Abstract
ABSTRACT: Sowing occurs in agricultural areas with irregular relief, influencing the quality of seed and fertilizer distribution. The aim of this study was to analyze the performance of different fertilizer metering mechanisms of planters as a function of longitudinal inclination. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with five treatments and six replications. Treatments consisted of five longitudinal inclinations to the metering mechanism (−10, −5, 0, 5, and 10 degrees). The mass of fertilizer collected per minute was considered as a replication. We worked with two types of fertilizers: a mixture of granules and powder. Metering mechanisms used were a horizontal toothed rotor, helical without flow restrictor, helical with lateral overflow, and helical with longitudinal overflow. The longitudinal inclination of ±10° in relation to the leveling altered the metered amount of both fertilizers used in all metering mechanisms. The helical with lateral overflow was the metering mechanism that obtained the smallest amount variation of fertilizer distributed in the different longitudinal inclinations, followed by the helical with longitudinal overflow, horizontal toothed rotor, and helical without flow restrictor.
Highlights
The choice of inclinations was established based on ABNT (1996), standard project 04:015.06–004/1995, which recommends that seed metering tests be performed with a longitudinal inclination of −11° and 11° since there are no standards that establish parameters for building fertilizer metering mechanisms
The results showed that all longitudinal inclinations to the metering mechanism provided a significant variation, with the linear regression in the fertilizer dosage classified as a mixture of granules and powder
Fertilizer dosages increased in all the meters when the longitudinal inclination changed from −10° to 10°, but in smaller proportions for meters with overflow when compared to those with horizontal and helical toothed rotor without flow restrictor
Summary
Agricultural mechanization can be related to activities of soil tillage, liming, gypsum application, basic fertilization, sowing, spraying of agrochemicals, topdressing fertilization, transport of inputs, water transport, harvesting, and grain transport (Jasper & Paulo, 2013).The functions of a planter are to open fertilization and sowing grooves, distribute fertilizers and seeds in the grooves, and cover them with a layer of soil (Jasper et al, 2011; Mao et al, 2015; Weirich Neto et al, 2012).In a survey on the dimensional and ponderal characteristics of precision planters in Brazil, Francetto et al (2015) indicated that the fertilizer metering mechanisms used were the helical (94.4%), horizontal toothed rotor (2.9%), grooved rotor (2.2%), and horizontal toothed rotor (0.5%).Selection and optimization of mechanized systems are the main objectives of a rational mechanization. Agricultural mechanization can be related to activities of soil tillage, liming, gypsum application, basic fertilization, sowing, spraying of agrochemicals, topdressing fertilization, transport of inputs, water transport, harvesting, and grain transport (Jasper & Paulo, 2013). When assessing a mathematical model and simulating the dynamic behavior of a helical fertilizer metering, Garcia et al (2012) obtained a reduction in the coefficient of variation (CV) from 30 to 11%. This reduction was achieved due to the application rate compensation and the delay of the action signal. The authors stated that the variation in fertilizer application rate, performed with conventional feed screw applicators, is an intrinsic characteristic of these feeders
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