1,720,976 research outputs found
Design and development of a prototype trailed type oil palm seedling transplanter
No full textA prototype trailed type transplanter for oil palm seedlings with a configuration consisting of the main chassis, seedling bin, seedling planting assembly, operator compartment, and associated hydraulic system has been designed and developed at the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia. AutoCAD 2000 software was employed to develop the 3D dimensional model of the prototype machine. The transplanter is to be trailed from a 4-wheel tractor having at least 85 hp (63.4 kW) engine size and equipped with a seedling bin that could accommodate 20 oil palm seedlings per operating trip. Two operators are required in the involved transplanting operationa driver for the tractor
and an operator for transplanter. The driver drives the tractor-transplanter combination in the field, while the operator operates the hydraulic control system of the transplanter to integrate the preparations of planting hole, placement of seedling in the prepared hole, covering of the seedling in the prepared hole, and compacting of the soil around the planted seedling
Preliminary field and cost evaluations of a prototype oil palm seedling transplanter
No full textMechanized field transplanting of oil palm seedling with the trailed type transplanter resulted with a planting capacity of 99 seedlings/man-day or 0.62 ha man-day-1 as compared to 0.28 ha man-day-1 or 45 seedling manday-1 with the manual transplanting planting systeman improvement of 2.2 times. The quality of planting with the mechanized transplanting system indicated insignificant variations in leaning angles, spacing, row alignment, pulling forces and height increment among planted seedlings. Almost 99.45% of the total seedlings
planted by the transplanter were categorized under upright palms. The average spacing between adjacent planted seedlings was 8.56 m and exceeded only by 0.06+0.02 m from the proposed distance, whereas row alignment of planted seedlings variations was 1.78+0.33 cm along planting lines in each row. The soil around the planted seedling was almost uniformly compacted with an averaged pulling force of 347.39+20.27 N per planted seedling. The entire seedlings were successfully planted in the field by the transplanter with averaged palms height increment of 18.6+2.45 cm after the first month of planting and 22.5+3.34 cm after the second month of planting. The estimated planting cost is RM 2.11 per seedling with mechanized transplanting as compared to RM 2.26 with manual transplantinga reduction of 6.64%
Sustainability of Malaysian Smallholder Banana Farming: an Energy Efficiency Use-Based Audit
Get PDFBanana (Musa spp.) is one of important food crops that contributes to the Malaysia’s economy from agro-based industry sector. This study aims to inspect the sustainability of banana cultivation by smallholder in Malaysia based on auditing the energy efficiency use on its crop upkeep operation. Data were collected based on oral interviews with the owner of smallholder banana farming at off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia, Malaysia. Energy efficiency use for fertilizing, spraying herbicide, irrigation, pruning and harvesting in banana cultivation were audited in the study. The findings showed total energy input use for crop upkeep in banana cultivation was 17998.50 MJ/ha. Fertilizer was the highest energy input with share 53.88% of the total energy use for crop upkeep operation in banana cultivation, while machinery with contribution 0.24% of the total energy use was the least. The ratio of energy output/inputs was equal to 1.002, which means crop upkeep operation in the study area is not therefore gaining energy, and it is not losing energy. In general, this value reflects the suitability of smallholder banana farming in the study area was mediocre. Thus, sustainable cultivation techniques should be enhanced in the farming to lift-up the energy efficiency use, and furthermore meet the relevant point in the sustainability development goal.  
Design and Development of a Fourwheeled Drive Multipurpose Prime Mover for Oil Palm Plantation Mechanization
Get PDFA new completely integrated machine system for mechanizing the field operations in
the oil palm plantation in Malaysia has been successfully designed, developed and
evaluated. The machine system consists of a 4WD multi purpose prime mover
associated with its machine attachments for circle spraying, blanket spraying and infield
FFB collection-transportation operation and provisions for the other future
machine attachments.
Computations were made to predict the overall performances of the proposed 4WD
multi purpose prime mover based on the terrain parameters obtained from the study
on the mechanical terrain properties. Computations also were made to estimate on
the overall hydrostatics efficiency of the prime mover, and the required hydraulic
pressure for operating all actuators within the respective machine attachments.
Besides, a study on machine and human performances in oil palm cultivations in
Malaysia has been sucessfully conducted to identify the critical field operations or
tasks within the nursery and field stage operations prior to establishing the design concept of the 4WD multipurpose prime mover with its respective machine
attachments. The greater priority was given to the identified critical field operations
and the identified tasks within the operation in designing and developing the types
of machine attachments for the 4WD multi purpose prime mover. The attachments
for spraying operations and in-field FFB collection-transportation operation were
given a greater priority to be designed and developed to complete the functionality of
the prime mover in order to be a universal prime mover.
Results from field evaluations had showed that the average effective field capacity
for the circle spraying operation with the machine system was found to be 0.98 ha/hr
or equal to 7.89 ha/man-day with 8 committed working hours per day or increments
of average effective machine field capacity of 1.97 over the Serena LT16 knapsack
sprayer.
The average effective field capacity for the blanket spraying operation with the
machine system was found to be 3.82 ha/hr or equal to 30.61 ha/man-day with 8
committed working hours per day or increments of average effective machine field
capacity of 1.53 times over the mini-tractor with fully mounted 10 m boom sprayer.
The average machine output of in-field FFB collection-transportation operation with
the machine system operating on gently undulating terrain was 2.620 ton/hr or equal
to 20.965 ton/day with 8 committed working hours per day. An average machine
output increment of 3.58% higher than average machine output of 2.526 ton/hr or
equal to 20.213 ton/day was obtained when the machine system operating on sloping
terrain.A spraying cost increment per hectare of 24.90% or an additional cost of RM5.36/ha
(1.53 USD/ha) was obtained in circle spraying operation with the prime mover over
the Serena LT16 knapsack sprayer. Increasing the effective field capacity of the
machine system to a value equal or greater than 1.33 ha/hr (i.e. 26.3% increased) or
reducing the initial cost of the machine system to RM27,500 (USD 7714.28) or 0.41
times reduction would qualify the machine system to be cost effective over the
Serena LT16 knapsack sprayer for circle spraying operation.
A spraying cost reduction per hectare of 19.54% or a cost saving of RM1.54/ha (0.44
USD/ha) was obtained in blanket spraying operation with the prime mover over the
mini tractor with fully mounted 10 m width boom sprayer.
An operating cost reduction in the range of 6.74% to 14.25% per ton or cost savings
in the range of RM0.62/ton (0.18 USD/ton) to RM1.31/ton (0.37 USD/ton) were
obtained in in-field FFB collection-transportation operation with the prime mover
over the mini tractor-trailer with grabber.
In-field FFB collection-transportation operation by the prime mover with in-field
FFB collection-transportation attachment was 63.35 times more exhausting on basis
of the measured human energy expenditure, 1.59 times more demanding on basis of
the measured mean increase in heart rate, and 1.16 times less dawdling on basis of
the measured average field capacity than the operation by the mini tractor-trailer with
grabber.Circle spraying operation by the prime mover with circle spraying attachment was
0.89 times less exhausting on basis of the measured of the human energy
expenditure, 0.32 times less demanding on the basis of the measured mean increase
in heart rate and 1.78 times less dawdling on the basis of the measured average field
capacity than the operation by the Serena LT16 knapsack sprayer
Design and Development of a Trailed Type Transplanter for Oil Palm Seedling
Get PDFA trailed type transplanter that runs by a 4-wheel tractor with at least 63.4 kW for
field transplanting of oil palm seedlings had been designed, developed and tested.
AutoCAD 2000 software was used to produce the 3-D conceptual design of the
proposed machine system. Computations were made to determine required total
hydraulic pressure to operate all actuators within the hydraulic system of the
transplanter. The machine configuration consists of the main chassis, seedling bin,
seedling planting assembly, operator compartment, and associated hydraulic system.
Two operators are required in the involved transplanting operation; a driver for the
tractor and an operator for transplanter. The driver drives the tractor-transplanter in
the field while the operator on the transplanter operates the hydraulic control system
to integrate all operational activities. The involved operational activities includes the
preparations of planting hole, placement of seedling in the prepared hole, covering of
the seedling in the prepared hole, and compacting of the soil around the planted
seedling. An area size of 200 m length and 56 m width at the university farm was
chosen to be the test plot for the five days field evaluations duration. A special time and motion study was conducted on the 6th day of the field evaluation to include
additional activity concerning removal of plastic polybag from seedling before
planting. The test plot soil is from Serdang series with sandy clay loam texture
classification. A triangular planting pattern with density of 160 palms/ha, planting
distance of 850 cm and row distance of 736 cm were employed in the test plot
Factors affecting farmers’ satisfactions with mechanized rice harvesting in Malaysian paddy fields: A case study of hiring custom operators
Get PDFShortage of labor during the harvest season is one of the problematic situations for farmers in the Malaysian paddy fields. Thus, combine harvester has been utilized massively in Malaysian paddy field for the purpose of assisting the farmers to overcome the problems. Majority use of combine harvesters in the country was provided by the state farmers’ organization that offers custom operators to be hired by the farmers during harvesting seasons. A case study was conducted to identify and rank the factors that affect farmers’ current satisfactions with mechanized harvesting using combine harvesters that offered by custom operators. A group of farmers comprising of 336 respondents at rice granaries in Tanjung Karang district, Selangor, Malaysiawas chosen as the samples for this case study. The respondents were asked 20-items of questionnaire through face-to-face interviews in a survey method. Five-point Likert scale analysis was used to scales the responses. All the responses were then analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 software. Meanwhile, the significance level of each factor affecting the farmers’ satisfactions was determined by factor analysis approach. General comments from respondents with regard to services given by the custom operators were also evaluated qualitatively in this study. The findings of study have completely admitted 4 out of 8 factors as the most significant factors in affecting farmers’ satisfactions with mechanized rice harvesting by hiring custom operators in Malaysian paddy fields. Such factors could be refereed by custom operators to improve their services. Generally, these findings could enrich the knowledge of farm machinery management, and particularly in managing the harvesting operation with custom operators to achieve satisfactory field operations both from economics and quality of work aspects
CAD conceptual design of an oil palm seedling transplanter
No full textA conceptual design of an oil palm seedling transplanter was developed using AutoCAD R14 software. This seedling transplanter consists of the main chassis, seedling bin, conveying unit, seedling placement assembly and its associated hydraulic control unit. The transplanter is to be trailed from a 4-wheel tractor having at least 70 hp (52 kW) engine size. It is equipped with a seedling bin that could accommodate 28 oil palm seedlings per operating trip. Two operators are required in the involved transplanting operation; a driver for the tractor and an operator for transplanter. The driver drives the tractor-transplanter combination in the field, while the operator operates the hydraulic control system of the transplanter to integrate all operational activities. The involved operational activities include the preparations of planting hole, placement of seedling in the prepared hole, covering of the seedling in the prepared hole, and compacting of the soil around the planted seedling
Development of a 4wd prime mover With front mounted sprayer unit for circle spraying of immature oil palms
No full textA mechanized system for circle spraying palms of less than 3 years old has been developed for the oil palm plantation industry in Malaysia. This circle spraying is being carried out to every individual palms along the row and again repeated to every individual rows that are available within the field lot to be sprayed. Spraying at each individual palms is done at 1 meter radius from the palm center. A special single chassis 4WD multipurpose prime mover with a front mounted sprayer unit has been developed to mechanize this circle spraying operation. The prime mover runs on a 50.7 kW @ 2600 rpm KUBOTA V3300 water cooled diesel engine and equips with a Sauer Danfoss MPV46 axial piston pump with 210 bar maximum pressure @ 46 cm3 per revolution, oscillating front and rear axles, and 12-16.5 tires with the rear tires having opposite turning direction to the front tires. Such a design configuration would provide the required traction and maneuverability for the machine system in the undulating terrain conditions. The spraying unit on the prime mover consists of a hexagonal curved boom mounted at the front of the prime mover, a 600 liters capacity polyethylene cylindrical tank at the rear, a 12V electrical SHURFLO 8000 series pump with 6.9 bar maximum operating pressure @ 6.8 liters per minutes flow, and the associated hydraulic system for the raising, lowering, opening and closing of the boom. The hexagonal curved boom is made into two equal halves frame with a hinge mechanism at the frame rear ends to facilitate for its openings and closings. Six SCX2 RB solid cone nozzles are arranged on the hexagonal curved boom structure to give a 72.5 cm equal spacing between nozzles. Both laboratory and field tests have been conducted to determine the machine traveled speed range with slippage and without slippage, the individual nozzle flow uniformity and the complete spraying pattern. Without any doubts, this mechanized system has great potential to replace the current manual method using knapsack sprayer or motorized blower for circle spraying of immature palm trees or any immature fruit trees in large scale planting. The 4WD prime mover has been designed to be used with other relevant machine attachments for seedling planting, fertilizer application, in-field collection-transportation of fresh fruit bunches and in-field collection-transportation of loose fruits for the oil palm plantation industr
Transplanter for plant seedlings.
No full textSeedling Transplanter Ver-1 is used with a 4-wheel drive tractor having at least 63.4kW for field transplanting of oil palm seedlings or any tree crop seedlings. The design configuration of this transplanter is made up of the main chassis seedling bin, planting assembly, operator compartment and associated hydraulic system. Two operators are required for the transplanting operation; a driver for the tractor and an operator for the transplanter. The driver drives the tractor-transplanter in the field while the operator on the transplanter operates the hydraulic contol system to conduct all the operational activities
Mechanised weed control applicator for mature oil palm
Get PDFA new machine system has been designed, developed and evaluated for extensive weed control around mature oil palm. The machine system consists of a 4WD prime mover with the front mounted machine attachments for circle spraying operation. The configuration of the circle spraying attachment consists of the hexagonal curved spray boom, lifting arm, opening-tilting mechanism unit, storage tank, spray pump, solid cone nozzles, and associate hydraulic system. Field performance tests on the machine system showed an average effective field capacity of 7.89 ha per manday and when compared against the earlier reported effective field capacity of the walking spray-operated equipment using rechargeable battery powered knapsack sprayer, there was a difference of 1.97 times for circle spraying of mature palms grove. A reduction in the human energy expenditure of 24.19 kcal per manhour or 10.68 per cent but an increase in the spraying cost per hectare of USD 1.53 per hectare (RM4.66/ha) or 24.9 per cent were obtained with the machine system against the walking spraying-operated equipment using rechargeable battery powered knapsack sprayer. Justification for machine system to be cost effective could be satisfied if the present effective field capacity is increased to 26.3 per cent with a good skilled operator or if the current R&D cost is reduced to 0.41 times. This is because the improved field capacity of the new machine system could not rationalise its current R&D cost. Admittedly, the machine system has great potential to overcome the limitations with the currently employed machine/equipment in the circle spraying operation of oil palm in the plantation
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