Design and development of manually operated ridge vegetable planter
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Date
2016
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Abstract
India is second largest producer of vegetables with vegetable production of 121.02 million
tonne contributing 10.65% of world’s total vegetable production next only to China and it occupies first position
in okra production. At this level of vegetable production, sowing or planting operations are one of the least
mechanized operations in vegetable production. The availability of agricultural labourers and lower wages for
agricultural labourer worsen the problem. Power operated planters pose limits on precision and control with
which planting operation can be performed while keeping them affordable. Also, manual method of seed
planting results in irregular seed to seed spacing and poor depth control of seed placement in addition to fatigue.
Thus this study was undertaken to design, develop and evaluate a manually operated ridge vegetable planter.
The manual ridge vegetable planter consisted of seed metering mechanism–a plastic (ABS) seed roller having
the Anjul cells on its periphery, main frame, speed reduction unit, handle, seed tube and tyne. Roller tyres were
mounted on two forks which were attached to the main frame. Seed metering mechanism received power from
rear roller tyre. Seed tube with conical seed capturing funnel were provided to guide seed to the boot of tyne.
Tyne was mounted on tyne bolt for intra-row spacing adjustment. At forward speed of travel 1.60 kmh–1, and at
optimum 7 mm cell and 1.40 kmh–1 peripheral speed of seed roller, it was evaluated for okra planting. There was
no seed damage caused by the planter. Effective field capacity of the planter was 0.046 hah–1 with field
efficiency of 86.79%. No missing and multiple index was observed. The draft requirement of the planter was 4.4
kgf. Planting of okra seeds by developed planter resulted into net saving of Rs. 813 per hectare. The payback
period and benefit cost ratio of the planter was 2.01 years and 1.56, respectively. The labour requirements with
the developed planter was 21.73 man-hours per hectare saving 51.1% time of planting in one hectare area in
comparisons to manual dibbling.
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Keywords
Sowing, Planting equipment, Tillage equipment, Planting, Vegetables, Costs, Land resources, Cultivation, Mechanization, Spacing