G S Manes

Growth, symbiosis, productivity, and profitability of soybean at varying planting methods and nitrogen levels

ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different planting methods (Happy Seeder sowing, Straw Chopper + Zero Tillage sowing, and conventional sowing) and nitrogen (N) levels (0%, 75%, 100%, and 125% of recommended N) on the emergence, growth, symbiotic parameters, productivity, and profitability of soybean sown after wheat harvest. Growth and symbiotic parameters were significantly better under Happy Seeder sowing and Straw Chopper + Zero Tillage sowing than conventional sowing. The seed yield, nutrient uptake, and economic returns were significantly higher under Happy Seeder sowing than other methods. The growth parameters, symbiotic parameters, biological, straw, and seed yields were increased significantly up to 100% recommended N level. The nutrient uptake increased significantly up to 100% recommended N level. Therefore, sowing with Happy Seeder after combine harvested wheat along with 100% recommended N would best optimize soybean yield and profitability.

RELAY SOWING OF WHEAT IN THE COTTON–WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEM IN NORTH-WEST INDIA: TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS

Cotton–wheat (CW) is an important cropping system in South Asia. Wheat yields under a conventional CW system are generally lower compared to a rice–wheat system due to delayed seeding. Relay seeding of wheat can help timely sowing, capturing residual soil moisture of last irrigation to cotton, and increase the productivity and profitability of CW system. The field experiment included two Bt- cotton genotypes having different canopy cover (RCH 776 and MRC 7017), two types of relay seeders (RSs) for cotton planted at 67.5-cm and 101-cm row spacing and four types of relay seeding methods (manual broadcast, strip rotor (SR) and zero-till double disc and conventional till). Relay planting of wheat allowed one additional boll picking, which increased seed cotton yield by 12% compared with conventional tillage wheat. Cotton genotypes and RSs had no effect on emergence and yield of wheat. The RSs with SR and zero till double disc furrow openers performed better in terms of wheat emergence and grain yield compared to zero-till tine openers. Under relay seeding, wheat sowing was advanced by 31 days, which increased grain yield by 18.8% compared with conventional tillage practice. Net returns from the CW system with relay seeding of wheat were higher by US

Development and Evaluation of Inclined Plate Metering Mechanism for Onion Pelleted Seeds

311 to 425 ha −1 compared with the conventional CW system.

Development of A Conveyor Seeder for Direct Sowing of Wheat in Combine-Harvested Rice Field

Development and Evaluation of Inclined Plate Metering Mechanism for Onion Pelleted Seeds The ability to place seeds at a given distance apart in a row is an important performance factor of a planter with single seed metering mechanism. Inclined plate seed metering device was developed and evaluated in laboratory for singulation and uniform placement of onion seeds with different pelleting ratio viz. 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 pelleted. Metering device was tested at three inclinations of 40°, 45°and 50° using plates having three different groove number 18, 24 and 30 on cells. Average seed spacing obtained at in S3 seed, θ2 angle in forward speed 2.0 km/h, the average spacing was observed to be 5.90, 5.35 and 5.15 cm for 18, 24 and 30 groove plate respectively. Missing index at 2.0 km/h forward speed with 24 groove seed metering plate with 45o inclination angle was 5.0% and multiple index was 11.0%. The overall quality of feed index obtained with these parameters was 84.0% which is maximum when compared with other seed treatments, forward speeds and types of seed metering plate combinations with different angle of inclination of plates. The selection of plate inclination and type of metering cell for the planter was purely based on average spacing, missing index, multiple index and quality of feed index. With 24 groove seed metering plate with 45o inclination angle and forward speed of 2.0 km/h was selected for the field evaluation..

Comparative Performance Evaluation of Axial Flow and Tangential Axial Flow Threshing System for Basmati Rice (Oryza sativa)

A prototype of 9-row conveyor seeder was developed to enable direct drilling of wheat in combine harvested rice field. In this machine, a pick up conveyor-cum-elevator has been attached in front of a no-till drill. The pickup conveyor-cum-elevator consist of spikes to lift loose paddy straw in front of furrow openers of the seed drill and drill wheat in between the standing stubbles. The loose straw settles on field as mulch. Power to the pickup conveyor-cum-elevator is provided by tractor PTO through gear box. Field trials of the machine were conducted during rabi 2012–13 and 2013–14. The average yield of the wheat crop sown with 9-row conveyor seeder was 4777.5 kg/ha. There was saving of 31.23 and 57.49 per cent in cost of operation with conveyor seeder over happy seeder and conventional method, respectively. Overall, there was economic saving of Rs 905/ha with conveyor seeder over conventional method whereas happy seeder resulted in saving of Rs 1160/ha over conveyor seeder. Sowing performance of the conveyor seeder was found to be encouraging, though there were some patches of straw in the field.

Performance of modified spike tooth thresher for pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan).

Among all the food grains, basmati rice (Oryza sativa) has tremendous export potential. The basmati rice cultivar is very sensitive to mechanical abuses. The commercially available machines for paddy harvesting and threshing are not suitable for basmati varieties because of relatively delicate nature. There is an opinion regarding the performance of the axial flow machines that the breakage of grain is less than that of cross-flow machine. To know the exact status of grain breakage and other losses for basmati rice cultivar, a tangential axial flow (TAF) threshing cylinder was compared with fully axial flow cylinder for threshing basmati rice. The total grain loss in fully axial threshing cylinder was less as compared to TAF threshing cylinder. Grain breakage was also less in axial flow cylinder as compared to TAF cylinder. Threshing efficiency of TAF system was less as majority of the threshing takes place in first portion of the cylinder where threshing action is of cross-flow type. Cleaning efficiency was more in TAF cylinder compared to the axial flow cylinder. This may be due to higher separation length in the case of TAF cylinder.

Evaluation of direct-seeded rice drill against Japanese manual transplanter for higher productivity in rice.

Grains of legumes are affected considerably due to mechanical handling. Traditional threshing practices and operations are laborious and expensive. Timeliness is another important factor. Among legumes, pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) has considerable potential for adoption by farmers provided some of the major operations such as threshing are mechanized. The present study was aimed at optimizing important operational parameters of a modified spike tooth type thresher and crop parameters influencing threshing of pigeonpea. The thresher consisted of a 562 mm long threshing cylinder of 362 mm diameter, two aspirators, a sieve and screen. Effect of four levels of cylinder peripheral speed (16.4, 18.2, 20.1 and 21.9 m/s) and three levels of crop feed rate (700, 850 and 1000 kg/h) was studied on grain breakage, cleaning and threshing efficiency. Cylinder speed of 18.2 m/s and feed rate of 1000 kg/h resulted in optimum threshing efficiency, cleaning efficiency, breakage and non-collectable losses of 99.56 per cent, 98.63 per cent, 0.68 per cent and 0.27 per cent, respectively.