.8 to 1.7 kmh-1. In case of 16 cm punch spacing, it was observed that seed miss index was increased from 9.3 to 13.3% and 9.0 to 13.0% for type1 and type 2 punches, respectively, as the speed increased 0.8 to 1.7 kmh-1. The statistical analysis showed that there was a significant effect of interaction forward speed & type of punch and forward speed & punch spacing on index in both sandy clay loam and clay soil with rice fallow. decreased with the increase of punch planter speed in both punch spacings and also for two types of punches. I from 84.9 to 83.4% and 85.8 to 84.9% for 24 cm punch spacing and for type1 and type 2 punches, respectively, as spacing, it was observed that quality of feed index was decreased fro and 84.3 to 83.7% for type1 and type 2 punches respectively The theoretical field capacity was 0.1, 0.16 and 0.20 hah h-1 forward speed of operation efficiency were observed forward speeds of 0.8, 1.3 and 1.7 kmh obtained as 1.20, 1.48 and 2.14 Lh respectively. The total fixed cost with mini tractor and punch planter w 233.0/-, 18.0/- per hour with mini tractor was found to be and 66.0% in terms of manpower, time of operation and cost of operation due to use of punch planter than traditional manual sowing. Keywords: Punch planting emergence, field efficiency, operating cost. The quality of feed index In sandy clay loam soils, quality of feed index was decreased , speed increases from 0.8 to 1.7 kmh-1. For 16 cm punch from 84.0 to 83.1% respectively. hah-1 at 0.8, 1.3 and 1.7 km operations, respectively. The effective field capacity served to be 0.07, 0.12 and 0.15 hah-1 and 77.33, 74.25 and 75.33% at kmh-1, respectively. The fuel consumption was Lh-1 at operating speeds of 0.8, 1.3 and 1.7 kmh costs of sowing maize with developed prototype punch planter were 53.0/- and 35.0/- and variable cost hour, respectively. The total operating cost of the 339/- per hour. There was a saving of 50%, 58.3% % unch planting, seed dropping performance, reduction ratio, interactions seed multiple m he and field kmh-1, costs punch planter operation, respectively seedlings
Open Access
HYDRO-SOLUTE TRANSPORT MODELLING IN MOLE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS WITH SOIL OXYGENATION FOR CONTROL OF WATERLOGGING IN BLACK SOILS
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) SAMBAIAH, ANGIREKULA; RAGHU BABU, MOVVA
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is an important commercial crop with a production of 300 M t and 16 M t in India and Andhra Pradesh, with a productivity of 71.1 and 76.3 t ha-1 respectively. But the potential areas are withdrawn from sugarcane cultivation due to low yields ranging from 44 t ha-1 to 56 t ha-1 owing to the severe waterlogging problem in the present study area, Kapileswarapuram of East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. In this context, to solve this problem of waterlogging, an attempt has been made to intervene with a consortium of technologies viz., mole drainage systems and soil oxygenation to test the performance of sugarcane, model the mass and solute transport and evaluate economically for viability of the technology consortium. The scientific methods were followed to conduct pre-mole drainage investigations to find the soil characteristics, hydrological regime and groundwater table fluctuations and post drainage observations on soil, rainfall, runoff, preferential flow, drainage water, plant growth and yield attributes and economic analysis of the same. Extensive study of literature suggested that there is a minimal work conducted on mole drainage systems, as well as on soil oxygenation, that too in sugarcane, which is waterlogging sensitive crop, despite mole drainage system being very easy and low cost method of subsurface drainage and Calcium peroxide (soil oxygenation agent) being a harmless chemical, which releases oxygen in submerged conditions to the rootzone for about 14 weeks in the soil. Keeping the above points in view, the present study was undertaken to develop the consortium of technology to solve the problem of waterlogging in sugarcane. The soil texture of the study area is black soil with clay content of 52.87%, silt content of 33.25% and with sand content of 13.88%. This soil presented a bulk density of 1.15 g cm-3, with at plastic limit of 32.33%. The soil is slightly saline with ECe of 1.73 dSm-1 and pH of 7.89. The terrain of the experimental field was brought to 0.30% uniform xxii slope to avoid experimental bias and to facilitate grade to mole drains. The average saturated hydraulic conductivity of the study area soil profile is measured with auger hole method and found to be 0.30 m d-1(Pre-mole drainage) and 0.50 m d-1 (Post-mole drainage). The average depth of groundwater table is 0.30 m, b.g.l. Rainfall probability analysis revealed that the 1-day maximum rainfall event with 5-years return period is 157.0 mm which produces 101.4 mm of surface runoff and rest 55.60 mm abstraction into the soil, which upon moling, becomes drainage co-efficient for the mole drains. The SEW30 index for the study area is very high i.e. 2891.0 cm-days, double the sugarcane threshold limit. Using, the theory of Hooghoudt’s equation with additional assumptions for mole drainage spacing design, the mole drain spacing was designed to be 2 and 3 m and for sensitivity analysis purpose, 4 and 5 m spacing mole drains were also studied. The depth of mole drains were chosen to be placed at 0.4 and 0.5 m b.g.l as the 90% of the effective rootzone of sugarcane is found within 0.5 m below ground level. As an agent of soil oxygenation, calcium peroxide was chosen with an application rate of 2 g plant-1 placed at 15 cm b.g.l at midway between the plants. The experimental design selected is split-split plot design with four replications. Sugarcane variety of Co 86032 (Nayana) was selected for the study which has highest yield potential of 110.0 t ha-1, which is waterlogging sensitive variety. The seedling rate considered for the study is 25000 of seedlings ha-1 with paired row transplantation at a row to row spacing of 1.35 m and plant to plant spacing of 30 cm in zig-zag pattern. The maximum plant height at 305 DAS is 465.5 cm in 0.4 m depth mole drains with a mole drain spacing of 3 m under soil oxygenation treatment and 416.5 cm in 0.5 m mole drain depth plot with 2 m spacing with soil oxygenation, which is less than what was achieved in 0.4 m mole drain depth treatment. The average plant height in check plot WOSO (Farmer’s practice) was found to be 198.25 cm only. The sugarcane yield is the net effect of the all the treatments, which revealed that the average maximum yield of 108.92 t ha-1 was attained in 0.4 m mole drain depth with 3 m mole drain spacing and followed by 103.89 t ha-1 in 0.5 m mole drain depth with 2 m mole drain spacing and 3 m spacing in 0.5 m mole drain depth plots with soil oxygenation. In WOSO treatments, sugarcane yield of 93.08 and 92.74 t ha-1 was realised in in 0.4 m MDD - 3 m MDS and 0.5 m MDD - 2 m MDS respectively. The yield in check treatment under SO was found to be 64.60 t ha-1 and 57.91 t ha-1 in WOSO. The yield under the consortium of mole drainage and SO resulted in 88.0% more yield than check plot without soil oxygenation. The behaviour of the sugarcane yield in mole drainage systems has followed 3rd order polynomial equations in all the cases with highest co-efficient of determination ranging from 0.96 to 0.99. The total cost of mole drainage system installation was worked out to be ₹ 8,200.00, out of which, 44.0% cost goes into digging of the collector drain, 18.3% cost goes into outlet protection, 22.0% goes into actual mole plough operation. The expected life of mole drains is 3 years. The recurring cost for making moles from 4th year onwards will be only ₹ 2,300.00 for every three years, including the labour costs of ₹ 800.00 at 2016-17 prices. With the farmers practice in waterlogged soils, a loss of 16-22 paise on every rupee of investment is incurred despite the subsidy being given. In pre-drainage condition, the B:C ratio is 0.78, i.e. found to be below 1 and the net present worth is less than 0 (Negative), which infers that sugarcane cultivation in waterlogged vertisols is not a viable option to the farmers. To make it viable, either more subsidy is to be given or technologies are to be developed. In, 0.4 m mole drain depth installation, mole drainage systems with 2, 3, 4 and xxiii 5 m are found viable in consortium mode with soil oxygenation with a B:C ratio of 1.16, 1.22, 1.08 and 1.03 respectively and average IRR of 14.62%. Without soil oxygenation, only 2, 3 and 4 m are viable with B:C Ratio of 1.07, 1.13 and 1.03 respectively. But the maximum B:C ratio of 1.22 and 1.13 was achieved in 3 m spacing mole drains both in with soil oxygenation and without soil oxygenation. In 0.5 m mole drain depth installation, mole drainage systems with 2, 3 and 4 m are found viable in consortium mode with soil oxygenation with a B:C ratio of 1.19, 1.16 and 1.05 respectively with average IRR of 14.62%. Without soil oxygenation, only 2 and 3 m are viable with B:C ratio of 1.13 and 1.09 respectively. But the maximum B:C ratio was found in 2 m spacing mole drains both in with soil oxygenation and without soil oxygenation as 1.19 and 1.13 respectively. In conclusion, it can be said that the surface drainage co-efficient (overland flow) is found different from the mole drainage co-efficient (preferential flow of abstraction) and the new method adopted in the present study can be used in future. The mole drainage systems could handle larger drainage co-efficients such as 55.6 mm d-1 as in case of Kapileswarapuram. Hooghoudt’s equation was employed successfully for the design of mole drain spacing without considering the equivalent depth concept in this study. The hydraulic conductivity of the vertisol changed upon installation of mole drains from 0.3 to 0.5 m d-1 and bulk density decreased. Mole drains laid at 0.4 m depth with 2 and 3 m spacing could handle the maximum drainage flow depth of 46.1 mm d-1 of abstraction in 19.8 and 29.0 h respectively and the same was evacuated by 0.5 m depth with 2 and 3 m could in 24.4 and 35.7 h from the sugarcane fields. Soil oxygenation, a new concept studied using calcium peroxide granular powder placement in the sugarcane crop root zone proved successful in sugarcane and can be a component of consortium for mole drainage technology. Soil oxygenation agent (Calcium peroxide) did not cause any increase in soil salinity. The SEW30 index of the region was reduced from 2891 cm-days to 150 cm-days, which is far below the threshold limit of sugarcane crop. The mass and solute transport models developed and simulations using Hydrus-1D are useful for similar situations and regions. The mole drains at 0.4 m with 2 m and 3 m spacing could bring down the soil moisture to field capacity. Mole drainage systems along with soil oxygenation agents improved the oxygen reduction potential of the soil to +752 mV (Good aerated condition) from highly reduced conditions with -567 mV during heavy rainfall event. The mole drainage systems installed at 0.4 m depth at 2 and 3 m spacing could reduce the soil salinity by 65 and 50%, respectively. The mole drainage system installed at 0.5 m MDD at 2 m and 3 m spacing could reduce the soil salinity by 61 and 47% respectively. The sugarcane yield increased by 96.6% under mole drains installed at 3 m MDS at a depth of 0.4 m MDD along with soil oxygenation. The combination of mole drainage systems with soil oxygenation could bring up the BCR to 1.22 and NPW from negative to positive. Adoption of mole drainage systems with soil oxygenation using calcium peroxide granular powder provides 20-29 paise return on every rupee of investment in sugarcane. The models of mass and solute transport developed in the present study can be applied to similar situations encountered. New method for mole drainage design was developed by modifying the Hooghoudt’s assumptions. Another novel concept of low cost consortium of mole drainage with soil oxygenation is successfully experimented in waterlogged sugarcane vertisols and a new term “Draining capacity” is defined in the present study. Key words: Mole drainage, soil oxygenation, calcium peroxide, oxygen reduction potential, draining capacity, B:C ratio, Internal Rate of Return, Net Present Worth, SEW30 index, mole drainage co-efficient, waterlogging, salinity, Hydrus-1D.
Open Access
INVESTIGATION ON PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF 4-WHEEL DRIVE TRACTOR MOUNTED PADDY TRANSPLANTER
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) JAYAPRAKASH, R; ARAVIND REDDY, G
Rice (Oriza Sativa. L) is one of the most important staple food crops in the world. The total area of rice cultivation in India is 42.20 M ha which is largest in the world against a total area of 148.40 M ha. The production of rice in India is about 84.74 Mt which stands second after china (187 Mt). High labour demand during the peak rice transplanting period adversely affects the timeliness of operation, thereby, reducing the crop yield. Timeliness of rice transplanting is essential for optimizing the yield and this can be achieved only through the mechanical transplanting. The available transplanters in India were quite satisfactory in operation and labour requirement is also less but these are used in the season and kept idle condition in the off season. Moreover, the price of these transplanters is very high and majority of the farmers cannot afford to buy. Keep all these in view the investigation was carried out to mount the transplanting mechanism to 4- wheel drive tractor. The VST Mitsubishi Shakti 4-wheel drive 22 hp tractor and China make Yanji Shakti 8-row paddy transplanter were identified for design and development of 4-wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter. Planting speed of 120-250 rpm was considered to obtain optimum hill to hill spacing. The 3-D solid model of reduction gear box was made with the help of CATIA V5 R18 software. The fabricated 2 stage reduction gear box was attached to the 4-wheel drive tractor to transfer the power from PTO to paddy transplanting mechanism with the help of mounting frame. In laboratory evaluation, the speed of paddy transplanting mechanism increased with increasing the engine rpm at both PTO1 and PTO2. The recommended planting speed 120-250 rpm was found from 1750- 3000 and 1250- 2500 engine RPM for PTO1 and PTO 2 respectively. The working accuracy of 4- wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter at different PTO gear settings had no effect on the engine RPM but it affected the PTO selection, Load gear selection and hill spacing. During the evaluation, it was observed that the hill spacing of 10.5, 15.6, 34.0, 6.8, 10.9 and 24.7 cm was obtained at P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO gear settings respectively. During the preliminary field trials, the transplanter encountered problem due to greater weight transfer. This problem was overcome by ballasting front wheels with 60 kg dead weight and increases the mast height up to 20 cm. Based on the optimized values, a 4 wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter was developed and evaluated for its performance. The experimental field was laid out in completely randomized design (CRD) at Agricultural research institute, PJTSAU, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The paddy variety of RNR -15048 was selected for raising nursery.The tractor mounted paddy transplanter was operated at 1750 engine RPM based at P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations. Transplanter was further evaluated after rectifying the problem of weight transfer, the field capacity of the machine was 0.09, 0.12, 0.17, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.17 ha h-1 at an average speed of 0.89, 1.08, 1.46, 0.89, 1.14 and 1.50 kmph with the field efficiency of 54.74, 58.25, 60.18, 55.18, 57.38 and 60.47 per cent for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations respectively. The wheel slip and fuel consumption were observed as 6.7, 9.9, 6.8, 5.7, 13.7 and 8.9 per cent and 1.35, 1.39, 1.34, 1.36, 1.33 and 1.37 l h-1 for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations respectively. The field machine index was obtained as 54.74, 58.25, 60.18, 55.18, 57.38 and 60.48 per cent respectively for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations. During the evaluation, it was observed that the average hill spacing of 10.50, 15.33, 33.73, 6.17, 9.83 and 23.33 cm were obtained, the average number of seedlings per hill and depth of transplanting was obtained as 4.0, 3.33, 3.33, 5.67, 3.0 and 3.33 and 4.83, 4.83, 5.00, 4.83, 4.80 and 4.83 cm at P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 of PTO gear combinations respectively. The highest average missing hills, floating hills, buried hills and damaged hills were obtained as 24.3 and 29.3 per cent, 6.1 and 6.5 per cent, 10.1 and 7.5 per cent for P1G3 and P2G3 PTO and gear combinations respectively. This is due to unable to pick paddy seedlings properly and high rotation speed of transplanting fingers in 3rd forward gear of machine. During the evaluation the standing angle of planted seedlings were obtained as 82, 83, 84, 82, 83 and 83 degrees respectively for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 of PTO gear combinations. The highest grain yield was 6167 kg ha-1 for P1G2 whereas the lowest grain yield was obtained as 2407 kg ha-1 for P2G3of PTO & gear combinations respectively. The highest straw yield was 16800 kg ha-1 for P2G1 whereas the lowest grain yield was 7820 kg ha-1 for P1G3of PTO & gear combinations respectively. It was noted that the treatment 2 (P1G2), is significantly superior over all other treatments. There is no significance difference between treatment 4 (P2G1) and treatment 5 (P2G2) both are on par with each other and superior over treatment1 (P1G1), treatment 3 (P1G3) and treatment 6 (P2G3). From the results, the optimum hill spacing was obtained by the treatment 2 with the spacing of 15.33 cm. The total cost of operation of 4-wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter was Rs. 4898 per hectare whereas the cost of planting with hiring paddy transplanter and manual transplanting were Rs. 6250 per hectare and Rs. 5000 per hectare respectively. It was shown that the cost of operation of 4-wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter was less compared to hired paddy transplanter and manual paddy transplanting i.e., Rs. 1352 and Rs. 102 per hectare respectively. The cost of cultivation net profit for developed tractor mounted paddy transplanter were Rs. 27496 ha-1 and Rs. 71925 ha-1 respectively. The benefit-cost ratio was about 2.61. The break-even point of was estimated as 148 hours per year with the annual usage of 400 hours per year for two seasons. The annual utility and payback period were 48 ha year -1 and 4.79 years respectively.
Open Access
DEVELOPMENT OF ON-FARM PADDY DRYER COUPLED WITH A GASIFIER
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) SWAMY, R; SIVALA KUMAR
India has the largest area under paddy cultivation and second largest producer of paddy. Food grain production in the India during the year 2016 was 273.38 million tonne. Andhra Pradesh is the third largest producer of paddy in India and production was 128.95 lakh tonne. Presently combine harvesters are being used for harvesting paddy at higher moisture content ranging between 21% to 25% (w.b.) to avoid shattering losses. Freshly, harvested paddy grain with high moisture content must be dried to about 12 per cent (w.b.) within 24 hours for safe storage and milling It was estimated that an approximately 9% of paddy lost due to outdated drying methods. The use of mechanical drying is an alternative method by utilizing bio-energy through gasification process and it was found economically viable solution for drying high moisture paddy. Hence, on-farm paddy dryer coupled with gasifier was developed to dry the paddy in the present investigation. Freshly harvested, local paddy variety RNR-11718 was procured from Agricultural Research Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad to conduct experiments. Physical parameters such as bulk density, moisture content of paddy were determined and total amount of heat required for paddy drying was calculated as 250 MJ for period of 8 h. Based on heat requirement, gasifier was built up with the capacity to process 15 kg of briquettes per hour. The reactor was made up of double walled cylindrical body with 300 mm of outer cylinder diameter and 244 mm of inner cylinder diameters excluding the thickness of sheet 6 mm. Both the cylinders were made up of 3 mm M.S. sheet 18 SWG was used. The annular space of 50 mm between inner and outer cylinder was closed at the top by extending inner flange over outer flange and both were fixed air tight by using a nut and bolt. Gate valves were fixed to regulate the air flow rate and control the producer gas. Both the reactors were mounted on a mobile supporting frame. Blower was used to suck the generated gas through the GI pipe which was connected to the annulus space of the reactor. Biomass waste such as saw dust, maize cobs, cotton stalks, redgram stalk and ground shell mixtures were used for briquetting. The developed gasifier was tested with different sizes of briquettes of 15, 30 and 45 mm width and 90 mm diameter. Moisture content and bulk density of saw dust, corn cobs, chilli stalk, redgram stalk and groundnut shell were found as 6.40%, 7.04%, 7.40%, 7.8% and 8.0% (w.b.) and 177, 188, 209, 250, 299 kg m-3, respectively. Ultimate and proximate analyses of saw dust, corn cobs, chilli stalk, redgram stalk and groundnut shell was carried out. x Performance evaluation of gasifier revealed that briquette requirement rate was low at air flow rates of 20 to 25 m3 h-1 but it was observed by that increasing of air flow rate, feed demand rate was also increased up to 35 m3 h-1 and decreased with increase of further air flow rate. It was observed that, the flame height ranged from 130 mm to 60 mm. The flame temperature was 174 C for 30 mm size briquette at 35 m3 h-1 air flow rate. The maximum gas production of 32.14 m3 h-1 (average) was observed for 30 mm briquette at 30 m3 h-1 air flow rate. For 30 mm size of briquettes the gas yield ranged from 1.41 to 2.11, 1.46 to 2.57 and 0.94 to 2.44 m3 kg-1, respectively. Based on investigations, three different levels air heating temperatures 45, 52.5 and 60 C were taken to analyse the effect of temperature on drying characteristics. It was observed that, to bring down from initial moisture content of 25% (w.b) to a final moisture content of 12.6% (w.b.), drying time took 13 h at 45 °C drying air temperature, 9 h at 52.5 °C and 8 h at 60 °C, respectively. The overall thermal efficiency of the developed dryer found to be 46.83%. The average heat utilization factor was found to be 0.86, 0.69 and 0.46 for drying air temperatures 45, 52.5 and 60 °C, respectively. The average values of coefficient of performance for on-farm paddy dryer coupled with a gasifier was found to be 0.5, 0.3 and 0.4 for drying air temperatures of 45, 52.5 and 60 °C, respectively. Break-even point for on-farm paddy dryer was calculated as 23.27 months. Benefit cost ratio for developed on-farm paddy dryer coupled with a gasifier was found to be 1.36. Hence, gasifier adoption is economically viable. Keywords: airflow rate, briquettes size, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, drying characteristics, cost economics
Open Access
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH CLEARANCE UNIT IN SMALL TRACTOR FOR COTTON CROP
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) ANANDA BABU, V; RAMANA, C
Agriculture is one of the major sectors in Indian economy. Nearly 60 per cent of the population depends on agriculture and it is considered as backbone of the country. Cotton ‘the white gold’ is one of the most important commercial crops playing a key role in the economical, political and social affairs of the country. It sustains the country’s cotton textile industry, which is perhaps the largest segment of organized industries in the country. India ranks third in the world in production of cotton crop. The existing clearance of the small tractor was increased with developed high clearance unit using mild steel as a structure. The tractor was lifted up to height of 1.4 m using front and rear legs of front axle and rear axle. A frame was developed to support the tractor weight and dynamic loads of the legs were provided for all the wheels during motion. The drive from the tractor rear axle was transferred to the rear wheels using chain and sprocket arrangement for both the rear wheels. The front legs of front wheels and rear legs of rear wheels were connected using horizontal bar for proper supporting and load distribution. The dynamic analysis of the tractor with weeding and spraying unit was studied and found that, the tractor is in stable condition during operation up to a depth of 10 cm. It was found that the location of centre of gravity of tractor is 1.9 m from the ground surface. The critical speed of tractor is 2.55 ms-1 and the front and rear wheel reactions are about 208.5 kg and 796.5 kg respectively at maximum depth of operation. The spraying and weeding units were constructed on the developed high clearance unit spraying of the chemical was made possible at various stages of the crop, a spraying unit with capacity of 300 liters’ was developed and attached to the high clearance tractor. Three nozzles were used and mounted on the boom to cover three rows of the crop. The height of nozzles from the ground can be adjusted based on the crop requirement. A weeding unit was also developed and attached to the tractor to remove the weeds in-between the rows of cotton crop. A horizontal blade was used to scrape and remove the weeds from the soil. The blade used for weeding was made from cast iron and connected to the tractor rear wheels for proper supporting. Both the spraying and weeding operations can be simultaneously done in single operation which lead to reduction in cultivation cost of the crop as well as fuel consumption for single run when compared to two times operation of the tractor. The performance of the developed high clearance sprayer was evaluated in the field during the period of rabi season in 2015-16. The height of the boom and position of the nozzles were adjusted with cotton crop so that the crop was not damaged by the boom and also without interfering with spray swath and characteristics of droplets intact over plants. The constant pressure was maintained by boom sprayer for entire operation of the crop. The field performance of developed high clearance sprayer indicated that the machine can cover an area of 1200 m2 with 150 litres, the tank is refilled after spraying 0.24 ha area, the tank refilling time was 15 minutes and the was varied from 1.8 km/h to 3.2 km/h depending upon the field condition. Three types of blades developed for weeding were tested at different inclinations i.e 50, 150 and 300 and at various operating depths. It was observed maximum weeding efficiency 93 % and lower draft force 76 kg for blade 1 (plain blade with one side sharpened) at an angle of 150. Four nozzles were selected and studied the performance on farm use. It was found that solid cone nozzle is suitable for better spraying operation. Developed high clearance tractor with spraying and weeding attachment can be used simultaneously on single run so that, the time and labour can be saved and it can be used for any tall crops for intercultural operations. The cost economics analysis of developed high clearance tractor showed that 12 percent saving in cost compared with farmers traditional method. Similarly for entire crop period 199.64 man-hours were also saved with high clearance tractor compared to the manual method.
Open Access
MEMBRANE CONCENTRATION OF SWEET ORANGE JUICE FOR PRODUCTION OF POWDER
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2018) VISHNU VARDHAN, S; SATYANARAYANA, CH.V.V.
The states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana produce more than 80% of total India’s production of sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis). About 95% of the sweet orange is sold as fresh fruit for juice purpose due to lack of suitable processing technologies. The traditional methods of juice concentration, such as evaporation, which utilize heat energy, can cause undesirable changes in the product's sensory and nutritional properties. Membrane processing technology offers excellent potential to concentrate fruit juices at room temperature as an alternative to thermal evaporation, causing little or no damage to the product and preserve nutritional qualities. Further, high hygroscopicity, thermoplasticity and low glass transition temperatures of low molecular weight components such as glucose, fructose and citric acid in sweet orange juice tend to form soft particle during drying with sticky surface and pose a challenge for production of powder. Very limited previous studies were reported on developing membrane based process for concentration of sweet orange juice and value added product such as sweet orange powder. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objectives of determining physicochemical properties of sweet orange fruit as well as juice relevant to membrane processing, clarifying juice by microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF), concentrating juice using nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), producing juice powder which does not stick xx using spray and freeze drying, conducting studies on sorption characteristics and extending shelf-life of powder using suitable packaging material. Fresh fruits were graded based on weight (<150 g as grade III; 150–275 g as grade II and >275 g as grade I). Certain selected engineering and physico-chemical properties such as physical dimensions, fruit mass, juice content, colour (%Absorption at 420 nm), clarity (by %Transmittance at 650 nm and also turbidity measurement) of juice, viscosity, pH and total soluble solids (TSS) were determined. The juice content of grade II fruits was more when compared to grade I and grade III fruits. Statistical analysis revealed that the major, intermediate and minor axial dimensions, fruit weight, juice content, pH, TSS of juice were significant at 5% level for three grades of fruits. Further, juice density, juice clarity and colour of sweet orange juice of the three grades of fruit were found to be nonsignificant at 5% level. Polynomial equations fitted best for correlation between fruit weight and juice content and also viscosity of the juice and TSS. MF and UF were used for clarification of muslin cloth pre-filtered sweet orange juice. Depending upon permeate flux decline and requirement of end product such as clarified juice or juice powder, one among MF and UF was used for juice clarification. All the membrane processing experiments were conducted in a stirred cell setup with a stirring rate of 1500 ±100 rpm. MF membrane made of cellulose acetate and 0.2 μm pore size were operated at transmembrane pressures (TMP) of 68.94, 137.89 and 206.94 kPa. UF membranes made of polyamide 50, 30 and 10 kDa molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) were operated at TMPs of 344.73, 689.47 and 1034.20 kPa. The study indicated that the permeate flux decreased rapidly at initial stage and gradually, thereafter, in both MF and UF of fruit juice. The rapid flux decline was mainly attributed to deposition and growth of polarized gel type layer formed by retained pectin and higher molecular weight proteins, cellulose and hemicelluloses. Initial as well as steady state permeates flux of MF was relatively more than that of UF during clarification. Existing mathematical models were applied to determine the type of fouling such as pore narrowing, pore blocking and gel layer formation. Fouling in MF and UF was due to formation gel layer preceded by intermediate pore blocking. Specific gel layer resistances at different TMPs were computed and gel compressibility constant was determined. Further, porosities of the gel were also computed at various TMPs. Specific gel layer resistances increased as TMP increased. Gel porosity decreased due to the formation of compact gel layer at higher TMPs. Further, xxi intrinsic membrane resistance, reversible resistance and irreversible resistance were determined for each membrane at various TMPs to confirm the possible fouling mechanisms. In both MF and UF, reversible resistance was considered controlling resistance (91-95% of the total resistance) as recovery of around 90% original permeate flux was achieved by following proper washing protocol using water for cleaning. Quality analysis of permeate obtained in MF and UF indicated that almost all of the total soluble solids (TSS), pH and vitamin-C were recovered except large pectinaceous haze forming components. The mean values of colour, clarity, viscosity of feed and permeate differed at 5% level of significance. Clarification using MF of 0.2 μm pore membrane operated at TMP of 206.84 kPa was found to be suitable to produce sweet orange powder after concentration. Pre-filtered and MF clarified juice was concentrated by RO at TMPs of 5.5 MPa in two stages. During stage I, concentration of sweet orange juice on retentate side increased from 10.7 to 14.3 °Brix. During stage II, final concentration obtained was 17.9 °Brix. Increased colour (%A420) indicated that retentate (2.196%) had become darker when compared to fresh juice (2.075% absorbance). Further, clarity (%T650) decreased in retentate side (5.4 to 5.2%) due to increased concentration of the juice and no haze was detected on the permeate side (98.2% transmittance). Further, viscosity of concentrated sweet orange juice increased. Vitamin-C content in the retentate increased from 40.1 to 73.48 mg/100 g. The concentrated sweet orange juice stored at refrigerated conditions (6-7 °C) remained safe up to 25 days of storage. Spray drying of pre-filtered, MF clarified juices both control and RO concentrate was carried out to study the effect of inlet air temperatures 120, 130 and 140 °C and at three levels of juice TSS : maltodextrin addition at 1:0.5, 1:1 and 1:1.5 on the quality of powder. At a constant inlet air temperature, process yield increased with increase in concentration of maltodextrin. Similarly, at a particular maltodextrin concentration, as the inlet air temperature increased, the process yield also increased. Control sweet orange juice yielded maximum process yield of 41.16% at an inlet air temperature of 140 °C and with juice: maltodextrin concentration of 1:1.5. Similarly, highest process yield of 56.95% was obtained in case of RO concentrated juice at a temperature of 120 °C and maltodextrin concentration of 1:1.5. Vitamin C retention is spray dried powder was in the range of 39.14 to 58.8 mg/100 g. xxii Freeze drying of pre-filtered and MF clarified sweet orange juice both control and RO concentrate was carried out to study the effect of the different juice TSS:Maltodextrin addition at 1:0.5, 1:1 and 1:1.5 on the quality of sweet orange powder. The process yield was in the range of 90.78-94.45 and 92.75-95.78% for control and RO concentrate juices, respectively. Further, vitamin-C retention in freeze dried powder was in the range of 53.25 to 63.75 mg/100 g and was higher than spray dried powder. The sorption isotherms of spray dried sweet orange powder followed the sigmoidal shape (Type 2 according to GAB model). Regression equation between water activity and equilibrium moisture content (%d.b.) was given as EMC (%d.b.) = 0.947 e4.311a w. Monolayer moisture content (Mo) in GAB model (8.969% d.b.) was higher than that of BET counterpart (7.752% d.b.). Both BET and GAB models gave a very close estimate of experimental EMC. Powder was packed in heat-sealable laminated three layered PET (15 μm)-Aluminium foil (9 μm)-LDPE (50 μm) pouches. Accelerated storage at 90% RH and 38±2 oC in an incubator was used for developing moisture ingress and storage time relationships. A graphical relationship between the time of storage and the moisture content of powder was established and the variation of experimental moisture content with time of storage was predicted. Further, time required for the moisture content of the powder to increase from an initial value of 0.0377 kg water/kg dry solids to its critical value of 0.063 kg water/kg dry solids, where powder started forming lumps was found to be 135 days experimentally and time predicted was 144 days. Time to reach GAB monolayer value Mo = 0.098 kg water/kg dry solids was predicted as 293 days. Model presented for predicting the shelf-life of sweet orange powder was adequate. Model to predict the degradation of vitamin-C content during storage followed first order kinetics with an estimated rate constant of -0.017 (day-1). Key words: Clarification, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, fouling, membrane processing, sweet orange juice, gel layer concentration, spray drying, freeze drying, sorption studies, BET model, GAB model
Open Access
OPTIMUM ALLOCATION OF SURFACE AND GROUND WATER RESOURCES OF APPAPURAM CHANNEL COMMAND IN KRISHNA WESTERN DELTA
(Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2017) KISHAN, K; HEMA KUMAR, H.V.
The sustainability of water resources is a critical issue against the backdrop of rising water demand for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses as the world needs about 60% more food (FAO, 2013) to feed the 9.5 billion people in 2050 (United Nations, 2012). The issue has become more challenging in the light of shrinking water resources due to urbanization, contamination, and climate change impacts. The Central Ground Water Board strongly emphasized and recommended conjunctive use of surface water and ground water should be followed not only to meet the requirements of tail-end areas but also to reduce the water logging and salinity problems. Appapuram channel (commands about 10,000 ha and is of 43.186 km length) is a Commamuru canal in Krishna Western Delta (KWD), flowing through agricultural fields of Chebrolu, Vatticherukuru and Kakumanu mandals of Guntur district is found to be appropriate as per its representative scope for conjunctive use planning. Hence this research study, titled “Optimum Allocation of Surface and Ground Water Resources of Appapuram Channel in Krishna Western Delta” is proposed on a pilot scale to fulfill the following objectives. i) To assess the surface water quality and quantity available in Appapuram channel command. ii) To estimate the ground water resources quality and quantity available in the channel command. iii) To estimate the irrigation water requirements of existing and other high value crops in the channel command using Aqua Crop model. iv) To optimize the use of surface and ground water resources using LINGO and other models to maximize the profit in the channel command. v) To study the institutional management and capacity building aspects for the successful implementation of identified conjunctive use planning. The command area of Appapuram channel, which branches form Commamuru branch canal (Krishna Western main canal) near Sangam Jagarlamudi lock is selected as the study area. It spreads over 10000 ha and is on an average 6 m above the mean sea level. Interaction meetings and interviews with the farmers, WUA members were conducted to collect the information regarding the cropping pattern, canal supplies, demand and short falls. Field visits were made to study the actual cropping pattern existing in the command. Though the crops like paddy, cotton, maize, chillies, black gram, and green gram and sugarcane are commonly grown in the area, for the past three years, farmers were growing paddy, in kharif and maize, blackgram in rabi seasons respectively. The model CROPWAT was run to calculate the effective rainfall which is an important parameter for calculating crop irrigation requirement. The canal water release data for 10 years (2005-2015) were collected from Water Resources Department at Bapatla in AP and analyzed for further investigation. The details of crops grown in the command, climate, soil data etc. collected are used to assess the net irrigation requirement in the distributary using Aqua Crop 4.0 Model. ‘LINGO’ model is chosen for the study for optimized allocation of to maximize the net profit. To summaries the results, For branche no.1,2,8 & 9, there is no feasibility of conjunctive use planning at present in view of saline ground water. For branch no. 3, 4, 5, 6,7 & 8 the profit could be increased when 40% and 50% additional ground water is pumped from the commands. Though different crops tried, the model allocated more area for chillies followed by rice and cotton in view of their high value and profit contribution. For branch No.1 of Appapuram canal, if 100% and 90% of surface water alone is utilized, a profit of Rs. 59.35lakh and Rs.53.41 lakh respectively could be obtained. For branch No. 2 of the canal, if 100% surface water alone is used, a maximum profit of Rs. 175.54 lakh rupees could be obtained. For branch No.3 if 100% surface water, 100% surface water+ 20% Ground Water, 100% surface water+ 30% Ground water, 100% surface water+ 40% 100% surface water+ 50% are utilized, a profit of Rs. 125.87 Rs.169.46, 191.25 and 213.05 lakh could be obtained respectively. For branch No.4, if 100% surface water, 100% surface water+ 20% Ground Water, 100% surface water+ 30% Ground water, 100% surface water+ 40% 100% surface water+ 50% are utilized a profit of Rs. 37.37, 50.02, 56.77, 63.23 and 69.71 lakh could be obtained respectively. For branch No.5, if 100% surface water, 100% surface water+ 20% Ground Water, 100% surface water+ 30% Ground water, 100% surface water+ 40% 100% surface water+ 50% are utilized a profit of Rs. 106.37, 143.20, 161.60, 180.02, and 198.43 lakh respectively could be obtained respectively. For branch No.6, if 100% surface water, 100% surface water+ 20% Ground Water, 100% surface water+ 30% Ground water, 100% surface water+ 40% 100% surface water+ 50% are utilized a profit of Rs. 130.45, 175.64, 198.22, 220.79, and 243.38lakh respectively could be obtained respectively. For branch No.7, if 100% surface water, 100% surface water+ 20% Ground Water, 100% surface water+ 30% Ground water, 100% surface water+ 40% 100% surface water+ 50% are utilized a profit of Rs. 18.925, 34.32, 48.577 and 62.17 lakh respectively could be obtained respectively. For branch No.8 if 100% of surface water alone is utilized, a profit of Rs. 35.355lakh respectively could be obtained. For branch No.9, if 100% of surface water alone is utilized, a profit of Rs. 29.47 lakh respectively could be obtained. As per the survey conducted in the entire command, it lacks the involvement of institutes particularly in conjunctive use of surface and ground water resources. There is lot of gap and capacity building is highly essential for the line departments and farmers in formulating and for the successful implementation of the conjunctive use plans. From the above study, it could be concluded that an additional benefit of Rs. 5000- 8000/-/per ha could be foreseen if conjunctive use plans of surface and ground water are implemented in the command.

Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur

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