{"title":"Development and Evaluation of Inclined Plate Precision Planter for Pelleted Vegetable Seed","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1794","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1794","url":null,"abstract":"A tractor-mounted, ground roller driven, precision planter capable of planting six rows of onion (Allium sativum L.), three rows of carrot (Daucus carota L.), and one row of radish (Raphanus sativus) on a one-meter bed was designed and fabricated. The major components of the planter included a frame and ground roller, press roller, depth controller unit, seed hopper, seed metering mechanism, sweeper, inclined plate, seed tube, and furrow openers. The metering mechanism was driven by ground wheels through a chain drive system. The performance parameters measured/calculated during the field tests included missing index, multiple indexes, quality of feed index, degree of variation, and seed damage. The seed rates achieved were 12.42, 11.26, and 34.11 kg.ha-1 for onion, carrot, and 1:3 pelleted radish seed, respectively. The marketable yields of 4.78, 2.52, and 3.51 t.ha-1 were observed for onion, carrot, and radish, respectively. The estimated operating cost of the prototype planter was 258.45 ₹.h-1. The prototype took an estimated time of 6.09 h to plant the seeds in one hectare. There was significant cost saving as compared to manual transplanting","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74710369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experimental Evaluation of Irrigation Methods for Yield, Water Productivity, and Economics of Paddy-Wheat Cropping System under Conservation Agriculture","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1799","url":null,"abstract":"Irrigation methods have critical role in increasing the water productivity and crop production under paddy-wheat cropping systems. An experiment was carried out at Ludhiana, Punjab, India, in a randomized block design with eight treatments on drip and flood irrigation systems under conventional and conservation agricultural practices. Under conservation agriculture practice, drip irrigation had six treatments with different combinations of dripline spacing × emitter spacing × dripline depth as 675 × 300 × 0 mm (T1 ), 450 × 400 × 0 mm (T2 ), 675 × 300 × 150 mm (T3 ), 450 × 400 × 150 mm (T4 ), 675 × 300 × 200 mm (T5 ), 450 × 400 × 200 mm (T6 ). The treatments on conventional flood irrigation method included crop cultivation under farmer’s practice (T7 ) and under conservation agriculture practice (T8 ). The treatment T4 recorded significantly higher grain yield of wheat (6.522 t.ha-1) and paddy (8.178 t.ha-1) and water productivity (3.73, 1.20 kg.m-3, respectively. In the root zone of both wheat and paddy crops, the drip irrigation systems recorded lowest soil moisture variation within 0-450 mm soil depth under treatment T4 (4.33% to 9.77%), while it was highest under T7 (10.38% to 40.41%). The treatment T4 also showed water saving of 55.3% over the conventional flood irrigation method under paddy-wheat cropping system. In economic terms, the treatment T4 performed better with a benefit-cost ratio of 3.15 under the condition that 95% subsidy is availed on cost of drip irrigation system.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"193 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79738236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Extraction of Value-added Chemicals from Sawdust Bio-oil Through Liquidliquid Extraction","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1796","url":null,"abstract":"Bio-oil, a liquid product obtained from pyrolysis of solid biomass, can be used as a sustainable feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Sawdust was used as the feedstock for obtaining bio-oil in conical spouted bed reactor through fast pyrolysis. Liquid-liquid extraction method was used to separate the bio-oil into different chemical groups by their polarities to stabilize bio-oil and improve the quality. Similar oxygen-containing functional groups were present in water and solvent phase of the separated bio-oil. Chloroform, hexane, and petroleum ether were used for the extraction of chemicals from the sawdust bio-oil through liquid-liquid extraction. The solvent phase had high concentrations of organic compounds. With chloroform extraction solvent, 65.89%(w) of organics in water phase were extracted.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86279219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Engineering Properties of Some Plug-type Vegetable Seedlings for Development of Automatic Vegetable Transplanter","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1792","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1792","url":null,"abstract":"Transplanting of vegetable seedlings has been referred as a critical and time-consuming activity in vegetable production system. In India, manual transplanting operation of vegetable seedlings is done in most areas due to non-availability of appropriate transplanter, and is drudgery prone. To mechanize this operation, vegetable transplanter needs to be developed considering engineering properties of plug-type seedlings as tomato, brinjal, and cabbage grown in pro-tray. Basic engineering properties of 30-day old seedlings of tomato, brinjal, and cabbage relevant to design of vegetable transplanter were evaluated. The moisture content of whole seedling and root bulb of tomato, brinjal, and cabbage seedlings were 84.3 (± 3.6), 86.7 (± 4.5), and 84.57 (± 3.7)% w.b., respectively. The average respective heights of the seedling were 162.44 (± 19.80), 129.4 (± 16.96), and 114.13 (± 19.98) mm, whereas, canopy major dimensions were (length) 110 ± 15.62, 79.3 ± 16.08, 91.93 ± 14.44 mm, respectively. The coefficient of frictions offered by mild steel were 0.81 (± 0.08), 0.81 (± 0.07), and 0.89 (± 0.04) for tomato, brinjal, and cabbage seedlings, respectively; and adhesion force between pro-tray and seedlings were 1.43 (± 0.40), 0.95 (± 0.22), and 0.41 (± 0.04) N, respectively. The average compression forces of the root bulbs were 6.05 ± 1.53, 5.8 ± 0.56, and 10.26 ± 0.16 N; and average needle penetration forces into root bulbs was 5.18 (± 0.86), 7.83 (± 0.56), and 19.47 (± 0.59) N for tomato, brinjal, and cabbage seedlings, respectively.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83730107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessment and Mapping of Water Quality of a Shallow Aquifer near an Industrial Belt using Hydro-chemical Parameters and Irrigation Water Quality Index","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1797","url":null,"abstract":"Irrigation water quality issues arising from salt water intrusion or industrial pollution are experienced in many parts of Kerala state. This study was undertaken at Eloor, near Cochin, which is under the threat of industrial pollution, with the twin objectives of assessing the shallow groundwater quality of an area, and to evaluate the performance of Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) as compared to hydro-chemical parameters. Water samples collected from 10 open wells during three different seasons for two years were analysed, and physico-chemical characteristics of water viz., Electrical Conductivity (EC), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Chloride (Cl), Carbonate (CO3 ), and Bicarbonate (HCO3 ) were determined. Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Kelly Index (KI), Sodium Percentage (Na%), and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) were calculated. Further, the combined measure IWQI was also computed. The study revealed that groundwater in many parts of Eloor was of poor quality with serious quality concerns during pre-monsoon season, where the IWQI of less than 70 was seen in about 85% of the geographical area. There were wide differences between the water quality indications given by single hydro-chemical methods and the combined hydrochemical method. The spatial interpolation of EC values suggested that groundwater over the entire region is suitable for irrigation, while as per SAR classifications only 10% of the study area has water unfit for irrigation. The IWQI indicated that 70% of the area has poor quality of irrigation water. The study showed that IWQI combines the inferences from all individual hydro-chemical parameters, and IWQI should preferably be used to provide better and more comprehensive assessment of the irrigation water quality and for informed decision on suitability of water for irrigation planning and management.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83211900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimization of Design Parameters of Pneumatic Plug Tray Seeding Mechanism for Cabbage Seed","authors":"","doi":"10.52151/jae2023601.1793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023601.1793","url":null,"abstract":"The present study was conducted to optimize the mouth piece diameter and suction pressure of plug tray seeding mechanism of pneumatic seeder for cabbage seeding. The seeding mechanism consisted of a seeding pipe with hypodermic needles as seed picking units, a cut-off device for supplying/cutting suction, a pressure regulating assembly consisting of a vacuum gauge and pressure control valve, and a suction unit. The seeding unit was connected to the pressure regulating assembly by a flexible pipe for easy operation. The responses namely, per cent miss, per cent multiple, per cent single, output, and seed damage were determined in the laboratory for different levels of mouthpiece diameter and suction pressure. Mouthpiece diameter of 0.84 mm and suction pressure of 5.9 kPa were found suitable for cabbage seeding with 92.88% singles and 69 cell.min-1 output capacity. As germination percentage was not affected by the mouthpiece diameter and suction pressure, the quality of the seeds could be expected to remain unaltered.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"147 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73703921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Should extra virgin olive oil production change the approach? A systematic review of challenges and opportunities to increase sustainability, productivity, and product quality","authors":"Alessio Cappelli, Lucrezia Lupori, E. Cini","doi":"10.4081/jae.2023.1479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1479","url":null,"abstract":"Extra virgin olive oil is constantly gaining interest for its outstanding health and nutritional properties. However, the production process generates roughly four times more waste than the quantity of oil. For this reason, improvements in extra virgin olive oil production and in the valorisation of olive mill by-products are urgently needed, thus motivating this work. The first aim of this review is to summarise current knowledge regarding machines, plants, and processes in extra virgin olive oil production. The second aim is to suggest specific innovations and improvement strategies to increase sustainability, productivity, profitability, and quality. This review clearly highlighted the copious advantages of modern production plants, which can control oxidation processes, avoid temperature increases, and significantly improve the quality of extra virgin olive oil. However, the production chain must face the monumental environmental sustainability challenge. In this direction, this review highlighted that scientific and technological research has made great strides in managing olive mill by-products, suggesting several strategies related to the recovery of polyphenols and applications in agriculture, feed, and food. However, to succeed in this ambitious project, harmonious teamwork between European policies, states, regions, and private companies is needed.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85676862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ian Torotwa, Qishuo Ding, Emmanuel Awuah, Ruiyin He
{"title":"Biomimetic tool design improves tillage efficiency, seedbed quality, and straw incorporation during rototilling in conservation farming","authors":"Ian Torotwa, Qishuo Ding, Emmanuel Awuah, Ruiyin He","doi":"10.4081/jae.2023.1327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1327","url":null,"abstract":"Rotary tillage facilitates conservation agriculture in rice-based crop farming systems through minimal soil disturbance for seedbed preparation and crop residue management. However, efficiency of rotary tiller blades is hampered by degraded paddy soils and excessive crop residue conditions. Biomimetics presents an edge in the optimisation design of cultivation tools and can be employed to improve the efficiency of rotary tiller blades. This study was designed to evaluate the adaptability and performance of biomimetic rotary tiller blades inspired by the geometric structure of a mole rat’s claw. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the blades’ torque and power requirements, soil fragmentation, displacement characteristics, and the rate of straw incorporation at three tillage depths (i.e., 40, 70, and 100 mm). Results revealed that the biomimetic blades minimised torque by up to 21.05%, had lower specific power requirements, and produced finer tilths with granular and more even clod sizes than conventional blades. It also achieved more redistribution of topsoil and improved the straw burial rate. The biomimetic rotary tiller blades are thus energy-efficient and can improve soil structure and the quality of seedbeds, besides managing crop residues through incorporation, and therefore advance conservation tillage in intensive farming systems.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77160103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A nature-based system for improving Mediterranean buildings’ performance: contribution to energy saving by heat transfer reduction and influence of climatic parameters","authors":"F. Convertino, I. Blanco, E. Schettini, G. Vox","doi":"10.4081/jae.2023.1520","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1520","url":null,"abstract":"Urban environments can be turned greener and more sustainable by letting in vegetation. The application of green façades on buildings’ vertical surfaces is a viable option that brings various advantages. This study focuses on the energy benefit provided by an evergreen green façade in Mediterranean climate conditions. The results came from a long experimental campaign, heat fluxes evaluation and statistical analyses. The thermal behaviour of the experimental green façade was analysed all year round, highlighting differences between warm and cold periods and between time of the day. The main advantage was assessed in terms of energy saving, defined as heat flux reduction through the wall covered with vegetation in comparison with an unvegetated wall. The study pointed out that energy saving was achieved throughout the year, but in different time of the day based on the season. A daytime energy saving was obtained in warm periods due to the shading effect and the plants evapotranspiration. A night-time benefit was reached in cold periods mainly thanks to the thermal and wind barrier action of the green layer. The results showed daily mean values of energy saving equal to 11.47 W m-2 for a warm period and to 3.23 W m-2 for a cold period. The statistical analysis highlighted that the energy saving was positively influenced by external air temperature especially at daytime. Overall, higher energy saving was provided by the green façade when higher external air temperature values were recorded. This research contributes to fill existing literature gaps on the yearly behaviour of green façades and on the energy benefits these provide.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86902133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Rezaei, H. Masoudi, H. Zaki Dizaji, Mohamad Esmail Khorasani Ferdavani
{"title":"Modeling, analysis and optimization of the rear axle of cereal combine harvester under real loads using finite elements method","authors":"A. Rezaei, H. Masoudi, H. Zaki Dizaji, Mohamad Esmail Khorasani Ferdavani","doi":"10.4081/jae.2023.1448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1448","url":null,"abstract":"Cereals combine harvester is one of the agricultural machines that works in difficult conditions and different forces are applied to its parts. The purpose of this study was to analyze static and dynamic loads on the rear axle of JD955 combine harvester to optimize it. First, real loads on the axle were measured by a special electronic system in stationary and moving modes in roads and farm with various forward speeds. Then, geometric model of the axle was designed in the CATIA software. Finally static, harmonic, transient and dynamic analysis were performed using finite element method in the ANSYS Workbench software. Mean of maximum loads on the axle in stopped mode, asphalt road, dirt road and inside the farm (while moving parallel and perpendicular to the farrows and turning in farm end) were equal to 15.067, 18.830, 49.167, 21.428, 27.07 and 27.857 KN, respectively. There was relatively linear relationship between the axle load and deformation. At the maximum load of 49.167 KN, the maximum von Mises stresses of 1200, 85.848, 21.392 and 1.754e-14 MPa were obtained in static, transient, dynamic and harmonic analyzes, respectively. Since structural errors in the axle were numerically close to zero, so the calculated stress values had good accuracy. The axle fatigue life for most of the loads was equal to the ideal value of 106 cycles. The least fatigue safety factor were obtained from 0.072 to 0.745 in static analysis and from 0.174 to 1.029 in linear transient analysis. According to the results of the analysis, it was necessary to optimize the existing design of axle. So, a rectangular piece was suggested as the suitable design for the JD955 rear axle middle section.","PeriodicalId":48507,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Engineering","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89623446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}