The Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers
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Development and evaluation of pneumatic trap cum electric swatter for the control of whitefly in cotton crop
Get PDFThe insecticides that are used to protect the crop from insects and pests not only pose a financial burden on the farmer but also affect human health and the environment. In this study, a prototype is developed and evaluated in the cotton crop to see the effect of various speeds and different locations of airstream in respect of the plant to control the population of adult whitefly. The percentage reduction in the population of the whitefly was found to be increased from 38% to 42% with the increase in the blower speed from 1800 to 4050 rpm. The field efficiency was found to be decreased from 87.90% to 74.92% with an increase in the forward speed from 1.74 to 4.19 km.h-1. The damage to the crop in the form of damage to branches and damage of flowers/bolls was found to be increased from 4.44% to 5.30% and 1.04% to 2.02% respectively, with the increase in the blower speed from 1800 to 4050 rpm
Performance evaluation of throat type updraft biomass gasifier using different biomass fuels
Get PDFA biomass gasifier converts solid fuel such as wood waste, saw-dust briquettes and agro-residues into a gaseous fuel through a thermo-chemical process and the resultant gas can be used for thermal and power generation applications. The present research aims to evaluate the updraft biomass gasifier using different biomass for thermal application. The capacity of updraft gasifier was a 5-10 kg.h-1 and three types of biomass: maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes were used as fuel for producing producer gas by thermal application. The maximum carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2) and Methane (CH4) found were 14.8, 12.7 and 3.9%, 14.6, 13.7 and 3.9 % and 14.2, 13.5 and 3.9% at 5 kg.h-1 biomass consumption rate, respectively using maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes as fuel. The maximum and minimum producer gas calorific value was found 1120 and 1034 kcal.m-3; 1139 and 1034 kcal.m-3 and 1123 and 1036 kcal.m-3 at biomass consumption rate of 5 and 10 kg.h-1 using maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes as fuel respectively. The maximum gasifier efficiency of 77.94, 70.26 and 69.60% was found at the biomass consumption rate of 5 kg.h-1 using maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes as fuel, respectively. The minimum gasifier efficiency of 72.72, 64.49 and 64.90 % was found at the biomass consumption rate of 10 kg.h-1 using maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes as fuel in the system, respectively. The maximum overall thermal efficiency of 29.60, 30.65 and 23.69 % were found at the biomass consumption rates of 8, 7 and 7 kg.h-1 using maize cobs, sized wood and saw dust briquettes, respectively
Physical and thermo-chemical characterization of agricultural residues and municipal waste
Get PDFCharacteristics of crop residues such as size, angle of repose, colour and density, calorific value, percentage of moisture content and chemical composition affect the production of bio-fuels. These properties also affect drying and handling of biomass and the design of thermal conversion systems. These characteristics can vary noticeably from waste to waste. In this study, four local varieties of rice straw (Nabina, Tamapasara, Swarnaand NuaAchharmati), sugarcane bagasse, coconut coir and vegetable waste were characterized. Study revealed that the sugarcane bagasse has the darker color, higher particle density (384.66 kg.m-3) compared to others tested biomass. Sugarcane bagasse contained highest percentage 82.7% of volatile matter followed by coconut coir, vegetable waste and rice straw. Rice straw variety Nabina has shown the highest calorific value 22.98 MJ/kg compared to Tamapasara, Swarna and NuaAchharmati and can be utilized for biofuel production
Innovations for New Era of Farming
No full textInnovative technical knowledge, packaged as improved technology has well been recognized as the source of productivity enhancement in agricultural/horticultural crop production systems. Research institutions under the ICAR and Agricultural Universities provide the much-needed impetus for crop improvement and productivity enhancement. Such technical knowledge in the form of improved seeds and planting material, plant protection tools and techniques, farm mechanization need to reach the ultimate stakeholders across the value chain, the famers
Transforming Agriculture through advanced irrigation techniques
No full textIt’s no secret that agriculture is a booming business. But why? The biggest reason that comes to mind is that it’s an industry with a lot of potential for growth. The agriculture sector has the largest market opportunity in the world, according to the United Nations (UN), with the global market growing at a CAGR of 9.4% from 2021 to 2022. This has led to agricultural innovations that revolutionize the way we grow our food. From genetically modified seeds to advanced irrigation techniques, the technology used to cultivate crops is constantly evolving
Onion detopping machine- Adoption through Front Line Demonstration
No full textAn Onion detopping machine was designed and developed at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru to detop the harvested and cured onion crops. This machine has a capacity of 350 kg/h against 30 kg/h manual practice and works with an efficiency of 98%. The unique design of the detopper is suitable for all sizes of onions. This machine was demonstrated widely to the onion growing farmers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States. Multiplier type onion is one among the three major types onions which is widely grown in Tamil Nadu. Multiplier onion are stored along with leaves after harvest and detopped before sending to market. Cutting and removing of the leaves from the onion crop is called detopping. Presently this is done manually by farm women, individual onions are picked and detopping is done by using hand tool. This is time consuming and highly drudgery in nature. A Front Line Demonstration of this machine was conducted to a FPO in Tamil Nadu and about 25 tonnes of onion crops was detopped over a period of 45 days. The FPO was satisfied with the performance of the machine and purchased the machine. The FPO stated that that an amount of Rs. 270/q is spent by machine against Rs. 470/q by manual detopping. The machine is being now used by the members of FPO on custom hiring basis. This machine reduces the labour requirement by 75% and also ensured timeliness of operation thus helped in tapping higher returns during peak market demand period
Saving of Energy through Frequency Control Device Undervariable Application Rate of Sprinkler Irrigation System
No full texte sprinkler system can be used under varied climatic conditions, under constraints of water supplies and in irrigated agriculture where levelling is impractical or costly. e Automatic Timer Based Variable Speed Device (VSD) has been developed for traditional 3 phase centrifugal pumps used for irrigation purpose. e developed device is compatible with rotating head sprinkler irrigation system. e newly developed device allows to run the pumps for both arrangements i.e. either at rated RPM or at variable RPM with VSD. Dierent components of the system have been integrated in one box as a unit. In this way, existing irrigation pump can be operated by anyone one of the system easily. Further, approximately 36.66 percent of energy saving is achieved by using the variable application rate of water through sprinklers to achieve the same irrigation depth as in conventional sprinkler irrigation system with constant application rate
Development of a blower experimental model to study the dissipation characteristics of powdered manure
No full textThe dissipation characteristics of powdered manure were carried out by analyzing different impeller designs in an experimental blower unit. The impellers were designed by following the ASME code and the effect of impeller design and speed on the discharge of pulverized manure were investigated. An experimental setup consisted of a 3-phase induction motor, a VFD, and a blower with impeller rotation in a clockwise direction. Four different types of impellers were tested by varying machine parameters and manure types. The study concluded that the radial impeller showed a better performance compared to other impeller
Feasibility Assessment of Pant-ICAR Animal Drawn Six-in-One Tillage Outfit in Kumaon Hills of Uttarakhand
Get PDFIn hill agriculture, bullocks are mainly used for ploughing with traditional wooden hal and puddling with Mai for not more than 30-40 days in a year. These age-old tools and implements to not only consume more time and labour but also incur higher cost of operation. The local hill plough called ‘hal’ used by most of the farmers is made of Banjh/Utish wood which needs frequent replacement of different parts with life span of 4 to 5 years. To overcome these problems, a bullock operated ‘Six-in-one tillage outfit’ made of steel was designed, developed and patented under the ICAR National Professor Scheme at Pantnagar. The feasibility trials of this outfit when working as a Jet plough, Fertilizer applicator, Seed drill, Ridger and Potato digger were conducted at ICAR-VPKAS, Almora experimental farm as well as at farmers’ field during 2012-13. The field capacity of Jet plough, Seed drill, Ridger and Potato digger was found to be 0.02, 0.035, 0.05 and 0.042 ha/h, respectively. In case of ploughing with Jet plough an average draft of 0.55 kN was observed with soil inversion of 26.4% as most of the residues were retained at the surface. The highest yield of wheat (6.14 t/ha) was obtained when fertilizer was placed at 5-10 cm depth with fertilizer applicator of outfit before sowing. The ridger and potato digger were found feasible to be used manually in small plots. The ‘Pant-ICAR animal drawn six-in-one tillage outfit’ was recommended to hill farmers for enhanced annual utilization of bullocks in different agricultural operations
Sensor based Planter -cum- Site Specific Fungicide Applicator
Get PDFA mechatronic based planter cum fungicide/chemical applicator was designed and developed. It mainly consisted of Infrared (IR) obstacle detection sensors placed inside the seed delivery tube to detect the seed and an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to receive and process the sensors signals and to activate the corresponding solenoid valves to discharge the fungicide amount at right time and right place. The developed ECU mainly consisted of an Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller to receive, process the sensors data and activate, three relay switches for activation of corresponding solenoid valves. The IR sensors and developed ECU was tested under laboratory and field condition and found satisfactory. With this system, both the operations such as planting and fungicide application can be done simultaneously which leads to reduction in cost of cultivation, saving of time and chemical consumption thereby reduce the environmental pollution