Informatics Publishing Limited

Apoorv Prakash ¹, R. K. Naik ², Brajesh Nare ³, N. S. Chandel ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Punjab University, Ludhiana Punjab, IN
2 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Facul ty of Agicul tural Engineering, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur C.G., IN
3 Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur W.B., IN
4 Agricultural Mechanization Division, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal M.P., IN

Abstract

In this study, the optimum size of tractor and optimum field capacity requirements of implements for three different farms i.e., Agricultural Engineering Farm (AEF), Adhartal Farm (AF), and Dusty Acre Farm (DAF) of Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya Jabalpur was analyzed. Primary data were obtained through log book, history book and field survey of the university farms. Results showed that an optimum hp requirement for AEF was maximum (138.59hp). For DAF and AF it was 101.19 and 124.92 hp, respectively. The optimum field capacity of plough for all the three farm varied between 0.23 - 0.46 ha/h, cultivator was between 0.82 - 1.40 ha/h, disk harrow was between 0.90 - 1.52 ha/h and for seed drill was 1.00 - 2.01 ha/h when the labour cost varies between Rs. 100 - 180. For the selected farms the size of plough ranged between 2bottom-30cm to 4 bottom-35cm, the size of the cultivator and seed drill varied 9 - 19 tynes and for disk harrow between 8 - 16 disk.

Keywords

Farm Equipment, Optimum Size, Power, Tractor

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R. K. Naik ¹, R. C. Dash ¹, A. K. Goel ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar Odisha, IN

Abstract

The mechanical properties of sisal leaf (A.sisalana) relevant to leaf harvesting and fibre extraction were determined. Measurements of leaf bending resistance, friction coefficients and mass distribution were made to get information for designing of leaf handling equipment. The leaf cross- sectional area at 7 cm from butt-end was 11.65 cm2. Fibre content of leave varied from 3.0 - 4.0 % of fresh green leaf weight. The mean fibre bundle strength was 32.31 g/tex and fibre fineness was 4.92. The coefficient of friction of sisal leaf was lowest on mild steel surface for tilting panel test (0.054) as well as for horizontal test surface (0.464).

Keywords

Extraction, Fibre, Harvest, Physical Properties, Sisal

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A. K. Chandraker ¹, A. K. Dave ¹, D. Khalkho ¹, R. K. Naik ¹

Affiliations
1 Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur C.G., IN

Abstract

Survey conducted in two villages of Bastar District of Chhattisgarh revealed that the percentage share of average tractive power, stationary power and draught animal power is 4.64(0.027 kW/ ha), 37.33(0.07 kW/ha) and 76.7(0.34 kW/ha), respectively of cultivable area. Average farm power availability of the selected villages was found to be less than the national average i.e. 1.6 kW/ha. The villages have sufficient draught animals, indigenous implements and hand tools like indigenous plough, biasi plough, kopar, patela, pick-axe, crowbar, spade, wooden mallet etc. The study indicated a dire need of increasing the farm power availability and farm mechanization in this particular area to increase the productivity of land

Keywords

Farm Power Availability, Indigenous Implements, Hand Tools

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S. C. Tripathy ¹, S. Pavithran ¹, P. Sabu ¹, R. K. Naik ¹, S. B. Noronha ¹, P. V. Bhaskar ¹, N. Anilkumar ¹

Affiliations
1 National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Headland Sada, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IN

Abstract

The probable cause for photoinhibition of primary productivity (PP) in the surface layers of the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean (SO) was studied during the austral summer (February) 2010. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) and PP values were higher for polar stations compared to offshore stations and showed surface maxima; however, subsurface Chl a maxima was observed in two of the offshore stations. Biomass explained 36% of variance in PP and was not the sole controlling factor for PP variability. Euphotic zone integrated PP showed increasing trend from offshore to polar stations and varied from 159.56 to 1083.57 mg C m^-2 d^-1. The relationship between Chl a-specific PP (P^B) and the corresponding photosynthetically active radiation in the water column was linear for offshore and curvilinear for polar stations, indicating the occurrence of 'photoinhibition' in the surface waters of polar stations. This could be ascribed to the onset of pigment packaging (the 'package effect') as larger phytoplankton (diatoms) dominated the polar stations, where macronutrients ratio was ideal (N : P ∼ 16 and N : Si ∼ 1) for growth of diatoms. Despite high Chl a in the polar waters, the corresponding PP was proportionally not high compared to the offshore stations. We suggest that larger phytoplankton are susceptible to pigment packaging, which in turn decreases their light-absorption/photosynthetic efficiency, resulting in lower PP, which is otherwise expected to be higher in the presence of elevated biomass.

Keywords

Light Absorption, Package Effect, Primary Productivity, Phytoplankton Community.

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P. K. Nishad ¹, R. K. Naik ¹

Affiliations
1 Swami Vivekanand College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology and Research Station (I.G.K.V.), Raipur (C.G.), IN

Abstract

The edible Chironji kernel is rich in protein content, which may be sweet or bitter depending on the type. It is used in different forms and preparations of sweet dished and directly consumed in many parts of India. The traditional method of Chironji nut decortication was done manually by small stone Chakki (Jatta) and manually separation of kernel. This is very tedious and time taking process. In the developed mechanical method of processing; all the process is similar to that of traditional method except the decortications of nuts by Chironji decorticator machine and separation of kernels by grader. In this method 150 to 200 kg of nuts could be decorticated in a day and it also saves Rs. 9.30 per kg as compared to traditional method.

Keywords

Chironji, Buchanania lanzan, Traditional Processing, Mechanical Processing.

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Atul R. Dange ¹, Birbal Sahu ¹, R. K. Naik ¹, Devchand Salam ¹

Affiliations
1 Krishi Vigyan Kendra (IGKVV), Kanker (C.G.), IN

Abstract

Paddy is the principal crop and the central plains of Chhattisgarh are known as rice bowl of central India. It is a labour intensive crop and requires about 800 to 900 labour-hours for cultivating one hectare of land. Of different field operations, seeding through seed drills, transplanting, weeding through mechanical weeder and harvesting together consume major labour force and if these are managed timely and efficiently by the farmers, could earns good profit. An experiment was conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kanker to assess the performance of machines used in cultivation of rice. Different machines were evaluated for particular operations. For mechanical transplanting a self propelled rice planter and paddy seeding under wet conditions an eight row paddy drum seeder were used. For weeding manually operated weeder and self propelled paddy reaper for harvesting of paddy were also evaluated. An eight row self propelled paddy transplanter was found to be very effective for timely transplanting in a large area. Its average field capacity was 0.192 ha/hr and cost of transplanting almost 61 per cent less compared to manual transplanting. Use of manually operated 8 row drum seeder tested was most effective for line sowing of sprouted paddy in puddled condition. It reduces the cost of cultivation by saving 58 per cent seed compared to farmers practice. On the other hand, weed efficiency was found maximum 83.87 per cent with Ambika paddy weeder. It was observed that the average cost of mechanical transplanting with an eight row self propelled rice transplanter 74.71 %, mechanical weeding with ambica paddy weeder was 51.15 per cent and mechanical harvesting with a self propelled vertical conveyer reaper was 59.76 per cent less as compared to manual transplanting, weeding and harvesting operations, respectively.

Keywords

Mechanization, Transplanter, Drum Seeder, Productivity.

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Dewendra Kumar ¹, R. K. Naik ², P. K. Nishad ¹, P. R. Sahu ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering, S.V. College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology and Research Station, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), IN
2 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, S.V. College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology and Research Station, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), IN

Abstract

Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L) is a stable food of some tribal’s of India especially in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Traditionally, de-husking was done by hand pounding using stone mortar and wooden pestle with metal ring on the tip or by the use of Kodo pearler. The performance was optimize and evaluated at different treatments of Kodo grins and cylinder speeds with factorial SPD. It was observed that cylinder speed and treatment have a significant effect on the performance indices. The results show that the milling recovery and capacity of machine increased as the cylinder speed increase. The milling recovery and capacity of machine was highest (62.62 %) and (17.65 kg-h^-1) for 24 h soaked grins at 22.83 m-s^-1 cylinder speed. The head rice per cent was found to be highest (93 %) for 24 h soaked grins at cylinder speed 11.57 m-s^-1. The percentage of broken rice decreased with the increase soaking time and decrease cylinder speed.

Keywords

Kodo Pearler, Optimization, Treatments, Cylinder Speed, Milling Recovery.

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R. K. Naik ¹, S. K. Jha ¹, S. Sarkar ¹, A. K. Ghorai ¹

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore, Kolkata (W.B.), IN

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the field performance of developed manual operated single wheel weeder at ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore, Kolkata. Various parameters such as field capacity, weeding efficiency, draft requirement and performance index of the weeder was measured during the test. The developed weeder can work upto 5.0-6.0 cm depth of operation with actual field capacity of 0.026 ha/h and field efficiency of 76.7 per cent. The draft requirement was 29.7 kg for 18 cm width of weeder. The weeding efficiency of the machine was found to be 81.65 per cent with performance index of 1123.01. The experiment also revealed that the weeding time requirement for single wheel weeder is much less than the manual weeding. It was easy to operate and most importantly involved less human drudgery during its operation.

Keywords

Weeder, Weeding Efficiency, Field Capacity, Field Performance.

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P. K. Nishad ¹, S. Patel ², R. K. Naik ³

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal (M.P.), IN
2 Department of Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), IN
3 Department of Farm Machinery and Power, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), IN

Abstract

The kernel contains the nuts of Chironji. Traditionally, it was removed by hand hammer, small stone disc (Jatta) or by the use of Chironji decorticator. Design experiments were conducted by using the response surface methodology (RSM) for optimizing the machine parameters of wild Chironji nut decorticator. The effect of three variables (disc speed, disc clearance and moisture content) with three levels of disc speed (1.05, 1.64 and 2.28 m/s), three levels of disc clearance (6, 7 and 8 mm) and five levels of moisture treated sample (7.83, 8.34, 8.57, 8.68 and 9.04 %, wet basis.) was used for optimization. The maximum whole kernels percentage and minimum kernel breakage were taken as responses in order to optimize the machine parameters. The most suitable optimal results were found at disc speed 1.05 m/s, disc clearance 7 mm and moisture content 8.57 per cent, respectively. The capacity of decorticator, decorticating efficiency, whole kernel recovery and broken kernel recovery percentage at optimized independent parameters were 22.09 kg/h, 87.20 per cent, 16 per cent and 2.88 per cent, respectively.

Keywords

Wild Chironji Nuts, Decorticator, Pre-Treatment, Response Surface Methodology, Optimization.

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