Model development and optimisation of the disc plough efficiency on loamy-sand soil in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to model and optimise the efficiency of a disc plough on loamy-sand soil in South-East Nigeria to aid farmers to examine and choose the right ploughing implement based on the soil type for an effective and bountiful production. The operational speed and cutting depth were taken as factors for the study of the plough efficiency. The results revealed that the highest field efficiency of 80% was noted when the plough worked at the cutting depth of 30 cm and a speed of 5 km.h-1 while the lowest efficiency of 68.10% was achieved at a speed of 9 km.h-1 and a depth of 10 cm. The quadratic model was significant for the response (P < 0.05). The results indicated that the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.98, which specified the high correlation among the factors. The predicted R2 (0.76) was consistent with the adjusted R2 of 0.96. The adequacy precision of 24.89 showed a suitable indicator and that the model could navigate the design space. The optimum field efficiency and the desirability of 77.50% and 1.00 were, respectively, obtained at an optimum speed of 7 km.h-1 and a cutting depth of 30 cm. Farmers can, however, assess and select the implements with the aid of the developed model.

Keywords

• depth
• farmers
• implement
• selection
• speed