The Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers
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Adsorption and regeneration characteristics of composite desiccants
Get PDFSolar dryers are economical for crop drying and are environmental friendly. However, in tropical region due to high humidity of ambient air the efficiency of solar dryer gets reduced. Desiccants can be used for reducing the humidity of ambient air. In the present study, three desiccants viz. silica gel, bentonite clay and activated carbon were selected and tested for their use to improve efficiency of solar dryer. The composite desiccant mixture was prepared by mixing three selected desiccants in different ratios and was evaluated for adsorption and regeneration characteristics. The adsorption rate of different composite desiccants was calculated at 2 h interval. The regeneration rate of composite desiccants was studied at a temperature of 50°C and 55°C and the data were recorded at 1 h interval. The evaluation was done at three weightage levels of adsorption rate: regenerate: unit cost i.e. 50:30:20, 60:20:20 and 40:40:20. The maximum value of performance index at three weightage levels based on highest adsorption rate and regenerate rate and lowest unit cost was observed as 1.66, 1.5 and 1.81. The treatment T1 (Silica gel 100%) was found as better desiccant among the selected composite desiccant with average adsorption rate 1.49 %moisture per h followed by T5 (Silica gel 80%, Activated 20%) with 1.46% moisture per. The statistical analysis showed that the performance efficiencies of silica gel were observed highest 84.33%, 77.33%, and 91.7% at different weightages of adsorption rate, regeneration rate and cost of composite desiccant
Experimental study on okra planter for sowing of soaked seed
Get PDFIndia is one of the leading Okra-producing countries producing 66.3% of the World’s okra. However, the traditional manual sowing methods result in low yield, poor quality, and high cost of cultivation. Therefore, an experimental study was designed to evaluate a tractor-operated Okra planter in the laboratory and field conditions for a locally available seed variety (Pusa A4). Laboratory experiments consisted of three independent variables; inclined plates (3 levels), inclination angles (3 levels), and speed of operations (4 levels). Dependent variables were seed spacing, a number of seeds/meter row length, and performance indices (multiple index, miss index, and quality of feed index). A 3×3×4 factorial design was applied to laboratory data analysis. The planter’s best parameter combination (plate, Inclination angle, and speed) was evaluated on actual field conditions at two different locations (X and Y). The field evaluation includes; plant-plant spacing, performance indices, planter field capacity, and fuel consumption. The planter was operated at 2.17, 2.25 km/h and plant-plant spacing was observed 15.98 cm, 17.11 cm, respectively, for locations X and Y. The observed plant spacing was close to desired spacing (15 cm). The field evaluation studies validated the results of laboratory experiments and desirable plant population were observed at both locations
Effect of microclimate on early and total yield of bottle gourd
Get PDFBottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl.), cucurbitaceae crops normally cultivated during summer and rainy season. The effect of plastic mulch and plastic low tunnel alone and plastic mulch with plastic low tunnel on soil and air temperature was studied. The effect of plasticulture technologies on early and total yield of bottle gourd were evaluated for BSS 951 (Semal) and ES 330 (Sunder). The increase in air and soil temperature was 1-170C and 3-80C, respectively open field condition. The highest yield of bottle gourd for BSS-951 (Semal) was 24.16 t/ha under low tunnel and for ES-330 (Sunder) was 22.16 t/ha under mulch with low tunnel and significantly superior to other treatments. The highest net BC ratio was 2.73 (BSS 951) and 1.72 (ES 330) respectively for low tunnel and mulch with low tunnel condition
A Paradigm Shift in Strategy
No full textIndia is celebrating Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav – commemoration of glorious 75 years of our independence. Agriculture is and will continue to be vital for our food security, economic bedrock and social stability. Agriculture still provides living to about 58% of India’s population. India is known for its industrial prowess and IT supremacy. Application of these into agriculture can make a big impact
SUCCESS STORY Skill development training and entrepreneurship development/startups in soybean processing for higher income and employment generation
No full textToday soybean is not only a source of oil production however it has been recognized as integral raw material in healthy food product development. Soy milk is the major alternative milk source which has been utilized for vegetarians’ population around the globe. To bring this culture in India rst Centre of Excellence on Soybean Processing and Utilization (CESPU), earlier named as Soybean Processing and Utilization Centre (SPU), was established in April, 1985 at the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE), Bhopal by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington. SPU/CESPU at the ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal has conducted 195 batches training programme on soy-based food entrepreneurship development for upcoming entrepreneurs in which more than 3000 potential entrepreneurs from various state of India were participated. is center is not only restricted to EDPs apart from this on regular basis various awareness creation and employment generation especially among women also organizes
Smart Robotic Solutions for Efficiency
No full textMultiple reports indicate Global average age of the farmer at 60 & is increasing. e younger generation does not want to get into farming as they branch out into the metro side to seek life in the Urban cities. While there is also an increasing trend of feminization in agriculture especially in India. In the backdrop of absent mechanization and innovation this is leading to increased drudgery amongst women. Are we running out of farmers? Are we loosing tacit knowledge about our livestock, crops, climate, pests that were passed on from generations? e recent Global events have indicated how vulnerable are food value chain is. What could the future look like if we could increase the tment of Automation & AI Technologies that benet all stakeholders of the value chain at scale. And who pays for this
Food Printing – An Emerging Field for Smart Manufacturing of Tailored Diets
No full text3D and 4D food printing is developing as a novel technology that has the potential to revolutionize the food supply chain. Extrusion-based 3D and 4D printing of meals and the key elements impacting the production of eective edible 3D structures with ideal textures that meet the requirements of particular consumers are discussed in this article. 4D food printing and the development of programmable food texture, resulting in color, shape, size, fragrance, and nutritional content variations can eciently deliver novel consumer-centered meals with holistic characteristics. ese changes are triggered by a variety of external stimuli, including acid or alkaline environments and the anisotropic behavior of printed materials aer drying
Agricultural innovations driving productivity in a sustainable India
No full textAccording to Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, “a sustainable food system (SFS)” is a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social, and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. Food is the common link that connects ALL the 17 goals of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals. Agriculture, being an extractive process, this should not surprising; but it took us long time for us to pay attention to the concept of sustainability
YOLO-FSL: Method of Maturity Detection for Plum in Natural Environment Based on Improved YOLOv8
No full textThis study introduces an improved YOLOv8 model YOLO-FSL for rapid detection of plum maturity under natural conditions. Firstly, the Faster Net Block module was introduced into the C2f module of the YOLOv8s backbone network, forming the C2f_Faster module; Secondly, squeeze and excitation (SE) attention mechanism after each C2f_Faster module was added in the backbone network; Finally, the improved YOLOv8s model was pruned using channel pruning algorithm to simplify the detection model and ensure detection efficiency. The experimental results show that the mean average precision (mAP) and model size of the improved YOLO-FSL model is 91.2% and 4.1 MB (Mega Byte), respectively, which reduces the number of parameters by 82.57% and improves the mAP by 1.6% compared with the original network YOLOv8s. Compared with the mainstream target detection algorithms of YOLOv3-tiny, YOLOv5s, YOLOv6s, and YOLOv7-Tiny, the mAP of the YOLO-FSL model is improved by 4.4%, 2.0%, 1.0%, and 1.6%, respectively. The YOLO-FSL model has a higher detection accuracy, and at the same time reduces the amount of computation and the number of parameters, and lowers the hardware dependence, which provides a technical reference for the automated picking of plums
Assessment of Soil Erodibility under Different Land Use/Land Covers in Western Himalayas
No full textSoil erodibility refers to soil’s inherent susceptibility to erosion by rainwater and runoff. In this study, soil erodibility was estimated by using modified nomograph equation model (M-NOMO), and compared with various soil-based erodibility indices such as dispersion ratio, erosion ratio, erosion index, structural stability index, suspension ratio, critical level of soil organic matter, clay ratio, plasticity index etc. The study was conducted in a catchment of Nauni, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, which falls under Ga3a micro-watershed. The study dealt with soil erodibility assessment by employing different indices under five land use/land covers, i.e., chir pine forest, oak forest, mixed forest, grassland and barren land. A total of 60 composite soil samples were collected from two slope categories, i.e., ≤ 30% and > 30% at two depths viz., 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm with three replications. The soil texture was found to be loam, sandy loam and sandy clay loam. The soil pH was slightly acidic to neutral in nature among all land use/land covers. The study highlighted that measurement of soil erosion in field practices is difficult, time consuming and expensive whereas, the approach of estimating soil erosion through soil erodibility indices on basis of soil conditions is relatively advantageous. The indices further prioritize the sub-watersheds for suggesting appropriate conservation measures. The highest values of erodibility factor (0.31 -0.37), dispersion ratio (19.55 - 23.58), erosion ratio (27.42 - 31.88), erosion index (18.31 - 21.48), suspension ratio (40.56 - 43.21) and lowest values of critical level of soil organic matter (1.79-2.45), plasticity index (12.22-13.10) and structural stability index (42.98-55.86) in barren land revealed that the barren land use is most susceptible to erosion in comparison to other land use/land covers in the study area