43 research outputs found
Analysis of energy utilization in banana (Musa spp.) cultivation in Malaysia: a case study / Nordin Onsang and Darius EL Pebrian
No full textBanana (Musa spp.) is one of the major staple foods in Asia and Africa after rice, maize and corn. That make banana as ranking number four after other staple foods In Malaysia, the production of banana has exceeded the need for local consumption and creating the opportunity to make banana as one of the exported fruits. As a non-seasonal fruits make it east' to cultivate banana over the year. The current study was conducted to analyze the utilization of energy input in banana cultivation in Malaysia. The study also aimed to inform the input used in banana cultivation with the pattern of energy produce to create reference for planting banana with effective management. Data were collected based on oral interviews with the owner of the banana cultivation area Mr. Rosian Jamil at Kampung Durian Tunjung Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan to collect all the information required for the study. The highest energy input used in banana cultivation is chemical fertilizer, contributing to 49.93% from the total energy equivalents used in the cultivation. Water irrigation is the second highest energy input with a segment of 29.17% of the total energy input, followed by herbicide, human labor, farm yard manure, fuel and machinery at 9.15%, 7.04%. 3.95 %. 0.51 % and 0.24%. Respectively. The banana cultivation in the study area produce 1.00 MJHa' ' ratio of energy output/input. As conclusion, the cultivation of banana utilize the energy effectively due to the ratio of energy output/input produce is equal to 1. To increase the ratio, the use of suitable machinery and proper technology is required in the cultivation of banana in Malaysia. This will increase the efficiency of energy utilization in banana cultivation at the same time solve the labor shortage problem in Malaysia
Field performance of tractor mounted with various implements: a case study/ Nazura Amanda Zainal Abidin and Darius El Pebrian
No full textField data performance are important in farm management where the proper used of tractor and implements can minimize inputs and fully optimized the machinery. This study is to investigate the efficiency of the implements. The field performance was developed by using Kubota M8540tractor and various mounted implements. The performance measures effective field capacity ‘wheel slippage and time taken for the implements to complete the task. Three implements that used are disc plough, rotary tiller and seeder machine at constant engine speed 1500 rpm was examined. All the implements were investigated on 20m X 20m site. The studies were undergoing5 replications to minimize the error and increase the efficiency. Time taken was collected in minutes and wheel slippage was taken in percentage while field capacity is in hectare per hours. Analysis from ANOVA on wheel slippage shows that disc plough have highest wheel slippage compared to rotary tiller and seeder. Furthermore, time taken to complete the task., highest is rotary ‘tiller (26.6 min), then disc plough (23.7 min) and seeder (14.52 min). Effective field capacity that shows by seeder is the highest where it can covers 1.0106 hectares per hour compared to disc plough 0.3216 hectares per hours and rotary tiller 0.2353 hectares per hours. From the ranges in performance measured, seeder is the most efficient implement to be used with the tractor. In order to use the machine efficiently, the tractor and implements should be matching properly in size and capacity'
Germination of Canarium Odontophyllum seeds as affected by desiccation / Aziela Masarip, Fui Ying Tsan and Darius El-Pebrian
No full textCanarium odontophyllum is a rare tropical fruit that is primarily propagated by seeds. However, there is little information regarding its seed handling and germination. As low seed moisture content (MC), generally that below 10%, is the key determinant to successful seed storage while avoiding microbial damage, the objective of this study was, hence, set to investigate C. odontophyllum’s seed germination as affected by desiccation using drying beads (DBs) at room temperature or convection oven at 40C to varying seed MCs, from its initial MC of above 20% down to that below 10%. It was found that the seeds tolerated fast dehydration within 24h at room temperature using DBs. They retained 90% germination despite seed MC was reduced to below 10%. Desiccation tolerance with DBs was, however, found only with seeds extracted from fresh fruits. As the fruits started rotting with wrinkled appearance and fungi on the pericarp from four days after harvest onwards, the seeds extracted from them died at MC of below 15%. A slower seed drying method using convection oven at higher temperature of 40C, on the other hand, took 72h to bring the seed MC down to < 10%
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%
Soil compaction level under mechanized harvesting system in paddy field: a comparisons of pre-harvest and post-harvest / Mohamad Aiman Muslim Mohamad Sakril and Darius El Pebrian
No full textSoil compaction is serious problem and not suitable form of soil degradation that lead in increasing of soil erosion and decreasing of crop production. This happen by the compression, soil density and reduction on the size of pore space by eliminate the water contents. This study was conducted to measure the soil compaction levels in paddy field under the conditions of before and after harvesting operation. The measurements were using a penetrometer to evaluate the soils compaction before and after in paddy field at Kampung Sempang, Merlimau paddy fields at coordinate (2.142598°N. 102.415095°E). Prior the testing, sampling points was made on the areas with 9 quadrants and 5 samples taken on each quadrant. While testing, the penetrometer was pressed with steady and even pressure to make sure the data received are accurate. Besides, soil samples also been taken to the laboratory to identify' soil moisture. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS and Excel to form the statistical analysis including descriptive analysis, T-test, correlation and regression. By the data obtains, there are relationship between both soil moisture and soil compaction by R2 value of after, 0.4408 more than before, 0.3029 that impacted by the involvements of mechanization in paddy fields. The graph made also show the different on both before and after the used of mechanization in harvesting process by after the usage of machinery have different of 9.111 lbs more than before harvest. In statistical analysis, the alpha is 0.05 and the p-value is 0.000 which rejected the HO by using (p < a) statistical law. So, there are significant different between before and. after use of combine harvester. The mechanization in paddy harvesting influences the destruction on soil moisture and compaction of soil in paddy land in long term of utilization
Sustainability of Malaysian Smallholder Banana Farming: an Energy Efficiency Use-Based Audit
No full textBanana (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
No full textA 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
No full textA 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
No full textShortage 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
