Performance analysis of agricultural machinery with aid digital agriculture

Abstract

Digital agriculture has increasingly gained strength in the countryside, as it is considered a byproduct of growing globalization. As the search for production optimization, cost reduction, and productivity increase continues, these tools become the great allies of the producer in the final agricultural production process.Therefore, agricultural operations must also follow this evolution in the development of technological improvements, which carry positive aspects for large-scale production. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of seeders-fertilizers with different input distribution mechanisms. Since one of the biggest expenses in the production process is the acquisition of seeds and fertilizer, any savings in production costs become a significant advantage for the producer, who will have a greater net income. The experimental design used to evaluate the data followed the premises of Statistical Process Control (SPC), and the results were assessed using individual value control charts. It was concluded that the production process was negatively affected by the performance of the seeders-fertilizers, as in one area, more seeds were falling than necessary, increasing the cost per hectare and not adhering to the principles of cost minimization and profit maximization. Conversely, in the second area evaluated, the machinery's performance resulted in fewer seeds being deposited than planned. Consequently, according to the results, the producer lost the opportunity to produce 5.85 sc/ha without reducing costs in the operation, as the seeder simply did not deposit the seeds, thereby reducing the gain per area, which could have been more productive, increasing final profitability.