The Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers
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Biomass combustor based drying of beetroot
Get PDFBeetroot powder is used as natural food colourant for red colour. Beetroot were dried in a biomass combustor based dryer and quality parameter were assessed. Drying studies was performed using saw dust briquettes as fuel at different fuel consumption rate (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kg/h), air flow rate (100, 175, 250, 325 and 400 m3/h) and slice thickness of beetroot (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm). All the experiments were carried out using Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) as experimental statistical design. The maximum value of combustor efficiency, ascorbic acid and crude fibre content was found as 52.12%, 12.33 mg/100g and 11.02% while optimum value of drying time and dryer temperature was found as 392 min. and 63°C at 2 kg/h fuel consumption rate, 325 m3/h air flow rate and 5 mm slice thickness of beetroot on the basis of optimized results using biomass combustor based drying system
Post-harvest management – a strategy for climate resilient agriculture
Get PDFAgriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries depend largely on the climate of the region. Global warming, changes in rain patterns, droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, etc., have become a challenge for the food production systems. Various strategies being explored to counter negative impact of climate change on agriculture and allied activities. Promising crop genotypes and livestock breeds tolerant to climatic stress are looked into through strategic research. Also it is important to develop infrastructure and train the manpower to reduce post-harvest losses. Post-harvest losses among selected fruits and vegetables were observed to be in the range of 6.70 - 15.88% during the year 2014. Post-harvest losses among cereals, pulses and oilseeds were also observed to be in the range of 3.08 – 9.96%. Post-harvest management of agricultural produce and setting-up of custom hiring centres in rural areas have the potential to reduce post-harvest losses, create rural employment opportunities, enhance farmers income and counter the negative impact of climate change. This paper describes the post-harvest losses of selected commodities along the value chain in India and the strategies to reduce post-harvest losses
Development of microcontroller-based data logger for real-time monitoring of drying and storage of food grains
Get PDFFood grains are harvested at higher moisture content to avoid losses during harvesting. Temperature and relative humidity are the key control factors of drying and storage operations for maintaining and enhancing the quality of food. Real-time monitoring and management of these parameters improve the level of post-harvest processing and reduce losses. An effort has been made to develop a data logger for real-time monitoring of the drying and storage environment. It consists of different modules such as precision integrated temperature and relative humidity sensor DHT22, LCD, SD Card, motor control driver, and RTC 3231 for real-time monitoring and data recording of temperature and humidity. An open-source-based software program was developed to integrate all modules in one platform to operate sequentially. Developed data logger tested in a 0.5-tonne grain storage structure and 100 kg capacity solar-powered air-inflated dryer. The temperature of drying air ranged between 29.8 and 38.2°C compared to ambient air temperature ranging from 25.7 and 34°C. Moisture reduction from 22% to 14% (w.b.) was completed in 7.5-9 hours in the developed dryer compared to 11-12.8 hours in sun drying. Variation of temperature and humidity inside double-wall insulated silo is less as compared to the single wall and triple-layer plastic storage structure. The salient features of this developed system are costefficient, portable, robust, and fast use and perform satisfactorily under different conditions
Performance evaluation of single row tractor operated carrot digger
Get PDFHarvesting is one of the most critical operation in carrot cultivation because it is labour intensive (350 – 450 man-h/ha) and time consuming for the farmers. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of single row tractor operated carrot digger designed by department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, COAE&T, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India. The developed digger consisted of a digging, conveying, de-topping, collector and power transmission units. The carrot digger can be operated with 35 horse power tractor. It was evaluated under three variables viz., three digging blade angles (15°, 18°, 21°), three conveyor angles (25°, 35°, 45°) and three shoot catch heights (2, 4, 6 cm). The optimum value of variables obtained for operation of carrot digger were blade angle of 21°, conveyor angle of 250 and shoot catch height of 2 cm. Effective field capacity of the digger was 0.11 ha h-1 with field efficiency of 61.70 %. The digging efficiency, cut carrots, bruised carrots, picking efficiency and cutting efficiency of de-topping unit were 100, 0.62, 0.90, 62.29 and 100%, respectively at optimized value of operational variables. The labour requirement with developed carrot digger and manual method of harvesting was found 27 and 450 man-h ha-1, respectively. The operational cost of carrot digger was found Rs. 8242 ha-1 and it saves time and cost of operation in comparison to manual method of carrot harvesting. The break-even point, payback period and benefit cost ratio were 234 hours, 2.21 years and 1.56, respectively when operated for 400 hours annually. The carrot digger works better if carrots are sown in single row on the ridges rather than the broadcasting method
Water use efficiency of wheat under different irrigation regimes using high discharge drip irrigation system
Get PDFThe field experiments were conducted at the research farm of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat, India, during two successive winter seasons 2013-14 and 2014-15, to study the effect of high discharge drip irrigation on yield, water use efficiency and yield attributes of wheat (variety GW-366) crop in clay loam soil of semi-arid region. Irrigation regimes with 20 %, 40%, 50%, 60% MAD of ASW by drip irrigation and control as a surface irrigation as per farmer practices were subjected to randomized block design (RBD) for statistical analysis. The different irrigation levels were converted from percent MAD of ASW to soil moisture tension using soil moisture retention curve. Soil moisture tension was measured by using granular matrix sensors. In drip irrigated treatments, lateral fixed with 14 l/h online emitters at 1 m spacing was laid 1.8 m apart that gave 7.78 mm/h application rate with 90.40% uniformity coefficient. Results revealed that high discharge drip irrigated wheat with 40 % MAD of ASW irrigation regime with 11 to 12 irrigations at 8 days interval gave 28.41 % higher grain yield (4622.40 kg/ha) and 60.29 % higher water use efficiency (1.09 kg/m3) than border irrigation method. The 25.35 % water can be saved by drip irrigated 40 % MAD of ASW treatment as compared to border irrigation. Biological and straw yields were s higher for 20 % MAD by 24.50 % and 28.58 % r respectively than border irrigation. Therefore, irrigation schedule at 40 % MAD of ASW regime was found to be appropriate to maintain the optimum soil water s for obtaining higher wheat grain yield and higher water use efficiency in clay loam soils of semi-arid region
Automation & Artificial Intelligence in Indian Agriculture - A New Horizon
No full textAgriculture is the life of the Indian economy, employing about half of its workforce. During 2020-2021, the contribution of the agriculture and allied sectors to the nation’s Gross Value Added (GVA) hit 20.2%, according to National Statistical Oce (NSO). It is one of the sectors that take all four factors of production i.e., land, labour, capital, and management in full measure. It also consumes the currently scarce resource – water
Mechanization - Key driver for sustainable development
No full textIndia has witnessed a silent revolution evolving from food deficient and import dependent nation during the early nineteen sixties to a global agricultural powerhouse today. India has emerged as the world’s largest producer of pulses, jute spices etc. and the second largest producer of rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, tea, groundnut, fruits and vegetables. This turnaround has been possible because of implementation of mechanisation in the farming process. Agricultural Mechanization is one of the key drivers for sustainable development of the agriculture sector which helps in increasing production by timely farm operations, reducing losses, reducing the cost of operations by ensuring better management of costly inputs. Mechanization also enhances the productivity of natural resources and reduces drudgery associated with various farm operations
Paradigm shift with advent of fintech and agritech
No full textAgriculture provides a living for around 58% of India’s population. In FY20-21, agriculture and related industries accounted for 17.8% of India’s gross value added (GVA) at current prices. However, about 30-35% of the annual crop yield in India gets wasted because of pests. The majority of techniques and tools are outdated and are not upgraded due to high costs and lack of awareness. This lack of sufficient funds and farming techniques leads to a decline in per capita productivity of land and hence results in low farm Income
Analysis of Four-Bar Linkage Mechanism of a Power Tiller Operated 8-Row Rice Transplanter
Get PDFFour-bar linkage mechanism of a power tiller operated 8-row rice transplanter was analyzed. Position analysis, velocity analysis and acceleration analysis were done from both analytical as well as graphical methods. The acceleration and velocity of transplanting finger of a power tiller operated 8-row rice transplanter at different crank angles were evaluated. Different equations were derived to find the angle of coupler with the horizontal, angle of follower with the horizontal and velocity and acceleration of transplanting finger at different positions of the crank. The maximum acceleration and velocity were found to be 3866.5 cms-2 and 280.32 cms-1 respectively, at 125 rev/min crank speed. The angle of fixed link with the horizontal was 37.410. Total distance travelled by the finger in the vertical direction was found to be 20.05 cm. From the analysis, it has been seen that at this much acceleration (3866.5 cms-2 ) and the angle of fixed link with the horizontal (37.410), the transplanting of rice seedlings was not proper
Biodegradable Film from Maize, Rice and Potato Starch for Food Packaging: Development and Characterization
Get PDFIn this study, the PLA (v) andPLA+maize, PLA+rice, PLA+potato starch based biodegradable films along with reagents BPO (benzyl peroxide) and GMA (Glycidylmethacrylate) were developed using commercial extrusion blown molding method. The haze %, tensile strength, OTR, WVTR parameters of the developed films varied from 16.38–87.75%, 56.49-29.25 MPa, 318.25-176.85 cc/m2/day and 175-111.14 gm/m2/day respectively. The addition of rice, maize, potato starch decreased Tg from 65.26 to 60.46, 59.71 and 60.93 ºC; Tm from 146.81 to 143.01-150.16, 143.25-150.56 and 144.37-150.56 ºC with a slight increase in Tc from 106.45 to 107.23, 107.70 and 110.14 ºC respectively. The suitability of capsicum in modified atmospheric packaging was studied using the developed biodegradable films. Capsicum was stored under modified atmosphere packaging in the developed films namely, virgin PLA, PLA-rice (10%), PLA-potato (10%), PLA-maize(20%) of size 28×16 cm2 having packaging area for the transmission of gas of 0.0896 m2 with a fill weight of 0.35 kg. Polymeric film made up of LDPEof 60 μm was used for comparison. The MA packages maintained ≤7% PLW and higher firmness of samples as compared to the unpackaged capsicum. MA packages preserved the quality of capsicum up to 12 and 24 days at 25 ºC and 8 ºC, respectively as compared to unpackaged capsicum having shelf life of 4 and 9 days at 25 ºC and 8 ºC, respectively