NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT STUDIES IN SWEET CORN
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Date
2018
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Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University
Abstract
Agriculture is one of the most significant sectors of the Indian economy. Population of India is 1.332 billion in 2017 and estimated an increase in population of 1.807 billion by the end of 2050. Hence, it is required to produce more food to meet the needs of growing population. Yield of a crop can be increased by using high yield variety of seeds or using proper agricultural practices and preventing yield loss due to natural factors like weeds, insects, rodents, etc. Out of these factors weed is one of important component which cause the serious damage to the crop yield, this include the decrease in crop yield, increase the cost of production, lower the quality of crop. Weed causes 20-30% loss in yield which might increase up to 80% if adequate crop practices are not observed. Adoption of proper weed management technologies results in additional national income of Rs. 1, 05,036 crores per annum (NRCWS, 2007).
Present study was carried out on development of adjustable self-propelled basket weeder. Prototype of basket power weeder was developed by considering the optimized gear ratio of 1:2 among the three gear ratios, through manually operated test weeder and the prototype weeder was evaluated for its performance parameters such as weeding efficiency, weed index, plant damage, effective field capacity, field efficiency, performance index, fuel consumption and cost of operation of weeder in groundnut, maize, chilli and cotton crops. Results of the basket test weeder showed the weeding efficiency of 68.92%, 81.93% and 75.47% with 1:1.5, 1:2 and 1:3 gear ratios, respectively. Plant damage was 1.6%, 0.96% and 2.38% with 1:1.5, 1:2 and 1:3 gear ratios, respectively. Field efficiency was found to be 78.86%, 83.92% and 60.36% with 1:1.5, 1:2 and 1:3 gear ratios, respectively.
Results of the adjustable self-propelled basket power weeder showed the highest and lowest values of weeding efficiency were obtained as 79.49% in maize crop and 76.33% in groundnut crop at 30 days of weeding operation. Highest and lowest values of weeding efficiency at 60 days of weeding operation were obtained as 75.59% in maize crop and 70.57% in groundnut crop. Plant width increased about 3% to 4% of plant damage at 60 days of weeding operation compared to 30 days of weeding operation in all the four crops. High field efficiency was found to be 80.07% in maize followed by 79.89% in cotton, 79.63% in groundnut crop and low was found to be 79.39% in chilli crop. High performance index was obtained as 93.09 in maize followed by 89.75 in cotton, 87.92 in chilli and lower was found to be 86.31 in groundnut crop. Less fuel consumption was found to be 0.58 L h-1 in chilli crop followed by 0.60 L h-1 in both groundnut and cotton crops and higher was obtained as 0.62 L h-1 in maize crop. Reduction in cost of weeding operation by using prototype weeder over the manual weeder is 74.80%, 74.95%, 74.72% and 74.89% in groundnut, maize, chilli and cotton crops respectively. Saving of time by using prototype basket power weeder over manual weeder is 94.51%, 94.54%, 94.48% and 94.52% in groundnut, maize, chilli and cotton crops, respectively.
Description
D5507
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