Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Material and Methods
2.1. Water Seed Drill
2.2. Water Application System
2.3. Seed Drill
- W = weight of seed (kg)
- d = row-to-row distance (m)
- n = number of rows
- D = effective diameter of the drive wheel (m)
- N = number of drive wheel revolutions
- G = seed rate (kg/ha)
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Water Seed Drill Calibration
3.2. Soil Moisture Content
3.3. Seed Germination Rate
3.4. Number of Tillers
3.5. Effect of Moisture on Wheat Yield
3.6. Effect of Seasonal Rainfall on Wheat Yield
3.7. Cost Analysis
4. Summary
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Parameter | Values |
---|---|
Empty weight (seed drill + water application system) | 750 kg |
Volume of seed box | 50 kg |
Volume of fertilizer box | 50 kg |
Volume of water tank | 400 L |
Power requirement (tractor horsepower) | 65 hp |
Working width | 2.13 m |
Number of rows of furrow openers | 9 |
Row spacing | 23 cm |
Effective field capacity | 0.54 ha/h |
Operational cost | Rs. 32,242/h |
Parameter | Unit | Description |
---|---|---|
Width of seed drill | meter | 2.13 m |
Circumference driving side wheel | meter | 2.13 m |
Field area | hectare, (m2) | 1, (3557) |
No of revolutions per hectare | rev./ha | 2200 |
Reduced revolutions (Reduction factor, 20) | 2200/20 | 110 |
Seed collected from nine furrows at 110 rev. | kg | 6.27 |
Total seed required for one hectare | (6.27 × 20) kg | 125.4 |
Particulars | Rate | OPERATIONAL COST (Rs./ha) | |
---|---|---|---|
Water Seed Drill | Conventional Seed Drill | ||
Land Preparation | |||
MB plow, one pass | 1750/ha | 1750 | 1750 |
Disk plow, two passes | 1500/ha | 3000 | 3000 |
Cultivator, three passes | 2000/ha | 6000 | 6000 |
Rotavator, one pass | 1750/ha | 1750 | 1750 |
Planking, two passes | 2000/ha | 4000 | 4000 |
Sowing | |||
Seed (125 kg/ha @ Rs. 1800/40 kg) | 5625 | 5625 | |
Fertilizer, (Diammonium phosphate, 125 kg/ha @ Rs. 3000/50 kg and urea, 125 kg/acre @ Rs. 1500/50 kg) | 11,250 | 11,250 | |
Water, 7904 L/ha @ 0.25 Rs./L | 3,122.5 | 0 | |
Labor @ 1000/day | 165 | 165 | |
Total cost of sowing | 36,663 | 33,540 | |
Wheat yield (kg/ha) | 2613 | 1214 | |
Wheat yield cost @ 1400/40 kg | 91,455 | 42,490 | |
Benefit–cost ratio (BCR) = (Benefit−Expenditure)/Expenditure | 1.49 | 0.27 |
Item | Tractor (Fiat-640) | Water Seed Drill | Conventional Drill |
---|---|---|---|
Purchase price | 800,000 | 125,000 | 45,000 |
Useful life (h) | 10,000 | 2000 | 2000 |
(Year) | 10 | 8 | 8 |
Salvage value | 80,000 | 12,500 | 4500 |
Depreciation | 72 | 56.25 | 20.25 |
Interest (14% on average investment) | 11.2 | 8.75 | 3.15 |
Taxes, insurance, and shelter (2.5% of initial cost per annum) | 2 | 1.56 | 0.56 |
Fixed cost (Rs./h) | 85.20 | 66.56 | 23.96 |
Field capacity (ha/h) | 0.79 | 0.79 | |
Labor input (man-h/ha) | 1.32 | 1.32 | |
Fuel consumption (L/h) | 8.50 | 8.50 | |
Water applied (L/h) | 6245 | 0 | |
Labor cost @ Rs 125/h | 165 | 165 | |
Repair & maintenance | 80 | 62.50 | 22.50 |
Fuel cost (diesel) Rs. 85/L | 722.50 | 722.50 | |
Lubrication cost (15% of fuel cost) | 108.38 | - | - |
Water cost @ 0.25/L | 1561.25 | 0 | |
Variable cost (Rs./h) | 2619.62 | 1018.375 | |
Total operational cost (Rs./h) | 2686.18 | 1042.3375 |
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Noor, R.S.; Wang, Z.; Umair, M.; Ameen, M.; Imran, M.; Sun, Y. Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill. Sustainability 2019, 11, 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010137
Noor RS, Wang Z, Umair M, Ameen M, Imran M, Sun Y. Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill. Sustainability. 2019; 11(1):137. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010137
Chicago/Turabian StyleNoor, Rana Shahzad, Zhi Wang, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Ameen, Muhammad Imran, and Yong Sun. 2019. "Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill" Sustainability 11, no. 1: 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010137
APA StyleNoor, R. S., Wang, Z., Umair, M., Ameen, M., Imran, M., & Sun, Y. (2019). Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill. Sustainability, 11(1), 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010137