Effectiveness of Three Terminating Products on Reducing the Residual Moisture in Dwarf Castor Plants: A Preliminary Study of Direct Mechanical Harvesting in Central Greece

The contribution of castor oil for reaching the targets set by RED1 and RED2 in Europe can be tangible if the problem related to the mechanical harvesting is overcome. Dwarf hybrids suitable for mechanical harvesting are already available on the market but the residual moisture of plants and capsules has to be lowered in order to allow mechanization. In the present case of study, three common terminating products (Glyphosate GLY, Diquat DIQ and Spotlight DEF) were tested on Kaiima C1012 hybrid in a complete randomized block design to assess the effectiveness of using chemical products to decrease residual moisture in castor plants. Plants were harvested via combine harvester equipped with cereal header to evaluate seed loss (due to dehiscence, impact and cleaning shoe) and the dehulling capacity of the combine harvester’s cleaning shoe. DIQ decreased significantly moisture content of capsules (7.32%) in comparison to the other treatments, while the lowest plant moisture was recorded in DIQ (62.38%) and GLY (59.12%). The use of DIQ triggered the highest impact seed loss (61.75%) in comparison with GLY (46.50%) and DEF (29.02%). Control plants could not be harvested mechanically due to the high residual moisture content and high density of weeds. The present case of study provides highlights regarding the need to further investigate the best practice to terminate castor plants and to develop a specific combine header to reduce seed loss from impact.

Long-Term Monitoring of Different Field Traffic Management Practices in Cereals Production with Support of Satellite Images and Yield Data in Context of Climate Change

Cereals in Europe are mainly grown with intensive management. This often leads to the deterioration of the physical properties of the soil, especially increasing bulk density due to heavy machinery traffic, which causes excessive soil compaction. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) technology has the potential to address these issues, as it should be advantageous technology for growing cereals during climate change. The aim of this study was to compare the yield potential of CTF and standardly used random traffic farming (RTF) technology using yield maps obtained from combine harvester and satellite imagery as a remote sensing method. The experiment was performed on a 16-hectare experimental field with a CTF system established in 2009 (with conversion from a conventional (ploughing) to conservation tillage system). Yield was compared in years when small cereals were grown, a total of 7 years within a 13-year period (2009–2021). The results show that CTF technology was advantageous in dry years. Cereals grown in the years 2016, 2017 and 2019 had significantly higher yields under CTF technology. On the contrary, in years with higher precipitation, RTF technology had slightly better results—up to 4%. This confirms higher productivity when using CTF technology in times of climate change.

Assembly Quality Inspection of Combine Harvester Based on Whale Algorithm Optimization LSSVM

In order to detect the assembly quality of the combine harvester accurately and effectively, a method for the assembly quality inspection of the combine harvester based on the improved whale algorithm (IWOA) to optimize the least square support vector machine is proposed. Aiming at the characteristics of whale optimization algorithm’s weak search ability and easy maturity, this paper introduces the cosine control factor and the sine time-varying adaptive weight to improve it and uses the benchmark function to verify the general adaptability of the algorithm. Combined with the local mean decomposition (LMD), the assembly quality inspection model of the combine harvester was established and applied to the Dongfanghong 4LZ-9A2 combine harvester for experimental verification. The experimental results show that the IWOA proposed in this paper has better optimization ability and adaptability. The average accuracy of the IWOA model proposed in this paper reaches 90.5%, which is 4% higher than that of the WOA model, and the standard deviation of the average accuracy is reduced by 0.15%, which indicates that the IWOA model has better stability.

DEVELOPMENT AND TEST OF FREQUENCY SUBSECTION REGULATION SYSTEM FOR COMBINE HARVESTER HEADER CUTTER

Aiming at the problems that the cutter frequency of combine harvester is difficult to be adjusted adaptively with the forward speed, and that the missed cut or repeated cut may cause the harvesting loss to increase and the operation effect to fluctuate greatly, the system is designed to regulate the cutter frequency of combine harvester by sections. By constructing the cutter trajectory equation, the influence of the relationship between the forward speed of the harvester and the cutting frequency on the cutting area is analyzed, and the optimum cutting frequency range at different operating speeds is determined. The results show that the error between the actual cutting frequency and the desired frequency of the cutter is less than 0.8Hz, and the maximum relative error is less than 8.6%; the average steady-state adjustment time of the system is 1.3s when the input cutting frequency of the device changes abruptly. The research class provides technical support for the improvement of the combine harvester handling system and the increase of the machine automation level.

Weed control of maize (Zea mays L.) in university farming

Purpose. Regarding the area of maize in Hungary, we can state that it is one of the largest crops grown in the area. Maize was grown on 1,048,070 hectares in Hungary in 2019. The purchase price depends, among other things, on the size of the sown area and the yields, but many other things can also have an impact in either a positive or negative direction. In recent years, the purchase price of maize has been around HUF 50,000/tonne. Maize is one of the heat-demanding plants that needs 500 mm of rainfall during its growing season to develop smoothly. The expected yield is significantly influenced by the type of soil grown. Meadow chernozem and brown forest soil are the most favorable for maize. Methods. The maize was sown on April 17, 2020. In the experimental area were selected 5 squares. A square has a floor area of 4 m2. In the research area were conducted three weed surveys. The dates were: May 18, June 22, and July 29, 2020. The following herbicides were released on 15th May: Sulcotrek (sulcotrione and terbuthylazine); Tegoplant (trisiloxane); Trend (adjuvant). Results. The area was harvested on 21 September by a combine harvester equipped with a corn tube breaker adapter. From an area of one hectare, 9.4 tons of crops were harvested with a moisture content of 14%. Conclusions. In the case of chemical weed control, it is recommended to use an agent or combination which is specifically aimed at reducing unwanted, in this case pine sorghum.

Bearing Seat Vibration Modes Undergoing Unbalanced Excitation of Multirotating Drums

Transmission modes of multiple rotating parts on combine harvester are complex and diverse, which resulted in large vibration and poor stability when the entire machine is harvesting. Aiming at the complex vibration problem of the combine harvester threshing system, this paper established the dynamic response model of the multidrum parallel system under different transmission modes and solved the vibration characteristics of the system. An experiment on the axial unbalance response of the parallel drum system under different transmission modes was carried out. The results show that the internal units of the threshing system form a whole through the transmission system, which causes the unbalanced response of the system to be superimposed on parallel threshing drums, thereby increasing the vibration amplitude. In addition, the change of the transmission mode will cause the vibration transmission path in the system to change greatly, and the boundary conditions of the system will be changed at the same time, which will eventually lead to the change of the unbalanced response characteristics.

Tobit model-based analysis on the influencing factors of wheat loss during harvesting by the combine harvester

Based on the investigation data of wheat mechanized harvest in eight major wheat producing areas from the south to the north of Henan Province, the main factors affecting wheat mechanized harvest loss were identified and the influence of each factor was decomposed. In this article, the loss rate of wheat mechanical harvest was calculated by using the method of artificial measurement of wheat yield in the field, and the influencing factors of wheat mechanical harvest operation in 8 regions of Henan province were treated and analyzed by using Tobit regression model. In this paper, the loss rate of wheat mechanical harvest was calculated by using the method of wheat field artificial yield measurement and the influencing factors of wheat mechanical harvest operation in eight regions of Henan province were treated and analyzed by using Tobit regression model. The results show that the average harvest loss rate in the field amounts to 2.96%, the average harvest loss rate at the edge of field amounts to 3.06%, whereas the loss rate in the normal operation area amounts 2.86%. The main factors that caused the harvest loss of wheat field machinery were the maturity of wheat, the area of operation field, the diseases and pests, weather conditions and the accumulated working hours of harvester drivers in a single day. Therefore, the main technical measures to reduce the operation loss of wheat combine harvester were put forward to provide a theoretical basis for promoting the deep integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy.

Research on On-Line Monitoring System of Hydraulic Actuator of Combine Harvester

In view of the complicated hydraulic system, the many driving parts and the great load variation in the combine harvester, and on-line monitoring methods of hydraulic actuating parts such as cutting tables, conveyors and threshing drums were studied. By analyzing the working principle of the hydraulic system of the combine harvester, a mathematical model of the hydraulic system of the combine harvester was established; a simulation model for the fault diagnosis of the hydraulic system of the combine harvester was established based on AMESim. The load signal was introduced to simulate the feeding amount, and the simulation test was carried out. According to the simulation analysis results, the best position of each monitoring point was determined. The on-line monitoring system of the hydraulic actuators of the combine harvester was designed by using LabView, which can collect and display the working parameters of the main working parts of a combine harvester in real time, and alarm the user to faulty working conditions. The field experiment results show that the function and precision of the monitoring system completely meet the requirements of field operation condition monitoring of combine harvesters. The accuracy rate of the fault alarm is 96.5%, and the automatic diagnosis time of the fault alarm is less than 1 min and 18 s, which greatly improves the operation efficiency of the combine harvester.