Preliminary bench experiment study on working parameters of pneumatic seeding mechanism for wheat in rice-wheat rotation areas

Chao Wang,Qingjie Wang,Xiupei Cheng,Hongwen Li,Caiyun Lu,Jin He

doi:10.25165/j.ijabe.20201301.4906

Abstract

In order to solve the serious problems of soil adhesion and blockage as well as high operating resistance for wheat seeders under the condition of sticky heavy loam clay in rice-wheat rotation area, a new concept of non-contact pneumatic seeding technology that could rip wheat seed into the soil by high pressure accelerating airflow was proposed in this paper. A preliminary bench experiment was conducted and high-speed photography technology was used to study the parameters of wheat pneumatic seeding under five levels (30%, 35%, 40%, 45% and 50%) of soil moisture content for loam clay. Experimental results showed that: wheat seeds could be ripped into soil without damage and acquired varying degrees of germination by way of pneumatic seeding; shooting depth shown a deepening tendency with the increase in shooting velocity, and the value of seeding depth and seeding velocity are closely related to the soil moisture level, which wheat seeds can achieve higher shooting depth with relative lower shooting velocity when the soil moisture content increases continuously; none of wheat seeds could be ripped into the soil with about 2.93 m/s shooting velocity that accelerated in the form of free fall, while the shooting velocity that wheat seeds needed in order to be completely ripped into soil with 3 mm shooting depth were 40- 50 m/s (30% soil moisture content), 30-40 m/s (35% soil moisture content), 20-30 m/s (40% soil moisture content), 10-20 m/s (45% soil moisture content) and 2.93-10 m/s (20% soil moisture content), respectively. The experimental results can provide basic data and technical support for the development of non-contact wheat seeding equipment in rice-wheat rotation area. Keywords: pneumatic seeding, loam clay, soil adhesion, wheat, high-speed photography DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201301.4906 Citation: Wang C, Lu C Y, Li H W, He J, Wang Q J, Cheng X P. Preliminary bench experiment study on working parameters of pneumatic seeding mechanism for wheat in rice-wheat rotation areas. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(1): 66–72.

Highlights

Wheat is widely cultivated in the world and the global yields of it are about 730 million tons in 2016/2017, while the production of Chinese wheat ranks second in the world according to the statistics of the United States Department of Agriculture
The growth of wheat is less influenced by limitation of water resources in rice-wheat rotation areas that concentrically distributing in the Yangtze River Basin, with ample sunlight resources, abundant rainfall and high groundwater levels[3], so it has become the Chinese greatest potential region for increasing wheat production[4]
There is a serious wet injury in the rice-wheat rotation field during mechanized sowing stage of wheat because of the sticky heavy loam clay[5], urgent time of crops for rotation and rainy autumn[6], which lead to poor tillage quality, soil adhesion and blockage to agricultural machinery

Summary

Introduction

There is a serious wet injury in the rice-wheat rotation field during mechanized sowing stage of wheat because of the sticky heavy loam clay[5], urgent time of crops for rotation and rainy autumn[6], which lead to poor tillage quality, soil adhesion and blockage to agricultural machinery. It is difficult to achieve high efficiency wheat mechanized seeding in rice-wheat rotation area due to lack of specialized seeders that could adapt the soil conditions of high moisture content and heavy clay texture[9,10]. GBSL-180 seeder with two-axel rotary tillage and stubble cleaning be developed to suit wheat sowing in the high stubble paddy field[13], which double rotary tiller rollers were applied to clean up the seed tape and to crush the clod and straw twice that can reduce some sticking and blocking problems of seeding mechanism. A 2BMFDC-6 half-tillage seeder[14] applied shallow rotary tillage technology of a sowing belt that could further reduce the soil disturbance, and at the same time, part of soil and straw adhering to seed metering device removed by rotary blades

Methods

Results

Conclusion