International Journal of Agricultural Engineering

B. S. Gholap ¹, Ravi Mathur ², S. V. Wandkar ³, P. P. Jadhav ⁴

Affiliations
1 Farm Machinery Training and Testing Centre, Dr. A. S. College of Agricultural Engineering (M.P.K.V.) Rahuri M.S., IN
2 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udhaipur Rajasthan, IN
3 Farm Machinery Training and Testing Centre, Dr. A.S. College of Agricultural Engineering (M.P.K.V.) Rahuri M.S., IN
4 Farm Machinery Training and Testing Centre, Dr. A.S. College of Agricultural Engineering (M.P.K.V.) Rahuri M.S.

Abstract

Cotton is one of the principal commercial crops in India with 9.5 million ha cultivated area which is largest in the world. India is second largest producer of cotton in the world though the yield is only 300 kg/ha as against the world average of 558 kg/ha, due to poor control of insect pest and dry land farming conditions. During pesticide application most of the pesticide is lost through drift. A major reason for such a pesticide loss is insufficient nozzle pressure, nozzle discharge, nozzle height etc. Hence, it is necessary to determine the optimum discharge rate and pressure so as to reduce the pesticide losses from sprayer. Therefore, the hydraulic boom sprayer was tested using the spray scanner and droplet analyzer in the laboratory for cotton crop to study effect of nozzle discharge rates (0.45, 0.70, 0.90 and 1.35 l/min) and nozzle pressures (275.8, 413.7, 551.6 and 689.5 kPa) on spray uniformity. From the study it was found that nozzle discharge rate of 0.9 l/min and nozzle pressure of 689.5 kPa produced more uniform spray with droplet size of 122.53 to 284.80 μm, droplet density of 17 to 29 drops/cm2 and uniformity coefficient of 0.99 to 1.23.

Keywords

Boom Sprayer, Spray Scanner, Nozzle Discharge Rate, Nozzle Pressure

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Babasaheb Ghola ¹, Ravi Mathur ²

Affiliations
1 Agricultural Energy and Power Division, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE), Nabibagh, Bhopal M.P
2 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur Rajasthan, IN

Abstract

India is second largest producer of cotton in the world though the yield is only 440 kg/ha as against the world average of 667 kg/ha, due to poor control of insect pest and dry land farming conditions. During pesticide application most of the pesticide is lost through drift. A major reason for such a pesticide loss is insufficient nozzle pressure, nozzle discharge, nozzle height etc. Hence, it is necessary to determine the optimum discharge rate and pressure so as to reduce the pesticide losses from the sprayer. Therefore, the hydraulic boom sprayer was tested in the field for cotton crop to study effect of nozzle discharge rates (viz., 0.45, 0.70, 0.90 and 1.35 l/min) and nozzle pressures (viz., 275.8, 413.7, 551.6 and 689.5 KPa) for spray uniformity. From the study it was found that nozzle discharge rate of 0.90 l/min and nozzle pressure of 689.5 KPa produced more uniform spray with droplet size of 125.55 to 287.50 μm, droplet density of 18 to 30 drops/ cm2 and uniformity coefficient of 0.96 to 1.20.

Keywords

Boom Sprayer, Nozzle Discharge Rate, Nozzle Pressure, Spray Deposition

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Vinod Kumar Verma ¹, Ravi Mathur ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (Rajasthan), IN

Abstract

In India entire cotton is handpicked by human labour. It is not only a slow process but is extremely tedious work. Manual picking of cotton is labour intensive, requiring 1565 man-hours per hectare. The knapsack cotton picker was required to suit one-man operator. It was tested in the laboratory in terms of fuel consumption, picking efficiency, trash content, pressure at the tip of pick-up pipe and pressure of the collection drum for speed of blower (2500, 3500, 4500 and 5500 rpm), diameter of pick-up pipe (20, 25 and 30 mm) and opening of blower bowl (50, 75 and 100 %). Fuel consumption (l/h), picking efficiency (%), trash content (%), pressure at the tip of pick-up pipe (kg/cm²) and pressure of the collection drum (kg/cm²) ranged from 0.72 to 1.31, 94.42 to 96.85, 8.16 to 11.33, 0.035 to 0.076 and 0.023 to 0.047, respectively. From the results laboratory performance the cotton picker was tested in the field at 5500 rpm of speed of blower, 25 mm diameter of pick-up pipe and 100 per cent opening of blower bowl. The mean fuel consumption (l/h), picking efficiency (%), trash content (%) and output capacity (kg/h) was 1.29, 96.47, 10.22 and 4.95, respectively for first and second picking. The cost of picking was 10.88 Rs. /kg when operated by kerosene. Saving in cost and time compared to conventional method was 12.96 per cent and 69.85 per cent, respectively.

Keywords

Knapsack Cotton Picker, Speed of Blower, Picking Efficiency, Diameter of Pick-Up Pipe, Opening of Blower Bowl.

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