scholarly journals Energetics and Cost Economics of Laying Plastic Mulch in Vegetable Cultivation

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
. Omprabha ◽  
V. M. Victor ◽  
A. K. Chandraker ◽  
Nawang Palden Bhutia
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Method ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Average Field ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Agricultural Engineering ◽  
Plastic Mulching ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Field Efficiency

The use of plastic mulch in agriculture is increasing day by day due for increasing crop yield. Mulch film are available in different types but plastic mulching requires less efforts. This paper highlights a new developed mulch laying machine for spreading of polyethylene black plastic mulch on soil. Animal drawn plastic mulch laying machine was developed at the SV College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, IGKV, Raipur and was evaluated for its performance by conducting field trials. The average field capacity and average field efficiency was found to be 0.115 ha/h and 71% respectively. The average speed of operation was found 1.35 km/h for developed machine and 0.226 km/h for traditional method of mulch laying. The cost of operation was found to be Rs.1343/ha. Energy requirement of developed machine in mulch laying operation was found 187.34 MJ/ha it was found very less than the energy requirement 754.60 MJ/ha of traditional method of mulch laying. This machine will avoid the wages of labours used for laying plastic mulch and covers the plastic mulch with the soil on its either side edges. Using the mechanical system, the accuracy and ease during plastic laying was achieved.

scholarly journals Design and development of shovel type-spring steel furrow opener for cultivator mounted seed metering mechanism

BIBECHANA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
Ajay Verma ◽  
Ankitesh Shrivastava
Keyword(s):  
Power Transmission ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Spring Steel ◽  
Chain Drive ◽  
Agricultural Engineering ◽  
Furrow Opener ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
The Cost

The cultivator mounted seed metering mechanism consists of cultivator frame, tines, seed box, seed tubes, metering mechanism, power transmission unit, furrow opener and hitching attachments. The drawings of the developed machine were generated using CAD software and the machine was fabricated in the workshop of Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, IGAU, Raipur. Power was transmitted from ground wheel through sprocket-chain drive to the main shaft. At the average working speed of 3.8 km/h of tractor drawn cultivator, depth of operation was found 129 mm, average weed efficiency was found 76.42 %,effective field capacity was found 0.826 ha/h with field efficiency of 87.40 %. The cost of operation and energy requirement of cultivator was found to be Rs 387 per ha and 241 MJ/ha. The Energy requirement for cultivator-cum-seed drill was found to be 454.18 MJ/ha.BIBECHANA 15 (2018) 79-84

scholarly journals Evaluating the Suitability of a Combine Harvester Equipped with the Sunflower Header to Harvest Cardoon Seeds: A Case Study in Central Italy

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1981
Author(s):  
Francesco Latterini ◽  
Walter Stefanoni ◽  
Simone Sebastiano ◽  
Gian Maria Baldi ◽  
Luigi Pari
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Seed Loss ◽  
Combine Harvester ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
Available Technology ◽  
Harvesting Stage

Cardoon seeds have been proved to thrive in the Mediterranean region, even under low input management and its biomass is suitable for several food and industrial uses. Despite that, a proper value chain has not been set properly and uncertainty still lays among producers and industries, particularly concerning the harvesting stage. The present study supports, via field trials, the hypothesis that cardoon seeds can be harvested using a conventional combine harvester equipped with the sunflower header. Theoretical field capacity (TFC), effective field capacity (EFC), and field efficiency (FE) were 2.36 ha h−1, 2.05 ha h−1, and 1.82 Mg h−1, respectively, while harvesting costs were calculated as 69.52 € ha−1. Seed loss was only 3.2% w/w of the potential seed yield. The machinery’s performance, costs, and seed loss are comparable with sunflower harvesting, underlying the possibility to use the available technology directly to harvest cardoon seeds.

scholarly journals Development and Performance Evaluation of a Hand-Pushed Tiger Nut Harvester

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Galvanized Steel ◽  
Average Field ◽  
Operating Speed ◽  
Materials Selection ◽  
Harvesting Method ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
And Performance

Harvesting is one of the major problems encountered by tiger nut farmers in Nigeria. Manual harvesting system is the most commonly used method. This process is costly, labour intensive and time-consuming. The process does not also give farmers adequate returns to enable them to break even due to huge losses encountered. The objective of this study was to design, construct and evaluate a hand-pushed harvester that would eliminate the challenges being faced by small and medium tiger nut farmers during harvesting. Materials selection for constructing the harvester were based on their durability and availability, affordability and ease of replacement if damaged. They include mild steel (3 mm, 5 mm), 30 mm galvanized steel hollow pipe, 10 mm diameter steel rod, and 400 mm steel tyre. The developed harvester was evaluated at the experimental farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR). Results of the study show that the average field capacity ranges from 0.28 – 0.33 ha/h while the average field efficiency was between 77.78 – 80.49% depending on operating speed, moisture content and other properties of the soil. No field damage was recorded when the harvester was used as against an approximate 10.50% damage recorded in the manual harvesting method.

scholarly journals Effect of mulch materials on soil physico-chemical properties and the performance of castor bean plant (Ricinus communis) in rivers state, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. A. Orji ◽  
I.P. Eke
Keyword(s):  
Castor Bean ◽  
Ricinus Communis ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Bean Plant ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Plastic Mulching ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Mulches are known to conserve soil moisture, provide organic matter, protect soil and improve the soil as a growing environment. A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of various mulch materials viz. dry oil palm bunch, saw dust and dry elephant grass at 25, 50 and 25 tons ha-1, respectively along with black plastic mulch on some soil physical and chemical properties and the performance of castor bean plant (Ricinus communis). All the mulches were applied to a mulch thickness of 5cm in this study. Results showed that pH values, organic carbon content and total nitrogen were all significantly improved by mulching. Bulk density values were reduced to 1.10 - 1.18gcm-3 across all treatments, when compared to the control at 1.33gcm-3. At 6 WAP, plastic mulching increased number of leaves from 16 to 40 leaves per plant and capsule weight from 63.1 to 161.3g/plant; when compared with the control.

Physical, Cultural, and Chemical Alternatives for Integrated Management of Charcoal Rot of Strawberry

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. PDIS-04-20-0917
Author(s):  
Juliana S. Baggio ◽  
Rafaela G. Ruschel ◽  
Joseph W. Noling ◽  
Natalia A. Peres
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Management ◽  
Macrophomina Phaseolina ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Charcoal Rot ◽  
Residue Removal ◽  
Cultural Methods ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Disease Pressure

Macrophomina phaseolina, the causal agent of charcoal rot in strawberry, induces plant wilting and collapse. The pathogen survives through the production of microsclerotia in the soil and in strawberry debris. However, its management is difficult, and the disease has become an increasing problem for the strawberry industry. Physical, cultural, and chemical alternatives for integrated management of charcoal rot were evaluated in laboratory and field trials during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 strawberry seasons. In a laboratory trial, M. phaseolina microsclerotia were subjected to heat treatment and germination was inhibited at 52, 56, 80, and 95°C after 30, 10, 1, and 0.5 min of exposure, respectively. In infected strawberry crowns, microsclerotial viability was reduced after 5 min, regardless of temperature, whereas in the field, reduction was observed after 1 min. In field trials, charcoal rot incidence of inoculated strawberry plants transplanted into white-striped plastic-mulched beds was reduced to 20.8%, compared with 60.8% for plants grown in the black plastic mulch. On commercial farms, crop residue removal from infested areas reduced the M. phaseolina population in the soil but did not decrease charcoal rot incidence. Moreover, M. phaseolina propagule densities in the soil and in strawberry debris was reduced by fumigant application at crop termination but surviving propagules allowed the population to increase over the summer. Furthermore, preplant fumigation with metam potassium reduced soil population and charcoal rot incidence. Overall, the adoption of integrated approaches such as physical, chemical, and/or cultural methods played a significant role in reducing M. phaseolina inoculum and contributed to control of the disease in areas with high disease pressure.

scholarly journals Performance Evaluation and Viability of a Pedestrian-type Low Land Cabbage Transplanter

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Fazly Mail
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Traditional Method ◽  
Work Rate ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Agricultural Labor ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Machine Performance ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
Transplanting Machine

This article reports on the performance and costs of owning and operating a pedestrian-type low land cabbage transplanting machine. The tests were carried out on tin-tailing soil at MARDI Kundang Research Station. They were undertaken in view of the need to mechanize low land cabbage transplanting operation due to shortage of agricultural labor. The machine performed satisfactorily when operated on planting bed with or without the existence of the plastic mulch. Cabbage seedlings required bigger holes on the planting bed which is layered with plastic mulch in order to avoid mortality of seedlings due to the heat absorbed by the plastic. Based on the performances test, the results showed that the field efficiency were 91.36% and 92.21% for with and without plastic mulch respectively on the planting bed. On average, 407s were recorded for the machine to transplant the seedlings along 100m planting bed. Compared with the traditional method, the transplanter could give 82-85% saving in labor required to plant the seedlings. The calculated break-even annual use for the implement was 33 ha/year. The implement was projected to be viable to use for 1600 h/year.Keywords: low land cabbage; transplanter; machine performance; work rate, viability

scholarly journals Performance of machinery in potato production in one growing season

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. e0215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Zhou ◽  
Allan L. Jensen ◽  
Dionysis D. Bochtis ◽  
Claus G. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Field Capacity ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Potato Production ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Average Field ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
Potential Improvement ◽  
American Society

<p>Statistics on the machinery performance are essential for farm managers to make better decisions.<strong> </strong>In this paper, the performance of all machineries in five sequential operations, namely bed forming, stone separation, planting, spraying and harvesting in the potato production system, were investigated during one growing season. In order to analyse and decompose the recorded GPS data into various time and distance elements for estimation of the machinery performance, an automatic GPS analysis tool was developed. The field efficiency and field capacity were estimated for each operation. Specifically, the measured average field efficiency was 71.3% for bed forming, 68.5% for stone separation, 40.3% for planting, 69.7% for spraying, and 67.4% for harvesting. The measured average field capacities were 1.46 ha/h, 0.53 ha/h, 0.47 ha/h, 10.21 ha/h, 0.51 ha/h, for the bed forming, stone separation, planting, spraying, and harvesting operations, respectively. These results deviate from the corresponding estimations calculated based on norm data from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The deviations indicate that norms provided by ASABE cannot be used directly for the prediction of performance of the machinery used in this work. Moreover, the measured data of bed forming and stone separation could be used as supplementary data for the ASABE which does not provide performance norms for these two operations. The gained results can help farm managers to make better management and operational decisions that result in potential improvement in productivity and profitability as well as in potential environmental benefits.</p>

scholarly journals Technical performance evaluation of a double row tractor operated yam minisett planter

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 001-011
Author(s):  
Albert K. Arkoh ◽  
Emmanuel Y.H Bobobee ◽  
Ahmad Addo
Keyword(s):  
Field Capacity ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Plant Spacing ◽  
Wheel Slip ◽  
Double Row ◽  
Technical Performance ◽  
Field Efficiency ◽  
Planter Performance

Uniformity in plant spacing, evenness of dropping, planter capacity and among others has been identified as constraints facing planter performance. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the technical performance of the developed double row yam minisett (DRYM) planter. Category (I) tractor 50 hp was used to carry out field trials to determine the metering efficiency, effective field capacity, evenness of dropping, fuel consumption and wheel slippage. Three (3) yam varieties (pona, dente and CRI afase biri) of the average weight of 50 g with moisture content (82 %) were used for the test. Multivariate and (ANOVA) statistical method was used for analyzing the similarities among the tractor speed using OriginPro 2018 software. Metering efficiency (80.4%), effective field capacity (3.84 h/ha), field efficiency (66.6%), evenness of dropping (81.00%), and wheel slip (3.39%) were recorded. The use of developed planter will be expected to reduce human drudgery and also timeliness improvement. The study concluded that planter should be used on relatively flat (ploughed-harrowed) land to avoid wheel not touching the ground.

Effect of Mulching, Shading, Spacing and Cutting Thickness on Propagation of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) by Cuttings

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Phuntsog Dolkar ◽  
Phuntsok Angmo ◽  
Diskit Dolkar ◽  
Bhuvnesh Kumar ◽  
Om Praksah Chaurasia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hippophae Rhamnoides ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Basal Diameter ◽  
Hippophaë Rhamnoides ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Plastic Mulching ◽  
Cent Time ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Hippophae Rhamnoïdes L

<p>The effect of plastic mulching, coloured shade netting, spacing and cutting thickness on rooting success and growth of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) through hard wood cuttings is addressed. Use of silver black plastic mulching film resulted in 10 per cent higher rooting success and significant plant growth. Suppression of weed emergence by the plastic mulch resulted in 75.8 per cent time saving in manual weeding by farm workers. No significant gender difference in rooting success was observed. Reduction in light intensity by 66 per cent using green shade net resulted in significant reduction in rooting and growth of nursery plants. Three different spacing between cuttings did not show significant difference in rooting and growth related parameters suggesting that cuttings can be planted denser (3"×3") under mulching to get higher number of nursery stock per unit area. Cutting thickness showed significant effect on rooting success. Highest rooting percentage was observed in pencil thickness cuttings (7.5 ± 1.6 mm dia) followed by cuttings with 2.9 ± 0.8 mm and 11.3 ± 1.7 mm basal diameter. The result of the present study could facilitate establishment of a vegetative propagation method wherein faster growth and larger number of cuttings can be propagated with higher rooting success rate.</p>

scholarly journals Evaluating the Effect of Plastic Mulching and Irrigation Amount on Soil Moisture Distribution

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-85
Author(s):  
A. Selvaperumal ◽  
S. Thangamani ◽  
E. Sujitha
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Moisture Distribution ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Irrigation Amount ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Plastic Mulching ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Soil Moisture Distribution

In India, the irrigated area comprises about 36% of the net sown area. Currently, the agricultural sector accounts for about 83% of all water uses. Drip irrigation system uniformity can maintain a higher crop yield and reduce the initial investment of cost. The study was conducted at precision farming development centre research farm, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, to evaluating the effect of plastic mulching and irrigation amount on soil moisture distribution. Two types of black plastic mulch of different thickness and one control without mulch were selected for the study M1: 25 micron thickness Black Plastic mulch, M2: 50 micron thickness Black Plastic mulch, and M3: No mulch (Control). Three levels of fertigation were adopted, namely 80%, 100% and 120% of Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) and are denoted as F1, F2 and F3. The Coefficient of Variation (CV) was attained as 0.0308% kept at a constant pressure of 52 kPa, Statistical Uniformity (SU) as 97% and Uniformity coefficient as 0.97. As the elapsed time increased, the rate of increase of wetted diameter decreased. A high Coefficient of Determination (R2) value of 0.97 indicates the goodness of fit for the horizontal movement. The average soil moisture distribution 40% was noticed below the emitter at the depth of 10 cm immediately after irrigation.

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