Design, development and evaluation of a tractor operated paddy straw bale shredder
Loading...
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
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.
Description
Keywords
null