Precision Farming
N. Bagheri; M. Safari; A. Sheikhi Garjan
Abstract
IntroductionAbout 30% of the annual losses of agricultural products are caused by pests, diseases, and weeds. Spraying is currently the most common method of their control. At present, various manual and tractor-mounted sprayers are used for spraying. Manual spraying has very low work efficiency and ...
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IntroductionAbout 30% of the annual losses of agricultural products are caused by pests, diseases, and weeds. Spraying is currently the most common method of their control. At present, various manual and tractor-mounted sprayers are used for spraying. Manual spraying has very low work efficiency and is damaging as the spray might be applied irregularly and consumed by the labor or the product at poisonous levels. Tractor-mounted sprayers are more efficient than manual sprayers and require less labor. However, their use is associated with issues such as compacting the soil or crushing the product. In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sprayers have been used to spray farms and orchards. UAV spraying can increase the spraying efficiency by more than 60% and reduce the volume of spray used by 20-30%. Based on the capabilities of the UAV sprayer and the limitations of other current spraying methods, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance of the UAV sprayer in controlling Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) and compare the results with a turbo liner sprayer.Materials and MethodsIn the present research, the UAV sprayer is studied as a new method of spraying to fight Brevicoryne brassicae (L.). The results were technically and economically evaluated and compared with the control group and that of the turbo liner sprayer (the conventional method of spraying canola in Iran). The experiment was triplicated with a completely randomized design and three treatments of UAV sprayer, turbo liner sprayer, and control (no spraying). Field tests were conducted on the canola crop at the stemming stage where at least 20% of the plants were infected. The measured parameters included drift, spraying quality, field capacity, field efficiency, energy consumption, and spraying efficiency.Results and DiscussionBased on the results, the spray volume consumed by UAV and turbo liner sprayers was equal to 11.1 and 187.6 liters per hectare, respectively. The particle drift in spraying with UAV sprayer and turbo liner sprayer were 53.3% and 80%, respectively. Moreover, the quality coefficient of UAV and turbo liner sprayers were 1.15 and 1.21, respectively. Therefore, the farm efficiency of the UAV sprayer and turbo liner sprayer was equal to 51.4% and 32.3%, respectively. Based on the results of the analysis of variance, immediately after spraying, there was no statistically significant difference between the average density of pests of the three treatments. However, three, seven, and 14 days after spraying, there was a significant difference between the control treatment and the spraying treatments. The density of pests in the plots sprayed with UAV and turbo liner sprayers was lowered to less than 100 pests per stem, whereas in the control treatment, the density varied between 250-700 pests per stem. A comparison of the average efficiency of the UAV sprayer and turbo liner sprayer with the t-test showed that both sprayers had managed to control the population of pests and 14 days after the spraying, the efficiency of the UAV sprayer was higher than that of the turbo liner sprayer.Conclusion- The spray volume consumed by the turbo liner sprayer was 17 times the UAV sprayer.- The spray drift was about 34% more in spraying with the turbo liner sprayer than the UAV sprayer.- The field efficiency of the UAV sprayer was 59.1% more than the turbo liner sprayer.- The energy consumption per hectare of the turbo liner sprayer was 7 times the energy consumption of the UAV sprayer.- UAV sprayer’s efficiency reached 92.7 % 14 days after spraying.- UAV sprayer is recommended for controlling Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) due to its high efficiency, low drift, low spray volume and energy consumption, and superior spraying quality.- To improve the performance of the UAV sprayer for controlling Brevicoryne brassicae (L.), a flight height of 1-1.5 meters from the top of the crop, a flight speed of less than 7 m s-1, and a maximum spraying speed of 4 m s-1 are recommended. Additionally, it is possible to prevent the spread of the pest in the stemming stage by spraying the field in an earlier stage.
Agricultural waste management
M. Safari; M. A. Rostami
Abstract
IntroductionIn conventional combine harvesters, wheat chaff is typically removed from the end of the machine and deposited on the field surface. Depending on the wheat cultivar, cultivation method, and growing conditions, the amount of chaff produced can range from 0.8 to 1.5 times the amount of grain ...
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IntroductionIn conventional combine harvesters, wheat chaff is typically removed from the end of the machine and deposited on the field surface. Depending on the wheat cultivar, cultivation method, and growing conditions, the amount of chaff produced can range from 0.8 to 1.5 times the amount of grain harvested per hectare (Tavakoli, 2012). On average, this translates to an annual production of approximately 14 million tons of chaff, which is valued at around $240000000 based on regional prices in 2018-2019 ($1000 per kilogram). If collected, these chaff residues could be used as animal feed for livestock. Additionally, the long stems protruding from the back of conventional combine harvesters can interfere with subsequent cultivation efforts. Chaff combine harvesters have a similar structure to conventional machines, but feature a modified end that includes a tank and blower for collecting and depositing crushed chaff. Apart from the threshing unit, all other components of the harvester remain unchanged.Materials and MethodsThis study was conducted in 2019 in dryland wheat fields to determine the performance of Chaff combine harvesters in Kurdistan province. The study used 15 combine harvesters, including John Deere models equipped with chaff threshers from Shiraz, Bookan, and Hamedan, as well as the Hamedan Barzegar specific chaff collector combine. These combines were evaluated and compared based on natural losses, head and chaff storage losses, field capacity, purity percentage, and yield in field conditions in Kurdistan province. The total number of combines evaluated was 15, using a completely randomized design. Among these, 33% belonged to Shiraz company (5 samples), 33% to Bookan (5 samples), 20% to Hamedan (3 samples), and 14% to Hamedan Barzegar (2 samples). Sampling included measurement of natural losses, header losses, threshing tank losses (losses of the threshing unit, separating unit, and cleaning unit), and quality losses (broken grains and impurities) in the combine tank.Results and DiscussionThe results showed that the average yield, natural loss, and combine loss were 1,698.14 kg.ha-1, 2.39%, and 4.92%, respectively. In terms of the loss rates in different parts of the combine, 43.49% was related to the chaff storage of the combine, and 56.50% was related to the combine head.The natural loss rate in this province was 2.39%. The total combine loss was 5.18%, with 40.44% of that related to chaff storage and the rest related to the combine head. The results also showed a significant difference between the treatments in terms of field capacity, chaff storage loss, and purity percentage at a probability level of 5%.The total loss of the Hamedan Barzegar combine was 6.67%, which was higher than the other combines. The chaff storage loss of the Shiraz, Bookan, Hamedan, and Hamedan Barzegar combines were 0.87%, 2.64%, 0.78%, and 4.28%, respectively, showing a significant difference at a 5% level. There was also a significant difference between the treatments in terms of total grain loss.Based on these results, it is recommended to use the Hamedan, Bookan, Shiraz, and Hamedan Barzegar combines, with total losses of 4.33%, 4.33%, 4.52%, and 6.56%, respectively.ConclusionThe average purity of harvested grains was 96.62%, and there was no significant difference between the combine harvesters in this regard.There was a significant difference between the combines in terms of field capacity at a probability level of 5%. The field capacity of the Bookan, Hamedan Barzegar, Hamedan, and Shiraz combine harvesters were 0.83, 0.87, 0.83, and 0.73 hectares per hour, respectively.In Kurdistan province, the average grain combine loss in dryland wheat harvesting with chaff combine harvesters was 4.92%, which is higher than in other provinces.The loss in the chaff tank of the Shiraz, Bookan, Hamedan, and Hamedan Barzegar combine harvesters was 0.87%, 2.64%, 0.78%, and 4.28%, respectively. Regardless of head losses, the loss in the Hamedan combine was less than other combine harvesters.The total losses of the Hamedan Barzegar, Bookan, Shiraz, and Hamedan combine harvesters were 6.56%, 4.32%, 4.52%, and 4.30%, respectively, with the Hamedan Barzegar and Hamedan combine harvesters having the highest and lowest losses, respectively.Based on the results obtained from this study, using the Hamedan combine is recommended in the dryland conditions of Kurdistan due to its low losses, high purity, and field capacity.AcknowledgementThanks to the Agricultural Jihad Organization of Kurdistan Province, specifically the deputy of the Plant Production and Mechanized Technologies Department, for their assistance and cooperation in the implementation of the project.
Modeling
P. Ghiasi; M. Safari
Abstract
Introduction Sunflower planting is mostly carried out for two particular purposes; oil production and as nut. Harvesting is one of the biggest problems in both types of sunflower. The difficulty of harvesting and less scientific research have led us to study the mechanized harvesting of this kind of ...
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Introduction Sunflower planting is mostly carried out for two particular purposes; oil production and as nut. Harvesting is one of the biggest problems in both types of sunflower. The difficulty of harvesting and less scientific research have led us to study the mechanized harvesting of this kind of crops. In this research, head losses and grain losses for the inner section of combine were investigated during mechanized harvesting of oily sunflower and a regression model was used based on the experimental tests for head losses and grain losses in the inner section of the combine.Materials and Methods After preparing an especial head for harvesting sunflower, the head was set up on the combine for measuring the harvest losses. The cutting, threshing and clearing process for sunflower seeds were done during the tests. The design of the head is the same as the sunflower bushes are firstly bent by the bar and then sequentially the cutting, and transferring processes are done. The tests were implemented in an oily sunflower farm by a combine harvester (1055 john deer) in 3 replications. The farm performance was 2170 kg ha-1 and was located in Kermanshah province in Iran. A pre-test was done to define the best combine forward speed and finally 2.5 km h-1 was adjusted for combine forward speed. The bar height (BH) in two levels (20 and 70 cm) and head height (HH) in two levels (60 and 120 cm) were independent parameters to evaluate the head. The dependent parameters were the combine losses and head losses. For the analysis of variance of the variable parameters, a 2×2 factorial plot with 3 replications was used. A regression model was defined based on experimental tests.Results and DiscussionHaving done the experimental tests, data were analyzed and the effect of independent parameters on the head and combine grain losses were investigated. The effect of the bar height on the head grain losses was significant at 1% level and the effect of the head height and interaction between bar height and head height on the head grain losses was also significant at 5% level. Results showed that with increasing in bar height, the head grain losses increased. With a change in the bar height, the location of the cutting point is changed and this led to a change in the head grain losses. The effect of the bar height on the combine grain losses was significant at 5% level but the effect of the head height and interaction between bar height and head height was not significant on the combine grain losses. Increasing in the bar height led to increase in material other grain (MOG) which enters to the combine, and also resulted in increasing in combine grain losses. The coefficient of determination of head grain losses in the regression model was 0.97. The model was able to explain the relationship between the bar and head height with head grain losses due to the relationship between independent and dependent parameters. The amount of R-squared for the combine grain losses in the regression model was 0.53. Because of the effect of other parameters in the inner section of the combine, the output of the model predicted that increasing in the bar height and head height, resulted in increasing in head grain losses, and also increasing in the bar height and decreasing in head height let to increasing in combine grain losses. The output of model showed that regulating the bar height and cutting height could reduce the harvest losses by less than 3%. This R-squared is obviously less than R-squared of head grain losses model. The output of the regression model predicted that the increase in the bar height and head height was associated with increase in the head grain losses, and increasing in the bar height and decreasing in head height, resulted in increasing in combine grain losses. The output of the regression model showed that the harvest losses can be reduced less than 5% by regulating the bar height and cutting height.ConclusionOne of the most important parameters for mechanized harvesting is the head mechanism which cuts the crops and transfers them to the threshing unit. The cutting height in the sunflower head was defined by the bar height and head height. According to the linear relationship between the head and combine losses with the bar height and head height, and the interaction between them, the regression model was able to predict the result successfully. This model of grain losses in the head and combine model can be used in the intelligent combine to minimize the harvest losses. The optimization of the bar height and head height for minimizing the harvest losses can be the subject of next researches.
M. Safari; H. Sharifnasab
Abstract
IntroductionSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oil plant with a growth cycle of 120 days. The seeds of this crop are primarily used for oil production, while its flower petals are used for extracting natural pigments and medicinal purposes. The cultivation area for this crop in Iran was about ...
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IntroductionSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oil plant with a growth cycle of 120 days. The seeds of this crop are primarily used for oil production, while its flower petals are used for extracting natural pigments and medicinal purposes. The cultivation area for this crop in Iran was about 2300 ha during 2014-2015. Due to the recent droughts, cultivation of this crop has a good income for farmers because of the short growth period, resistance to drought (water stress) and less maintenance requirements. In the meantime, the flower petals of this crop are used for food coloring and medical affairs. The flower petals are harvested with the traditional method in most parts of Iran, which has a lot of hardship for harvesting and increases production costs. On the other hand, this crop is contaminated in terms of sanitary factors due to the contact of the worker hands with flower petals. Therefore, applying a proper mechanization method for petals harvesting is an effective step in the development of this crop cultivation.Materials and MethodsIn this study, three petal harvesting methods including the manual (conventional) method, Knapsack (Indian modified) method and Fossil-fueled wheelbarrow machine method were compared in terms of effective field capacity, downfall loss percentage, purity percentage, energy consumption, and harvesting costs. The Indian knapsack machine was modified. The experimental design format was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. In the knapsack method (modified), petals were separated from the receptacle by a cutting blade and sucked into the machine reservoir. In the manual method, petals were separated from the reception by the worker hands and put inside the special bags which hanged on the worker neck. In the fossil-fueled wheelbarrow machine, an 8 kW motor-powered engine was used to set up the 1200 w vacuum system and cutting unit. The vacuum system was installed on the special chassis in wheel barrow machine. Each experimental plot had about 149 safflowers in one square meter area, which was harvested in different methods.Results and DiscussionThe results showed that the harvesting loss (W.W.) of the Knapsack method, Fossil-fueled wheelbarrow machine method, and manual method were 0.63%, 1.11%, and 3.25%, respectively. The percentages of purity were 97.71%, 98.66%, and 95.29%, respectively. There was a significant difference between machine and manual methods in 5% level. The effective field capacity of the methods was 2.45, 2.76, and 1.39 g min-1 (in dry condition), which was not significantly different between the machinery treatments in 5% level. The energy consumption for the fossil-fueled wheelbarrow machine was significant compared to the other two methods (1356 kW h-1 in 30 days). In terms of the economic point, benefit-cost ratios were 1.75, 1.55, and 1.16 for the Knapsack method, Fossil-fueled wheelbarrow machine method, and manual method, respectively. If the solar panel was used in the Knapsack method, the benefit-cost ratio would decrease to 1.54.ConclusionThe field capacity of machines methods was more than manual method for safflower petal harvesting. The Knapsack machine had less loss percentage than other treatments. The wheelbarrow machine had a higher degree of purity, but no significant difference was observed between this treatment and the Knapsack method. The energy consumption of the wheelbarrow machine was higher than other treatments. The economic evaluation showed that the Knapsack machine had a higher benefit-cost ratio than other treatments. If the solar panel was used by this machine, the use of a solar panel system would be economical too. Finally, with regards to the technical and economic parameters, using the Knapsack machine was recommended for safflower petal harvesting.
F. Amirshaghaghi; M. Safari
Abstract
Introduction
The efficiency and cost effectiveness of orchard pest management programs are influenced by the skills of managers and sprayer operators who evaluate orchard conditions and alter machine settings and operating techniques to optimize performance of sprayers. A combination of operational ...
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Introduction
The efficiency and cost effectiveness of orchard pest management programs are influenced by the skills of managers and sprayer operators who evaluate orchard conditions and alter machine settings and operating techniques to optimize performance of sprayers. A combination of operational skill, equipment performance, timing and chemical selection is necessary for optimal results. Research and development of electrostatics, air-assisted, low-volume spraying and other technologies for agriculture and horticulture was studied by biological and agricultural engineering in order to decrease of pesticide consumption. The main objective of charged liquid or powder form of the pesticide spread is increasing the percentage of poison meeting on plant surfaces. The first sprayer with rotary plate became available in 1970. The amount of solution was less and had uniform spray droplets. Apple orchards in West Azerbaijan province, Iran, are sprayed mainly with tractor-mounted lance sprayers but there is large national, regional and farm to farm variation in spray volumes applied with such sprayers. Traditionally, high spray volumes (> 2000 l.ha-1) were used in many places. Reduction in spray volume has been driven largely by the need to improve spraying equipment. West Azerbaijan province has 117000 hectare fruit orchards and 1.2 million ton fruit production that the most of them are apple and grape. However, it is necessary for reduction of pesticide application in order to produce economic and safe fruits.
Materials and Methods
In the present study the tractor-mounted lance sprayer in control of apple pest (Carpocasa pomonella L) was evaluated and compared with electrostatic and Micronair sprayers. This research was implemented in an apple orchard (Golden Delicious variety) with row spacing of 66 meter. The experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Statistical analysis was performed using MS-TATC software and mean comparisons were conducted by Duncan’s multiple range test. The location of the research was in an orchard around the city of Urmia with geographical coordinates of 10-45' and 24-37' north latitude and east longitude, average rainfall of 380 mm, average temperature of 10°C, relative humidity of 60% and an average wind speed of 3.4 m.s-1. Average altitude of 1450 meters above sea level and has very high soil fertility and texture of silt loam class was the first class. In this experiment the following variables were measured: solution consumption, droplet distribution uniformity, pest control and economical comparison. Distribution uniformity was evaluated by use of water sensitive papers with dimension of 7×3 centimeter that installed in front and behind of leaves.
Results and Discussion
During the two-years study, results showed that uniform droplets on leaves in electrostatic and micronair sprayers with 30 drops per square centimeter were better than lance sprayer and in behind of leaves and electrostatic sprayer with 16 drops per square centimeter had better coverage. In lance type, large droplets and non-uniform distribution on the front and back of the leaves were observed. The mean comparison of solution consumption of treatments showed that electrostatic and microner sprayers with 157 and 134 liters per hectare, respectively, were in the range of low volume spraying (from 50-200 liters per hectare) and lance sprayer with 1629 liters per hectare was in the high volume spraying (more than 200 liters per hectare). Economically, the results showed that the micronair sprayer with high cost-benefit ratio (315.7) was recommended. Low volume spraying of apple trees is achievable by the use of spray technology such as micronair sprayers and provides considerable advantages in spray volume reduction.
Conclusions
Pesticides are active substances and instead of drenching of targets with lance sprayers we can change this poor and high expensive method with effective and environmental friendly methods. The technical evaluation showed that electrostatic and micronair sprayers were significantly better with more spray uniformity, higher performance, and lower consumption of solutions. Replacing the traditional methods with minimal use of chemicals and new equipment can improve the quality of agricultural and horticultural crops in national production contribution.
M. Safari; R. Abdi
Abstract
Introduction
Seventy million tons of agricultural crops are produced from 18 million hectares of agricultural lands in Iran every year. Since 80% of the crops (wt. basis) ends up as residues, therefore, about 50 million tons of crop residues are generated annually the majority of which is burnt on field ...
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Introduction
Seventy million tons of agricultural crops are produced from 18 million hectares of agricultural lands in Iran every year. Since 80% of the crops (wt. basis) ends up as residues, therefore, about 50 million tons of crop residues are generated annually the majority of which is burnt on field leading to vast emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) due to the incomplete combustion process. These residues could potentially be transformed into heat energy directly by adopting a burning process or indirectly by first transforming them into secondary fuel as hydrogen, bio-methane, methanol or ethanol.
Materials and Methods
The present study was conducted using, wheat and rapeseed straws dried at ambient temperature co-digested with fresh cow dung while the total solid content and detention time were kept constant. To conduct the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) experiments, cylinder reactors (13 L) were constructed and placed in a water bath equipped with a heater and sensor to maintain the temperature at 35±2 oC. The biogas produced in the digester was investigated by measuring the displacement of the water in a measuring tube connected to the reactor. Gas samples were obtained from the sampling port and were analyzed gas chromatograph. The temperature for detector, injector and oven were 170, 110 and 50 oC respectively. Before the test, the first CH4 and CO2 net gases, peaks corresponding percentage was determined with respect to the retention time of the area. Then sample was compared with standard gas and samples gas percentage was determined. The residues were mechanically pretreated using a mill in order to increase the availability of the biomass to enzymes. After the pre-treatment, the material (<2 mm) was mixed with a different proportion of fresh cow dung, Initial Total Solids (TS) content in the reactor was adjusted at 9%. Factors such as PH, Volatile Solids (VS) were determined by the standard method.
Results and Discussion
A decrease in the process pH was observed in the first few days of the digestion and this is due to high volatile fatty acid (VFA) formation. These results were compatible with sanaee moghadam et al. (2013). The results obtained showed that, the highest rate of VS reduction belonged to rapeseed residues at 52.22%.The lowest rate of VS reduction attributed to wheat residues at 36.79%. The rapeseed residues with 311.45 Lit.kg-1 VS had the highest accumulated methane followed by wheat straw with 167.69.28 L.Kg-1 VS in probability level of 5%. The average percentages of methane production for rapeseed straw and wheat straw during the 140 days experiment under mesophilic condition were 66% and 55%, respectively. Production of methane had delay and started after 46th day. Much reason may be possible. Inoculums used in this study were only fresh cattle dung. The mixture of fresh cattle dung and effluent of anaerobic digester or fresh rumen fluid may be decrease retention time and increase biogas production. According results of Budiyono the rumen fluid inoculated to biodigester significantly affected the biogas production. Rumen fluid inoculums caused biogas production rate and efficiency increase more than two times in compare to manure substrate without rumen fluid inoculums (Budyono et al., 2010). The other reason was pretreatment. This study applied just mechanical pretreatment. According to Cecilia studies, different pretreatment combined with mechanical pretreatment decrease retention time and increase biogas production efficiency (Cecilia et al, 2013). However, Zhang et al. claimed that it is hard to say which method is the best because each has its own strong point and weak point. Yet, until now, none of the pretreatment technologies has found a real breakthrough.
Conclusions
According to this study, rapeseed residues had the highest level of methane production in comparison with wheat residues. The rapeseed residues combine with cattle dung had suitable potential to methane production. The 140 days, Biomaethane Potential (BMP) of rapeseed residues combine with cattle manure had 311. 45 Lit/kg vs. add. Moreover, it had high percentage of VS content reduction (52.22%). The high retention time was observed (140 day). One reason was lack of suitable inoculums and pretreatment. Furthermore, the lingo-cellulose nature of the crop residues, lower will be the biodegrade ability. Furthermore, the anaerobic co-digestion of rapeseed straw with cattle manure is feasible for production of methane.
A. Eyvani; M. Safari; A. Hedayatipour
Abstract
The main method of rice planting in Iran is transplanting. Due to poor mechanization of rice production, this method is laborious and costly. The other method is direct seeding in wet lands which is performed in the one third of rice cultivation area of the world. The most important problem in this method ...
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The main method of rice planting in Iran is transplanting. Due to poor mechanization of rice production, this method is laborious and costly. The other method is direct seeding in wet lands which is performed in the one third of rice cultivation area of the world. The most important problem in this method is high labor requirement of weed control. In order to compare the different rice planting methods (direct drilling, transplanting, and seed broadcasting) a manually operated rice direct seeder (drum seeder) was designed and fabricated. The research was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three treatments and three replications. Required draft force, field efficiency, effective field capacity, yield, and yield components were measured and the treatments were compared economically. Results showed that there were significant differences among the treatments from the view point of rice yield at the confidence level of 95% i.e. the transplanting method had the maximum yield. A higher rice yield was obtained from the direct seeder compared to the manual broadcasting method but, the difference between these two methods for crop yield was not significant even at the confidence level of the 95%. The coefficient of variation of seed distribution with direct seeding was more than 20%. The labor and time requirements per hectare reduced to 7 and 20 times, respectively when comparing the newly designed direct seeder with the transplanting method. The direct seeding method had the highest benefit to cost ratio in spite of its lower yield. Therefore, this method could be recommended in the rice growing regions.
K. Gerami; M. Safari
Abstract
This experiment was conducted to study the effect of nozzle types and the time of herbicide incorporation in soil on weed control, using split plot design by randomized block design. The main plots were soil and herbicide mixing time and the subplots were nozzle types with three replications. This study ...
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This experiment was conducted to study the effect of nozzle types and the time of herbicide incorporation in soil on weed control, using split plot design by randomized block design. The main plots were soil and herbicide mixing time and the subplots were nozzle types with three replications. This study was performed in Karaj station of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, located 25 km west of Tehran, in 2008. Treatments were including: T-Jet standard nozzle, Flood-Jet nozzle and Air induction nozzle as well as mixing with the soil immediately, three, six and nine hours after spraying. The parameters were measured includes: the number of weeds before spraying, 15 days and 30 days after spraying; dry weed at two stages of 15 and 30 days after the spraying; and yield of corn. The results revealed that the spraying quality coefficient was greater for T-jet nozzle compared to the other types. However Flood-jet nozzle had a wide range of corn weeds control in comparison to other treatments. Regardless of the nozzle type, the immediate incorporation of herbicide in soil after spraying significantly increased the yield. The time of herbicide incorporation in soil and poison intermixture with soil, from zero to 4.5 hours after spraying was superior to the other times. This was mainly due to different weeds reactions to the times of herbicide incorporation in soil after spraying, and also treatments effect on yield and weed dry weight. Combined data analysis showed that treatment combination of T-Jet nozzle (with time of herbicide incorporation in soil immediately and three hours after spraying), Flood-jet nozzle (with time of herbicide incorporation in soil immediately after spraying) and air induction nozzle (with time of herbicide incorporation in soil immediately, three and six hours after spraying) produced the highest yield than the other treatment combinations.
N. Loveimi; M. Safari; N. Heidarpour
Abstract
The current study was conducted to compare different tillage methods on wheat yield in pebbly dry land areas done within three years (2006-2008) in north Khouzestan (Baghmalek city) in randomized block design with five treatments and four replications. The experimental treatments were:(1)chisel plow ...
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The current study was conducted to compare different tillage methods on wheat yield in pebbly dry land areas done within three years (2006-2008) in north Khouzestan (Baghmalek city) in randomized block design with five treatments and four replications. The experimental treatments were:(1)chisel plow +seed-drill, (2)Semi plow(mold board plow with remove mold board)+seed-drill, (3)no-till-drill, (4)sweep plow +seed-drill and (5)conventional method(mold board plow+ broadcasting seed and fertilizer+ sweep plow). These treatments included minimum tillage (treatments 1, 2 and 4), no tillage (treatment 3) and conventional tillage (treatment 5). Complex variance analyses of three years data showed that there was no significant difference between tillage methods and interaction of tillage methods with year in soil moisture content in different plant growth stages (stem, flowering, and filling seeds stages) but years were different in this factor. Variance analyses of data showed that there was no significant difference between different tillage methods in percent of organic materials in different soil depths in the end of the project. However, no difference in tillage methods in the amount of organic material has been analyzed based on the pebbly conditions. The complex variance analyses of data also showed that tillage methods had significant effect on grain yield and other agronomical factors, except plant height and harvest index. According to the results any devices cause to back more gravel and cobblestone into sub soil layer provide more grain yield. Therefore, mold board plow resulted in maximum yield in three experimental years which were different in amount and distribution of rainfall, and also in third year the amount of rainfall was considerably low. The grain yield averages of three years were 1333, 1558, 1190, 1080 and 1787 Kg.ha-1 for chisel plow, semi plow, no-till-drill, sweep plow and mold board plow respectively.
