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.
J. Taghinazhad
Abstract
Introduction One of the most important agricultural crops is rape seed oil as its special features can play an important role in the agricultural region. Due to the presence of more than 40% oil and 25% protein in the grain can play an important role in the supply of edible oil. After determining of ...
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Introduction One of the most important agricultural crops is rape seed oil as its special features can play an important role in the agricultural region. Due to the presence of more than 40% oil and 25% protein in the grain can play an important role in the supply of edible oil. After determining of various factors such as uniformity of planting depth, evenness between shrub, plant height and grain yield concluded that Nordsten drill along the seeding density of 75 cm for mechanized planting is acceptable yield. Afzali nia et al. (1999) in one study aimed to assess the performance of common grain drills in Iran in Zarghan area in Fars Province showed that differences between treatments in terms of seed distribution uniformity factor, plant population per unit area and yield product is not significant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and select the most suitable types of canola planter and variable seed rate planting density and aims to increase the canola cultivated area by the highest yield. Materials and Methods Moghan Plain, located in the north areas of Ardebil province, is considered as an important areas of canola planting in Iran. This study was performed in the agricultural research center of Ardabil Province (Moghan) (39°39´N; 48°88´E; 78 m a.s.l.) in Northwest of Iran. To evaluate different planters with varied seed rates on canola yield. The experimental design was carried out in a randomized complete block design with strip splits (varied seed rates 6, 8 and10 kg per hectare and different drills consist of B1: Barzagar Hamadani drill (conventional method) B2: Amazon drill pals teeth harrow, B3: Gaspardo drill pals teeth harrow and B4: Agromaster drill) and four replications. To investigatethe different treatments in the experiment, various parameters such as percent germination, seeding uniformity of width and depth intervals, plant establishment, effective field capacity, fuel consumption rate andgrain yield were measured. Results and Discussion The evaluation of results of drill types showed that there was significant difference between the planters type and other performance parameters. Different planters with varied seed rates also had significant effects on germination at 1% probability level and B4 had maximum percentage of seed germination (89.45%). Uniformity of seed distribution was found to be the highest for B4 in vertical distribution uniformity (72.62%) and inter-row uniformity (84.25%). The analysis of variance for two years showed that the grain yield and establishment of seed were significantly affected by year. Result of variance analysis for yield indicated that there was a significant difference between planting machines in 1% of probability level. Therefore, maximum yield in this experiment related to B4 with 2672 kg ha-1. The results of technical and economic comp ration indicate that the added net income of B4, was 4940 thousand Rails per hectare compared to the conventional method. Conclusion Results showed that the average of yield of the first year was significantly greater than that of the second year. Results indicated that use of B4 lead to the highest of yield 2672 kg ha-1. But in terms of plant height no significance was found. The results of technical and economic comp ration comparison indicated that the added net income from B4, was 4940 thousand Rails per hectare compared to the conventional method. Therefore, considering many factors, the Agromaster drill tested in this study was found to be the best suited planter and therefore is recommended for canola planting in the region.
J. Taghinazhad; M. R. Mostofi Sarkari
Abstract
Rapeseed cultivation in Iran is growing rapidly while this product has been facing specific problems. Every year a significant portion of edible oil is imported to the country from other countries. Despite this deficit, a great amount of canola is being lost every year. Therefore, in compliance with ...
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Rapeseed cultivation in Iran is growing rapidly while this product has been facing specific problems. Every year a significant portion of edible oil is imported to the country from other countries. Despite this deficit, a great amount of canola is being lost every year. Therefore, in compliance with technical points, adding a suitable platform to the exisiting machineries may reduce the losses. A field study was conducted in Moghan Agricultural Research Centre to study the technical and economical characteristics of harvesting machineries and evaluate Canola harvesting losses in different maturity stages, using three different combine harvester heads. The experiments were conducted in a completely randomized split split plot design with four replications. The main plot included seed maturity stage at three levels: A) 60%, B) 70% and C) 80%, and the subplot was the harvester’s ground speed at three levels: A) 1.5, B) 2.5 and C) 3.5 km h-1. The sub-subplot was combine head type with three forms: A) Mechanical, B) Hydraulically Joybar and C) Hydraulically Biso's Head. The results of ANOVA showed that maximum cutter bar losses occurred with Mechanical Head (5.36%) while the loss of Hydraulically Joybar's and Biso's head were 4.28 and 4.13 %, respectively. The results also showed that the maximum cutter bar losses occurred when 80% of seeds were matured and adequate time for canola harvesting was 70% of seeds maturity. The results of analysing the effects of harvesting ground speeds showed that the maximum cutter bar losses occurred with the speed of 3.5 km h-1. Finally, the results showed that the minimum cutter bar loss was obtained with Hydraulically Joybar's head considering the benefit per cost ratio. The cost for Mechanical head and Hydraulically Biso's head were 13500 and 262500 Rial ha-1, respectively.
M. Soleimani; M. Kasraei
Abstract
In recent decades, canola has been considered as the most important oilseed. Harvesting is the most major problem of canola cultivation, since canola pods are very sensitive to shocks and vibrations. Large amount of produce will fall on the ground especially when the combine's head is not adjusted properly. ...
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In recent decades, canola has been considered as the most important oilseed. Harvesting is the most major problem of canola cultivation, since canola pods are very sensitive to shocks and vibrations. Large amount of produce will fall on the ground especially when the combine's head is not adjusted properly. When canola harvested with a combine, the losses may reach up to 50%. The yields can be improved by decreasing seed losses during the harvesting operation. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal harvesting conditions of combine platform to minimize grain losses. In order to achieve this, a laboratory test stand platform was designed and built in the Department of Mechanics of Agricultural Machinery in Shiraz University. Three factors which are more effective on the losses were assessed to determine the best adjustments. These factors were combine forward speed at three levels; 1.5, 2 and 2.5 km h-1, cutter bar speed at three levels; 800, 1100 and 1400 cycles per minute and the relative linear speed of reel in respect of forward speed also at three levels; 1, 1.3 and 1.5. Desired experiment were accomplished on Talaeie variety at 16% m.c) d.b(. The grain losses were measured at each level, with three replicates. By considering the interaction of factors, results showed that the effect of these factors at 5% level was significant, and the minimum loss occurred at 2 km h-1 for forward speed, 1400 cut per minute for cutter bar speed and 1.5 for relative reel speed to forward speed.
