DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SMALL TRACTOR OPERATED SEED PLANTER FOR DIRECT SOWING OF PADDY
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Date
2015
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Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur
Abstract
Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important food crops of India in terms of area, production and consumer preference. Rice production in India crossed the mark of 100 million tons in 2011-12 accounting for 22.81% of global production in that year. In India, rice is an important ingredient of household food-basket, yet its yield level is low, stagnant and uncertain (Barah, 2009). The leading states in rice cultivation are Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh rice is largely grown in coastal districts, which contribute 60 percent of the state rice production. The research conducted at various locations revealed that late transplanting of the rice crop reduces the yield in the range of 30-60 percent. Direct seeding avoids three basic operations, namely, puddling (a process where soil is compacted to reduce water seepage), transplanting and standing water, thereby saving about 30% water (0.9 million liters of water/acre). Rice is directly seeding either through dry or wet (Pregerminated) seeding. These can be achived with mechanical seed drills operated with 31-40 hp tractors. Small and marginal land holding farmers feel it difficult to purchase 31-40 hp tractors. Seed drills are used to place the seeds continuously in furrows and maintain row to row spacing. The plants largely depend on solar radiation, temperature, available moisture and soil fertility for their growth and nutrition requirements. A dense population of crops may have limitations in the maximum availability of these factors. The research revealed that the ground wheel slip affects the dropping of seed in small tractor operated planter by changing the seed rate of the planter and ground wheel slip is high at low forward speed. Ground wheel slip can be eliminated by using the DC motor to operate the seed metering mechanism. DC motor could run at different rpm by varying the voltage of the battery and setting the tractor speeds at constant by using throttle lever (Hand accelerator). So there is dire need of small tractor operated planter for direct
Name of the Author : NIZAMPATNAM RAKESH
Title of the thesis : “DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION OF A SMALL TRACTOR
OPERATED SEED PLANTER FOR DIRECT
SOWING OF PADDY”
Degree to which it is submitted : Master of Technology
Faculty : Agricultural Engineering & Technology
Major field of study : FARM MACHINERY AND POWER
Major Advisor : Er. G. VEERA PRASAD
University : Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University
Year of Submission : 2015
sowing of paddy suitable for small farm mechanization.
The present study was conducted on the “Development and performance evaluation of a small tractor operated seed planter for direct sowing of paddy” which was carried out at College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla. An attempt was made to development of seed planter with battery drive and evaluated for its performance with ground wheel drive i.e. seed rate, seed damage, field efficiency, fuel consumption, seed to seed spacing, depth of sowing etc and compared with planter operated with ground wheel. Working width of developed seed planter is 1.25 m, spacing between two furrow openers are 25 cm and no. of furrow openers are five. L3S2D1 setting was selected for the seed planter as it providing recommended seed rate with minimum damage. Effective field capacities of the developed seed planter with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 0.301 ha h-1 and 0.299 ha h-1 respectively. The fuel consumption of tractor for sowing of seed with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 1.87 and 0.89 l h-1 respectively. Seed miss index was zero for battery drive and ground wheel drive due to picking of 3 no. of seeds per each cell and vibration of the implement was less at constant forward. The spacing between seed to seed for planter with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 23.2 cm and 25.1 cm respectively. Depth of sowing for seed planter with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 5.4 cm and 5.5 cm respectively. Germination of seeds for planter with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 97% and 96% respectively. Plant population in one square meter for planter with battery drive and ground wheel drive was 34 and 32 respectively. Cost of operation for developed planter, local seed drill and manual transplanting was Rs. 950, 1440 and Rs. 2665 respectively. Finally it concluded the seed planter with battery drive with L3S2D1 setting is suitable for direct sowing of paddy.
Keywords: Seed planter, Battery drive and Ground wheel drive, seed to seed spacing, field efficiency
Description
D5216
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