Investigation of Physical Properties of Turmeric Rhizomes About to Design a Metering Mechanism for Turmeric Planting

Aims: Turmeric production is facing the labour shortage during peak operations like planting and harvesting. There are different methods in turmeric planting which require different amount of manual energy. The objective of the study was to investigate the physical properties of turmeric seed rhizomes and to optimize the design parameters of Automatic turmeric planter. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Department of Farm machinery and power engineering, Dr NTR CAE Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh during the year 2021-22 Methodology: Turmeric seed material is not available directly in the market like other seeds or seedlings. There is some procedure is fallowed by farming community for turmeric seed rhizome preparation. To design a metering mechanism of a turmeric planter, information related to geometrical properties such as length, breadth, thickness and density are necessary. Frictional parameters are also measured to design hopper of the planter which facilitates free flow of seed rhizomes during planting operation. Results: The length of finger rhizome used as seed material in turmeric cultivation ranged from 3.7 to 5.5 cm. Average breadth and thickness of seed rhizomes are 2.1 and 1.7 cm respectively. Average weight of turmeric seed rhizome was found to be 15.5 g with an equivalent diameter of 2.45 cm. Bulk density and true density of seed rhizome was found to be 640 and 1040 kg m-3, respectively. Angle of repose was noted as 36.80°. The coefficient of static friction on mild steel sheet for different varieties found to varied between of 0.75–0.85. Conclusion: Familiarization of turmeric planting methods and seed material preparation procedures helps in proper investigation of seed rhizomes. By measuring all these physical properties, optimum values for the design of a turmeric planter which delivers the required seed rate at desired plant spacing was obtained.