Developing of manually operated single row planter for groundnut seed

Abstract

India is one among the most important producers of oilseeds within the world and occupies a crucial position within the Indian agricultural economy. Groundnut is one among the foremost important oilseed crops of India. Mechanization of groundnut farming is an essential input in modern agriculture. Looking at the pattern of land ownership in India, it may be noticed that roughly 84 per cent of holdings are below one hectare. In the present context of the land fragmentation and resultant ongoing decrease of average size of operational holdings, proportion of marginal, small and semi-medium operational landholdings is projected to rise. Such tiny landholdings make private ownership farm machines uneconomic and operationally unavailable. In view of these points, a manual operated single row planter for groundnut seed was designed to improve planting efficiency and minimize drudgery associated with the manual planting technique of groundnut seed. The major components of the planter were designed as seed hopper, seed metering device, jaw clutch, seed delivery tube, furrow opener, furrow covering wheels and drive wheel. The diameter of seed metering device was found 11.66 cm and number of cells on the periphery of seed metering device was found 6. The theoretical volume of designed seed hopper was found 0.024472 m3. The overall dimensions of the designed planter were found 1,474 mm × 960 mm × 330 mm. This planter is considered economical with ease of operation, requiring no special skills to operate and can be adopted by the farmers for the planting of groundnut seed.