Journal of Agricultural Machinery (Mar 2017)
Design and fabrication of an exprerimental model of a seeding unit with widthwise sugarcane scions seeding for use in sugarcane planter
Abstract
Introduction Sugarcane, a plant which sugar is extracted from, is planted in vast areas with hot and humid climate. Brazil is the largest producer of sugarcane in the world. The next five major producers, in decreasing order, are India, China, Thailand, Pakistan and Mexico. Sugarcane is a tropical, perennial grass that forms lateral shoots at the base to produce multiple stems, typically three to four meters high and about 5 cm in diameter. The total area under sugarcane plantation in Iran (Khozestan Province) is about 80,000 hectares with an average yield of 100 tons per hectare. To increase the yield per unit of land and reduce production costs and move toward sustainable agriculture, mechanization of agricultural operations seems inevitable. Planters are the most important of farm machinery among the mechanization equipment. Sugarcane cultivation is done both by hand and machine. Hand planting operations is laborious and painstaking work and work efficiency is so low and culture costs are so high. In Iran farms, the sugarcane plantation process is carried out manually by the farmers. Considering the climatic conditions, the agricultural soil composition and constitution, and the different plantation pattern used in Iran, the imported planting machines are not suitable for the farming conditions in the country. Moreover, the domestically produced machines, which are mostly based on the imported versions, do not provide adequate performance. Therefore, fabrication of a machine, capable of continuously lifting the sugarcane scions from a container and sending them to a dropper pipe, uniformly and in conformance with the climatic conditions of the sugarcane farms in the country, is of great importance. Materials and Methods In this research, initially, a field study was carried out to identify the problems and shortcomings of imported and copied planting machines in sugarcane farms, such as jamming of the scions conveying mechanism and the existence of unplanted sections in the farm. Subsequently, a new compound seeding unit with unique capabilities for solving the above mentioned problems was fabricated, with the aim of application in sugarcane planting machines. The various components of the system include: 1- Tank split in two pieces and connected to each other by two hinges through the middle and it can adjust to different angles. 2- Tube fall for cuttings scions. 3- Two rows of chain on a conveyor screwed on belt. 4- Number of 9 cups (channels) to receive and transmit cutting scions from the tank and guided them to the falls duct. 5- 18 pcs of metal preservative, the chain screwed to conveyor. 6- Four Number of gears on two shafts in order to drive the conveyor chain. 7- Two shafts, one on top and one another on the bottom of the anchor-conveyors chain. 8- The mechanism of driven Endless belt as a mobile bed to showing the steady rate of falling the scions from the fallen channel. 9- Two variable speeds electromotor to provide the movement of complex distributer and planter’s mobile bed belt. 10- Controlling mechanism of falling number of scion. After preparing and manufacturing the different machine’s pieces, they were installed on the chassis and then different units were prepared and the machine are run. Results and Discussion Therefore, fabrication of a mechanism, capable of continuously lifting the sugarcane scions from a container and sending them to a dropper pipe, uniformly and in conformance with the conditions of the sugarcane farms is of great importance. In the new mechanism, as opposed to the existing seeding units in which the seeding operation is performed lengthwise, planting of the scions is performed in a widthwise pattern. Using the manufactured machine had a great effect on method of tillage and planting. The farm field was changed to a smooth surface in tillage then in planting the scions with installing the two diagonal plate the soil putted on scions and the made furrows for irrigating. Conclusions This mechanism reduces the number of planted scions per hectare, results in a more uniform planting and growth of the scions, and reduces the number of machine trips in the farm, increasing the planter productivity. The seeding unit was fabricated and is presently ready for use in the sugarcane planters.
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