XVII th World Congress of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR)

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XVII th World Congress of the Interntionl Commission of Agriculturl nd Biosystems Engineering (CIGR) Hosted by the Cndin Society for Bioengineering (CSBE/SCGAB) Québec City, Cnd June 137, 2010

1 XVII th World Congress of the Interntionl Commission of Agriculturl nd Biosystems Engineering (CIGR) Hosted by the Cndin Society for Bioengineering (CSBE/SCGAB) Québec City, Cnd June 137, 2010 DETERMINATION OF FORWARD SPEED EFFECT ON PLANTING UNIFORMITY IN A SUGARCANE BILLET PLANTER JALIL RAZAVI 1, MOSLEM NAMJOO 2 1 Assistnt Professor, 2 Former Grdute Student, Agriculturl Mchinery Deprtment, Isfhn University of Technology, Isfhn, Irn, <jrzvi@cc.iut.c.ir>, <moslem.nmjoo@gmil.com> CSBE Presented t Section III: Equipment Engineering for Plnt Production conference ABSTRACT Tody's griculture industry hs become highly dependent on new technologies which result in better performnces in terms of qulity nd quntity. In other words, new technologies contribute to higher productivity in griculture sector of developing economies. Sugrcne s n industril crop plys n importnt role in mny countries. Precision plnting in sugrcne plnttions worldwide is min concern minly becuse sving in billets plnted could decrese production costs nd increse the profit in the form of n increse in sugr production from the billets being sved. This reserch ws conducted to determine the effect of forwrd speed on plnting uniformity in sugrcne billet plnter. The mchine ws designed nd developed for precision plnting nd ws ble to pick single billets from secondry hopper nd plce them on the furrow with desired overlp of round 15 centimeters. Ground-driven power trin ws used to run the metering units, hence providing constnt billet overlp plnting pttern ccording to the chnges of forwrd speed. The plnter ws evluted in the field bsed on the percent filling of the cupbords, over overlpping nd under-overlpping plnting ptterns s ffected by plnting speed, cne vriety nd ngle of the chin conveyor structure from verticl line. The im of this field evlution ws to determine the best opertion speed nd level of billet consumption rte. A split-split plot experiment with completely rndomized design ws used to determine effect of speed of plnting nd ngle of the chin conveyor on percent filling of cupbords, over-overlpping nd under-overlpping indexes. Dt obtined from experiments were nlyzed using SAS sttisticl softwre. Results indicted tht effect of speed of plnting nd ngle of chin conveyor to verticl line on three prmeters hd significnt difference so tht with n increse in speed of plnting nd decrese in ngle of chin conveyor, under-overlpping decresed nd percent filling of the cupbords nd over overlpping incresed. Effect of the interction of the cne vriety nd chin conveyor on under-overlpping nd percent filling of cupbords ws observed to be significntly different. For the best working condition, plnting speed of 2 km hr for both cne vrieties gives the best results. A Verticl ngle of 30 nd 25 degrees ws found to be best suited for with nd without debris vrieties, respectively. Keywords: Sugrcne; Plnting Uniformity; Billet Plnting CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

2 INTRODUCTION Sugrcne is n importnt crop worldwide. Currently bout 60% of the world's supply of sugr comes from sugrcne while the remining 40% is produced from sugr beet. The top producers of sugr cne re Brzil nd Indi. According to FAO (2009), sugrcne is cultivted in n re of bout 27 million hectres with n verge production of 75 ton h. Trditionlly sugrcne hs lwys been plnted mnully. However to reduce the cost of plnting nd drudgery nd to enhnce proper plcement of fertilizer, mchinery for sugrcne plnting hs been developed. These mchines re bsiclly of two types widely known s billet plnters nd cutter plnters. In billet plnters, pre cut sugrcne stlks of desired length commonly centimeters re fed into the mchine. The billets my be cut mnully or mechniclly. In the cutter plnters, whole cne is fed by one or more lbor for ech row plnting. Lbors feed the stlks to the cutting unit, which cuts the fed cne in pre-determined length nd crries it to the furrow. Equl spce between plnted billets nd proper overlp re two importnt performnce chrcteristics of billet plnters nd cutter plnters which could contribute to elimintion of the cost of plnt thinning opertions nd dditionl plnting opertions for filling the gps creted fter min plnting opertion. Vrious fctors my cuse improper spcing of the billets which include inbility of the metering units to pick up the billets from the secondry holding hopper or on time relese of them to be plced on the furrows which ultimtely results in greter spcing of the billets. Additionlly, picking up severl billets by the metering units results in less spcing of the billets. Moreover, form of the picking cupbords on conveying belt or chins of the metering unit, externl coefficient of friction of the billets nd the holding tnk, velocity of the conveying chin crrying billets nd other fctors my ffect the spcing of the billets on plnting rows. Non-uniformity of billets spcing generlly depends on delivery method of billets to furrow surfce nd forwrd speed. Subrt Kumr et l. (2008) fbricted semi-mechnized sugrcne cutter plnter. In this mchine, whole stlk sugrcne fed by lborers sitting on the mchine ws cut utomticlly into pieces before dropping into furrows. It lso used furrow opener, pplied fertilizer nd fungicide nd lso covered the billets nd pressed them with soil utomticlly. This plnter ws operted by 35 hp trctor nd hd 2 units. The billet length ws 31.8 cm with n verge overlp of 6.48 cm observed t speed of 2.5 km hr. In Louisin sugrcne plnter is used which works bsed on the pln suggested by Miren in This mchine is equipped with triler contining billets which re hold in n lmost verticl position. A conveyor chin on the bottom of the triler crries the billets nd feeds them to the metering unit. The metering unit consists of drum equipped with holding grippers for trnsferring billets to ground surfce. The drum nd conveyor chins re hydruliclly driven by hydrulic motors. An utomtic two row billet plnter hs been developed in Tiwn equipped with metering unit which hs two conveying belts. The first belt is in the holding tnk with 40 cupbords connected to it which trnsfers the billets to second belt for delivery to ground surfce. An electronic eye is used to count the billets s plnting opertion goes on. The billet consumption of this mchine is reported to be 8.5 ton h with row distnce of 1.5 meters. In Pkistn sugrcne plnter ws developed which ws powered by 50 Hp trctor to reduce lbor dependency in sugrcne plnttions. Furrow opening, billet trnsfer to soil surfce nd CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

3 covering the billets were ll done by this mchine which ws equipped with n utomtic metering unit receiving its power from ground driven wheel. The plnter ws ble to plce 61 billets of 50 cm length in distnce of 25 meter with n inter-row distnce of 90 cm. Uniformity of plnting is crucil spect of precision plnters. Billet plnters which plnt billets one by one follow the sme rule s other precision plnters s stted by Peters nd Lrsen (2002). They first determined the rte of billet consumption bsed on climte nd geogrphicl loction of Florid in the US nd then evluted five different billet plnters performnce which hd different types of mechnism pplied for billet trnsfer to ground surfce (Figure 1). Figure 1. Mechnisms used in five different plnters evluted by Peters nd Lrsen (2002). The first plnter hd conveying belt on the bottom of the tnk nd its metering unit consisted of spiked tooth drum for picking nd seprting billets. An inclined plte t the edge of the conveying belt ws plced to direct nd guide billets towrds the drum. The second plnter ws similr to first one except tht conveying chin ws used insted of conveying belt. In third plnter two conveying chins, one on the bottom of the tnk nd nother s the metering unit chin were used. A secondry tnk ws lso provided for the chin to pick billets from. The metering chin ws hitched to the tnk so tht its verticl ngle could be chnged ccordingly. The fourth plnter min tnk hd conveying chin to move billets to secondry tnk sme s the third one, except tht the metering chin ws fixed to the min tnk. The fifth plnter hd lifting hydrulic rm to grdully lift it for feeding billets to secondry tnk. As billets were moved to the secondry tnk, conveying chin picked nd trnsferred them towrds the drop chute. The five plnters were compred to mnul plnting nd the results were presented in figure 2. As it is shown, the lest non-uniform pttern of plnting belongs to the first type of plnter (spiked tooth drum type metering with feeding belt) nd s expected the highest uniformity ws observed with mnul plnting since in this method of plnting frmers hve the most control nd ttention over plnting opertions. The min objectives of this reserch were: 1- To determine best forwrd speed t which highest rte of plnting uniformity is chieved. 2- To determine mximum filling index of billet cupbords nd overlp pttern s ffected by forwrd speed nd type of cne vriety. MATERIALS AND METHODS CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

A two row precision billet plnter with overlp plnting pttern ws designed nd fbricted in the Frm Mchinery Deprtment technicl workshop of Isfhn University of Technology (IUT) s shown in figure 3.

the Populin nd Populin (1976) suggested pln nd plced on chssis with ground driven power trin system.

4 A two row precision billet plnter with overlp plnting pttern ws designed nd fbricted in the Frm Mchinery Deprtment technicl workshop of Isfhn University of Technology (IUT) s shown in figure 3. Two metering units were designed bsed on Figure 2. Comprtive field performnce results of five plnters evluted by Peters nd Lrsen (2002). the Populin nd Populin (1976) suggested pln nd plced on chssis with ground driven power trin system. Ech metering unit ws consisted of n upper nd lower chssis which were hinged together t the middle prt. This could enble the chnge of the verticl ngle of the upper chssis. A series of cupbords were ttched to conveying chins on chssis for picking single billets from secondry holding tnk. In cse more thn one billet ws picked up by cupbord, s tht cupbord pssed the point of deflection of upper chssis, it would drop down nd therefore, only one billet would be trnsferred to soil surfce. The metering units were plced fce to fce on the plnter chssis nd the secondry tnks were plced between them. Two furrow openers in the front of metering units were used to provide furrow for plcing billets inside with distnce of 50 cm. required power for rottion of metering units chins ws provided from ground driven wheels through differentil with ger rtio which ws selected bsed on predetermined overlp length. A clutch system ws used to connect nd disconnect the power flow to metering units while two hydrulic rms lowered nd rised the plnter drwbr for working in the field or putting the plnter in trnsport position. The plnter ws ble to plnt 50 cm length billets with n overlp of round cm bsed on the ger rtio in the power trin nd spce between ech two cupbords on the metering unit chins nd thus, chnge in the forwrd speed could not ffect the overlp length. The overlp pttern of plnting of sugrcne billets lowers the risk of missing germintion t nodes nd therefore minimizing the cost of filling the gps by lbor in the lter stges of plnt growth. Field evlution of the plnter ws done in experimentl frm of the IUT in For the purpose of evlution of the fbricted sugrcne plnter, two fctors of percent filling of cupbords nd desired overlp pttern s ffected by forwrd speed, ngle of the metering unit conveying chin nd vriety of the cne were considered in rndomized experimentl design with three levels of forwrd speed (2, 3 nd 4 km hr ), ngle of the metering unit s to verticl line with two levels (25 nd 35 degrees) nd vriety of cne CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

with two levels (with nd without debris).

Experiments were performed in three replictions in experimentl plots of 10*250 meters.

surfce on 240 meter length swth. Figure 3.

9- Ground wheel As shown in figure 4, t 2 km speed, billets were plced in the middle of the furrow nd the overlp pttern ws s desired, however with n increse in

5 with two levels (with nd without debris). Due to some restrictions such s lck of sugrcne billets it ws decided to perform the experiments in split- split design. Experiments were performed in three replictions in experimentl plots of 10*250 meters. After completion of ech experiment s shown in figure 4, mesuring tpe ws used from the beginning to the end to record coordintes of ech billet dropped on soil surfce on 240 meter length swth. Figure 3. Different prts of evluted billet plnter: 1- Drwbr, 2- Furrower, 3- Hydrulic cylinder, 4- Billet hopper, 5- Metering unit, 6- cupbord,7- Chssis, 8- Differentil, 9- Ground wheel As shown in figure 4, t 2 km speed, billets were plced in the middle of the furrow nd the overlp pttern ws s desired, however with n increse in forwrd speed, not only the billets plcement in the center of the furrow devited but lso the overlp pttern ws not pproprite nd even some billets were plced on the shoulders of the furrow. 2 km hrp 3 km hrp Figure 4. Effect of forwrd speed on uniformity of plnting 4 km hrp Mesurement of Overlp Pttern Billets plced in the furrows followed one of the ptterns shown in figure 5. Under- overlpping (PRUR) Desired overlpping (P) Over- overlpping (PROR) CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

6 Figure 5. Billets position fter being dropped on the furrows According to figure 6, if end coordintion of ith billet equls ( ) x 2 i coordintes of next billet to be( x 1 ), the overlp would be: (i+1) ( ) -( x ) p = x i 2 i 1 (i+1) nd beginning (1) If the overlp of two consecutive billets is more thn cm it is sid to hve n overoverlp nd if it is less then it is sid to hve n under-overlp. p = x ( ) -( x ) i 2 i 1 (i+1) y ( ) x 2 i ( x 1 )(i+1) Figure 6. The method of overlp clcultion x Mesurement of Filling Percentge An importnt prmeter in evlution of precision plnters which plnt one by one either seeds or billets is the filling index of the cupbords receiving from the holding tnk. After ech experiment number of billets on the furrow ws counted on distnce of 240 meters which bsed on the design of the metering units nd the power trin should hve been 664 billets s seen in eqution 2. The eqution is used to clculte the filling index of ech metering unit in which N is the number of the billets plced on the furrow. N Filling = After ech experiment idelly n overlp of cm must hve been obtined, but due to some fctors such s wheel slippge nd reduced efficiency of the clutch in trnsferring power in higher speeds, desired overlp ws not ttined. Dt collected ws entered in files using Excel softwre nd rte of overlp ws clculted. The overlps between 10-15cm were considered desired nd pproprite enough to meet gronomic criteri for proper growth of sugrcne. SAS softwre ws used to nlyze dt sttisticlly for determintion of significnce of fctors ffecting performnce of the plnter. LSD test ws performed further for comprison of men dt hving significnt effect t 5 percent probbility level. Mesurement of Uniformity of Plnting Opertion This plnter ws designed to plnt billets on row in double lines with 50 cm prt. The ctul widths of the rows re 90 cm currently in sugrcne plnttions in Irn. The field cpcity of the plnter with field efficiency of 80 percent nd forwrd speed of 3 km hr - 1 is 0.39 h/hr. If verge length nd weight of the billets re 50 cm nd grm, respectively, then the plnter theoreticlly would be ble to plnt billets with (2) CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

7 totl weight of 7.38 ton h with n overlp of cm. After ech experiment for determintion of uniformity of plnting in three forwrd speeds of 2, 3, nd 4 km hr, number of billets in 10 meter distnces for both metering units were counted nd men vlues obtined for ech pss. Assuming verge weight of billets nd number of them dropped on the ground, billet consumption per hectre nd uniformity of plnting ws clculted. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Tble 1 presents the results of the nlysis of vrince of the effects of selected fctors on filling nd overlpping percent. As it is indicted, effect of the speed of plnting hd very significnt effect on experimentl fctors. Effect of ngle of chin conveyor ws significnt t 1 percent level for filling percentge. No significnt effect of vriety on experimentl fctors ws observed. This my be due to proper design of cupbords which cn pick nd crry both with nd without debris cne vrieties nd lso the fct tht billets enter the cupbords properly nd hve resonble blnce s they re crried wy nd mintin high filling index. However, interction effect of ngle of chin conveyor nd vriety ws significnt t 1 percent level for filling percentge. Tble 1: ANOVA tble for experimentl fctors Source of vrition df Sum of Squres Filling percent Overlpping percent Vriety (V) V error Min plot 5 Angle of chssis (A) 1 ** P V*A 1 ** P A error Sub-plot 6 Speed (S) 2 *** P *** P V*S A*S V*A*S S error Sub-sub-plot 24 error 35 Tble 2 presents results of men comprison of filling nd overlpping percent s ffected by experimentl fctors. As it is shown difference between primry levels of speed (2 nd 3 km hr ) ws not significnt, but with increse in speed of plnting to 4 km hr, the difference ws significnt t 5 percent level. An increse in speed from 3 to 4 km hr decresed filling nd overlpping percent by 13.7 nd 8.8 percent, respectively. On the other hnd, n increse in ngle of chssis from 25 to 30 degrees decresed filling percent by 5.2 percent which ws significnt. Percent filling of cupbords t 25 degree ngle of upper section of metering unit compred to 30 degree ngle ws higher. The explntion for this condition is tht t 25 degree ngle mybe more thn one billet sits in the cupbord nd lso s the conveying chin rottes nd ny given cupbord psses the point of deflection where the lower nd upper chssis re joined together, possibility of CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

8 detchment of extr billets from the cupbord diminishes s compred to 30 degree ngle. Trnsfer of more thn one billet by ech cupbord would increse filling percentge sttisticlly. Tble 2- Men comprison of filling nd overlpping percent s ffected by experimentl fctors. Experimentl fctors Filling percent Overlpping Percent Speed of plnting (km hrp P) P 19.32P P 16.74P 4 c 78.63P c 10.53P Angle of chssis (degree) Vriety P 30 b 86.61P Without debris 86.51P With debris 91.91P 16.16P 14.90P Figure 7 shows the chnge in filling percentge of cupbords bsed on the chnge in forwrd speed. As speed increses both filling percentge nd percent overlp pttern decreses. This my be becuse with higher speed levels there is not enough time for the cupbords to ctch billet nd pss by the billets holding hopper empty. Additionlly, becuse of wheel slippge t higher speeds, the desired overlpping pttern decreses. Therefore, prts of the field remins unplnted nd should be replnted mnully which increses production costs P 16.92P Figure 7. Grph of filling percentge chnges of cupbords (tringles) nd overlp pttern (dimond) ffected by forwrd speed Uniformity of plnting for 2 km hr is shown in figure 8. As seen in the figure in the middle wy between 5565 meter distnces the uniformity of billet plcement on the furrow is closer to desired condition. The points bove the horizontl line represent higher mount of billet consumption more thn 7.38 ton h desired level nd points below the line represent lower consumption. Figure 9 presents the uniformity of plnting for 3 km hr forwrd speed. Most dt points re locted below the desired level of billet plnting indicting tht higher speed results in reduction of cupbords filling index or percentge t those points which the plnter hs pssed by. Also, the overlp of consecutive billets put on the soil surfce hs decresed s compred to desired level of overlp. CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

9 In figure 10 the condition of uniformity of plnting t 4 km hr is shown. As it is evident the uniformity is much distorted compred to 2 nd 3 km hr speeds indicting in some points plnting hs not tken plce t ll nd gps exist in tht points. Figure 8. Uniformity of plnting t 2 km hrp P forwrd speed compred with desired level of billet consumption Figure 9. Uniformity of plnting t 3 km hrp P forwrd speed compred with desired level of billet consumption Figure 10. Uniformity of plnting t 4 km hrp P forwrd speed compred with desired level of billet consumption CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

10 1T A generl comprison of plnting uniformity t 2, 3 nd 4 km hr forwrd speed s relted to desired level of plnting nd billet consumption is presented in figure 11. As indicted before, plnting conditions t 2 nd 3 km hr re closer to desired condition, but t 4 km hr the uniformity of plnting is reduced. Figure 11. Comprtive uniformity of plnting billets t 2, 3 nd 4 km hrp P forwrd speeds CONCLUSION The results of field tests on new billet plnter designed nd fbricted indicted tht n increse in speed of plnting would reduce filling index of cupbords nd desired overlp of consecutive plnted billets. In this reserch n increse from 2 to 4 km hr would result in decrese of 18 nd 8.8 percent filling index nd desired overlp, respectively. An increse in the ngle of the chssis of metering unit from 25 to 30 degrees would decrese filling index by 5.2 percent. For the best working condition, plnting speed of 2 km hr for two cne vrieties plnted gives the best results. A verticl ngle of 25 degrees ws found to be best suited for with nd without debris vrieties. It is concluded tht this billet plnter with operting speed of 2 km hr nd 25 degree for ngle of the chssis of metering unit would provide very desirble condition for proper plnting of sugrcne billets nd different vrieties with or without debris. REFERENCES Binder, J. V Sugrecne Plnter. United Stte Ptent. 4,314,514. Fornstorm, K. J. nd S. D. Miller Comprison of sugr beet plnters nd plnting depth with two sugr beet vrieties. J. Am. Soc. Sugrbeet Technol. 26(3&4): 106. Uhttp:// Uvilble1T t 15/10/2009. Kcmn, S. D. nd J. A. Smith Alterntive mesures of ccurcy in plnt spcing for plnters using single seed metering. Trns. ASAE 38(2): Mndl, S. nd P. Mji, Design Refinement of Two Row Trctor Mounted Sugrcne Cutter Plnter. Agriculturl Engineering Interntionl: the CIGR E journl. Peters, A. nd J. Lrsen Field results of uniformity test of 5 different mechnicl plnters used for billet plnting. Populin, P. nd L. Populin Sugrcne plnting pprtus. United Stte Ptent. 3,943,862. Reisi, A. R. (2006). Evlution, redesign, nd modifiction of billet dropping control system in mechnicl sugrcne plnter (n MS thesis). Isfhn University of CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

11 Technology, Isfhn, Irn. Stiff, R. A. nd M. J. Bker Billet Plnter. United Stte Ptent. 4,530,293. CIGR XVII th World Congress Québec City, Cnd June 137,

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