Agricultural Machinery Research Articles

Status of farm mechanization and factor affecting its adoption among the rice (Oryzae sativa) farmers in Sarlahi district, Nepal

This study aimed to investigate the degree of agricultural mechanization adoption and the factors influencing its acceptance in the Haripurwa municipality and Parsa rural municipality of Sarlahi district, specifically concerning rice agriculture using a multistage random sampling method. A total of 98 respondents were selected for the study, 52 were from Haripurwa municipality and 46 were from Parsa rural municipality. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, focal group discussion, and key informant interviews whereas secondary data were obtained through review of relevant literature. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, scaling and indexing, chi-square tests, T-tests, and the logit model. By analyzing the adoption index, 62.245% and 37.755% of respondents were under the adopter and non-adopter categories respectively. In contrast to 100% physical labor for transplanting, fertilizer application, and other intercultural tasks like weeding and harvesting, the study found that land preparation was done mechanically (100%). The two biggest obstacles to the use of agricultural machinery were small farms scattered terrain and poor infrastructure with index values of 0.845 and 0.843, respectively. Major factors influencing agricultural mechanization were respondents' educational status, gender, farmers' experience, participation in organizations, loan availability, and primary source of family income. Thus, it can be said that socio-economic determinants which had a significant association with adoption status and most needed farm implements for farmers can be considered by the concerned authority to increase the farm mechanization and enhance profitability from rice farming.

How Farm Machinery Rental Services and Off-Farm Work Affect Household Income in China

(1) Background: Most nations struggle to close significant income gaps between high and low earners. While the adoption of farm machinery rental services and off-farm employment may be beneficial, it is unclear whether jointly applying both approaches can raise income levels in rural households or help narrow the income gap within the farm sector. This study investigated scenarios involving both participation in farm machinery rental markets and in off-farm work, analyzing their varied impacts on household incomes based on survey data from 1027 rice producers in rural China. (2) Methods: We employed a two-stage econometric procedure encompassing a bivariate ordered probit model with an endogeneity-corrected unconditional quantile regression model. (3) Results: Rice farmers often simultaneously rent farm machinery services and engage in off-farm work. Both activities positively affect their household incomes; however, these effects vary across different income levels. Renting farm machinery provides greater marginal benefits for lower-income households, while off-farm employment has a stronger impact on higher-income households. Farm machinery rental services appear to benefit disadvantaged households more than off-farm employment opportunities do. (4) Suggestions: To enhance the welfare of lower-income households, policymakers should focus on expanding access to farm machinery rental services.

Can Agricultural Support and Protection Subsidy Policies Promote High-Quality Development of Grain Industry? A Case Study of China

The issue of grain quality has attracted increasing attention with the gradual growth and stabilization of grain output. We take the successive agricultural support and protection subsidy policies introduced in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment and use a multi-period double-difference model to analyze a panel of data from 298 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2020. Our findings confirm that implementing agricultural support protection subsidy policies has had initial success regarding grain output growth and quality improvement at the point of contradiction. This success is also due to its scale and technology effects, which can ensure that grain output and quality have achieved growth. The level of agricultural machinery also plays a crucial positive role in the impact of the subsidy policy on food production and food security. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the impacts of agricultural support and protection subsidy policies on food quality and yield security differ significantly across different geographic regions, food crop production, and pollutant type levels. Therefore, the positive impact of subsidy policies on the food industry should be better promoted to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of agriculture.

Advancement of Domestic Mobile Agricultural Machinery Powered by Electric Traction

Advancement of Domestic Mobile Agricultural Machinery Powered by Electric Traction

Soil Mechanical Systems and Related Farming Machinery

The mechanization of agricultural work has contributed significantly to the improvement of agricultural productivity and reduced production costs [...]

Development Planning and Forecasting Fleet of Tractors and Grain Harvesters of the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The methodological provisions on the justification and forecasting by the method of astrological modeling of the needs of the agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan in agricultural machinery for plant growing on the basis of data of tractors and combine harvesters are given in the work. Prepared within the framework of the grant Project of the State Institution “Science Committee” of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan on topic No. AP19678876 “Effective system of macroeconomic instruments for state regulation of innovative development of the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan”

Analysis of the influence of dust particles in the peanut pickup harvester with a self-designed axial-flow dust-fall box on its dust suppression performance

The atmospheric particulate pollution poses a serious threat to human health and ecological environment. The dust particle pollution caused by the operation of agricultural machinery is becoming increasingly severe and the peanut pickup harvesters are widely used in agricultural operation. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the concentration of dust particles in the work of peanut pickup harvesters. In this study, a self-designed dust-fall box composed of multipleaxial flow cyclone tubes in parallel was integrated with the peanut pickup harvester. Based on the CFD-DPM model, simulation analysis was conducted to explore the effects of different inlet velocities, different numbers of swirling blades, and two types of exhaust port on the dust removal performance of the cyclone. The Box-Behnken design was used to determine the optimal structural parameters of the axial flow cyclone. The influence of the pressure distribution and velocity variations of the internal flow field on the dust removal efficiency of the two schemes was simulated and analyzed. Thereafter, a reasonable parallel scheme of multiple axial flow cyclone tubes in the dust-fall box was determined. The drone was used to monitor dust in peanut harvesting operations, and dust particle concentrations at 8 detection points under varying working conditions were recorded. The distribution and diffusion rules of dust in harvesting operations were explored through cluster analysis, and the test data obtained were compared with numerical calculation results to verify the accuracy of numerical calculation. The results showed that for a single axial flow cyclone, when the inlet wind speed was 6 m/s to 8 m/s and the number of swirling blades was 4, the structural parameters of the cyclone separator had significant influence on the separation efficiency. The influencing factors ranking in descending order were cylinder diameter, cylinder length, and exhaust pipe insertion depth, respectively. To be more precisely, the separation efficiency was best when the cylinder diameter was 60 mm, the cylinder length was 150 mm, the insertion depth of the exhaust pipe was 50 mm and the cone angle was 20°. It was more reasonable to use 8 axial flow cyclone tubes in parallel, and the maximum separation efficiency can reach 84.21 %. Field operations showed that the numerical calculation results were similar to the actual harvesting process. The dust particle concentration in the peanut harvesting operation equipped with a dust-fall box was always lower than 10 mg/m3. The dust particle concentration was the highest at the rear of the whole machine and the lowest near the cab. Compared conventional harvesters, the harvester with a dust-fall box reduced its dust particle concentration by 64.37 %; the concentration of 30 μm dust particles was reduced by 69.31 %; the dust particle concentration at the rear of the whole machine also effectively reduced. This study can provide reference for controlling dust emissions during peanut harvesting operations and agricultural machinery harvesting operations.

Assessment of the utilization of modern agricultural machinery in rice production and its problems: A case from San Leonardo, Philippines

This study examines the relationship between the utilization of modern agricultural machinery and the business technical aspect of rice production of paddy field farmers in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of modern machinery on the business technical aspect of the farmers and the paddy field owners. The study utilized descriptive analysis to assess the use of modern agricultural machinery in rice production and its problems. The design was quantitative, using percentage, frequencies, and weighted mean. The results revealed that the majority of respondents have been operating for 11 to 20 years, owned 1 hectare of land that cultivate 2 times a year and harvest 86 rice sacks per hectare. Rice cultivation is happened during wet and dry season. To maximizing the land, farmers can try other crops while waiting for the season of rice cultivation. In agricultural mechanization, it concluded that plowing machines helps remove clods from the soil, transplanting rice seedlings and applying chemicals using machine can saves time. Harvester machine is suitable in small and large farmland for harvesting and may help farmers to save time, effort and total cost requirements. Local Government Unit to support through grants and funding the local rice farmers in maximizing utilization of machines that shows positive effect.

Application of Computer Simulation Technology in the Development of Tractor Transmission Systems

Tractors are the most important agricultural power machinery. With the development of tractors toward large-scale and electrification, the design of modern tractor transmission systems increasingly relies on computer simulation technology. However, tractor transmission systems, especially power-shift transmissions and CVTs, are highly complex industrial products that involve specialized knowledge from multiple disciplines. Engineers and researchers find it difficult to choose the correct mathematical model and grasp the trend of technological development when applying simulation technology. To address this issue, we conducted a systematic review of the field and carried out the following work: First, the types and basic principles of tractor transmission systems were introduced; Second, the modeling methods and applications of computer simulation technology in the structural optimization, power-shift control, and energy saving of tractor transmission systems were reviewed; Finally, the method of obtaining simulation parameters through system identification was introduced. Although computer simulation technology has been applied in the development of all tractor transmission systems, there are still some issues that need attention, such as the lack of established shift quality evaluation indicators and driving cycles suitable for tractors, which are crucial for the reliability of simulation results but are rarely studied. These issues need to be addressed in future work.

Linear Active Disturbance Rejection Control System for the Travel Speed of an Electric Reel Sprinkling Irrigation Machine

The uniformity of the travel speed of electric reel sprinkling irrigation machines is a key factor affecting irrigation quality. However, conventional PID control is susceptible to sudden disturbances under complex farmland conditions, leading to reduced speed uniformity. To enhance the robustness of the control system, it is necessary to investigate new disturbance rejection control algorithms and their effects. Therefore, a kinematic model of the reel sprinkling irrigation machine and a brushless DC (BLDC) motor model were established, and a linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) strategy based on improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) was proposed. The simulation results show that under variable speed conditions, the system exhibits no overshoot, with an adjustment time of 0.064 s; under variable load conditions, the speed vibration amplitude is less than 0.3%. The field test results indicate that at travel speeds of 10 m/h and 30 m/h, the maximum absolute deviation rate under IPSO-LADRC control is reduced by 27.07% and 13.98%, respectively, compared to PID control. The control strategy based on IPSO-LADRC effectively improves the control accuracy and robustness under complex farmland conditions, providing a reference for enhancing the control performance of other electric agricultural machinery.

Design and Experiment of an Independent Leg-Type Chassis Vehicle Attitude Adjustment System

In response to the current low work efficiency of soil ridge-working machinery, as well as its poor stability, passability, and adaptability, this paper designs an independent leg-type working platform that can autonomously adjust its vehicle attitude through LiDAR scanning in a soil ridge-working environment. The platform, in terms of its mechanism and structural design, adopts dual parallelogram mechanisms, dual lead screw mechanisms, and independent column leg mechanisms, with a maximum adjustable ground clearance of 107 mm and a maximum wheelbase adjustment of 150 mm. A gyroscope is mounted at the center of the platform for attitude adjustment, ensuring the accurate data collection of the ultrasonic ranging module. Moreover, the platform adopts an adaptive adjustment method based on vehicle attitude and soil ridge shape parameters, obtaining soil ridge parameters through LiDAR and combining ultrasonic ranging module data with stepper motor pulse signals to obtain the absolute vehicle attitude parameters, using first and second linear regression methods to adjust the vehicle attitude and other working parameters. A prototype was also created, and the test data from the soil obtained through experiments show that, after leveling with the gyroscope leveling algorithm, the average value of the pitch angle is up to 0.6154°, and the average value of the roll angle is up to 0.9989°, with the maximum variance of the pitch angle being 0.0474° and the maximum variance of the tilt angle being 0.1320°. After the ultrasonic ranging module data are filtered by the Kalman filter, the maximum variance is 0.0304, and after applying the final fusion algorithm, the maximum variance is only 0.0085. The LiDAR measurement width value deviates from the actual width value by no more than 1.0 cm, and the LiDAR measurement height value deviates from the actual height value by no more than 1.0 cm. The platform’s actual adjusted width deviates from the actual soil ridge width by no more than 2.0 cm, and the platform’s actual adjusted height deviates from the actual soil ridge height by no more than 1.2 cm. This platform can improve the passability, adaptability, and stability of agricultural machinery in soil ridge work and provide technical references for subsequent related research.

MODEL OF SPARE PARTS INVENTORY MANAGEMENT IN THE SUPPLY SYSTEM: THE CASE OF THE ‘OLL TRAK PARTS’ COMPANY

The article identifies the relevance of the problem of optimisation of material reserves of a company and their effective management, as the state of existing reserves has a decisive impact on the competitiveness of the company, its financial condition, and the corresponding performance results. It allows the formulation of the research objective in this development. It is a given that inventory management technology is an integral part of the management system of any manufacturing and trading company. The efficiency of these companies depends on such critical criteria as the number of costs incurred for inventory management. Traditional indicators, such as inventory volume, resource turnover, and continuity of supply, cannot be used in isolation to accurately measure the extent to which an inventory management system is improving since they are part of the overall cost criterion. The article examines scientific developments of theoretical foundations for implementing rational solutions in the supply chain, where the authors use modern research methods and approaches. After analysing these studies, we identify the main problematic issues: determining a rational way of servicing orders by the core production warehouse systems, organising an efficient product supply form, and developing rational inventory management technologies throughout the entire product supply chain. We create a structural model of interaction between the warehouse system of the ‘OLL TRAK PARTS’ company and suppliers and customers, formed with the participation of certain parties in all relevant operations. The structure of stocks accounts for the customer’s needs in a multi-nomenclature offer of spare parts for trucks, cars, and agricultural machinery supplied by ‘OLL TRAK PARTS’. The authors build a mathematical model of spare parts inventory management under limited demand conditions, which considers the following parameters of influence: the period for ordering spare parts, the cost of supplying ordered spare parts, and the cost of storing one unit of spare parts inventory. To achieve maximum measurement accuracy with a minimum number of trials and to maintain the statistical reliability of the results, we develop a full-factor experiment plan for three input parameters with three levels of values, consisting of 27 series of trials. The experiment allowed us to model the change in minimum costs with different order volumes of spare parts. Based on the results of the regression analysis of the obtained values of the estimated indicator, we determined the type of regression model – a linear form with a non-zero coefficient. Keywords: model, warehouse, system, logistics, interaction.

Green Energy Growth: Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability through Agrivoltaic Solutions in the Modern Era

Agrivoltaic is a system that integrates agricultural activities with the production of solar photovoltaic electricity on the same piece of land. Agrivoltaic systems are gaining popularity in Indonesia since they enable farmers to generate renewable energy while making efficient use of agricultural land. This research technique employs the analytical descriptive approach, which aims to offer a comprehensive description or overview of the topic of study using acquired data or samples without undertaking further analysis to draw generalizable conclusions. An instance of agrivoltaic in Indonesia involves the placement of solar panels above crops to provide shade and minimize water evaporation. Simultaneously, these solar panels generate energy to operate irrigation systems or other agricultural machinery. Nevertheless, the use of agrivoltaic in Indonesia remains restricted and need further investment and assistance from both the government and private sector to enhance the acceptance of this technology in the agricultural industry.

Automated Painting of Agricultural Machinery Engines

Automated Painting of Agricultural Machinery Engines

Field Obstacle Detection and Location Method Based on Binocular Vision

When uncrewed agricultural machinery performs autonomous operations in the field, it inevitably encounters obstacles such as persons, livestock, poles, and stones. Therefore, accurate recognition of obstacles in the field environment is an essential function. To ensure the safety and enhance the operational efficiency of autonomous farming equipment, this study proposes an improved YOLOv8-based field obstacle detection model, leveraging depth information obtained from binocular cameras for precise obstacle localization. The improved model incorporates the Large Separable Kernel Attention (LSKA) module to enhance the extraction of field obstacle features. Additionally, the use of a Poly Kernel Inception (PKI) Block reduces model size while improving obstacle detection across various scales. An auxiliary detection head is also added to improve accuracy. Combining the improved model with binocular cameras allows for the detection of obstacles and their three-dimensional coordinates. Experimental results demonstrate that the improved model achieves a mean average precision (mAP) of 91.8%, representing a 3.4% improvement over the original model, while reducing floating-point operations to 7.9 G (Giga). The improved model exhibits significant advantages compared to other algorithms. In localization accuracy tests, the maximum average error and relative error in the 2–10 m range for the distance between the camera and five types of obstacles were 0.16 m and 2.26%. These findings confirm that the designed model meets the requirements for obstacle detection and localization in field environments.

Addressing local sparsity in massive agricultural machinery trajectories: A BiLSTM-GRU approach

Trajectory data acquired from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) terminals on agricultural machinery are crucial for identifying agricultural machinery operation modes, evaluating agricultural machinery operational efficiency and exploring agricultural machinery trans-regional harvesting operation characteristics. However, GNSS terminals often experience signal delays due to factors such as weather conditions and environmental obstructions. These delays result in irregular time intervals between trajectory points, leading to local sparsity within the trajectory data, which subsequently reduces the accuracy of applications and analyses based on agricultural machinery trajectories. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach that leverages Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) networks, along with an attention mechanism, to mitigate the problem of local trajectory sparsity, and experiments were conducted using agricultural machinary trajectory data collected during the 2023 wheat harvest period. The results demonstrate the efficiency of our approach by successfully resolving the local sparsity of agricultural machinery trajectories. Moreover, each newly added trajectory point contains all original attributes (e.g., speed and direction). When integrated into state-of-the-art algorithms (e.g., DT, DBSCAN + rules, GCN) for identifying machinery operation modes, our method improves accuracies by 21.83 %, 26.86 %, and 1.17 %, respectively. Our approach effectively addresses the issue of local trajectory sparsity, thus providing assistance for applications and studies based on massive agricultural machinery trajectories.

Leasing impact on transformation processes in the Russian agricultural sector under sanctions pressure

At the present stage, the issues of sustainable development of the Russian agricultural sector and strengthening its technical potential in the context of sanctions pressure are becoming especially relevant. One of the most useful tools in solving these problems is leasing. The purpose of this article is to analyse promising directions for the development of leasing as the effective form of technical support for agricultural production in the current conditions. The study has used general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, economic and statistical, graphical, etc.). The main trends now emerging in the domestic market are highlighted from the point of view of manufacturers of agricultural machinery and goods. With consideration to the current situation in the domestic market, decreased prices for agricultural products and rapid growth of prices for agricultural machinery, the most promising areas for the use of leasing mechanisms have been proposed to help accelerate technical re-equipment in the agricultural sector: application of leasing solutions in the agricultural industry that have already been tested and proven successful in other market segments (for example, subscription, agrocarsharing, etc.); combination of leasing mechanisms with trade-in programmes which make it possible to comprehensively solve issues not only of updating machinery and tractor fleet, but also of recycling worn-out agricultural equipment; use of leasing mechanisms for the development of machine and technological complexes as a modern form of joint use of machinery in agriculture which allows accelerating technical equipment of the industry. The proposed directions can help ensure systemic development and quicken the technical re-equipment of the Russian agricultural sector.

ФИЗИКО-ХИМИЧЕСКИЕ СВОЙСТВА МОДИФИЦИРОВАННЫХ БИТУМНЫХ ПРАЙМЕРОВ ДЛЯ ПРОТИВОКОРРОЗИОННОЙ ЗАЩИТЫ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОЙ ТЕХНИКИ И ОБОРУДОВАНИЯ

Compositions based on bitumen primers can be used for anti-corrosion protection of agricultural machinery and equipment. Their physicochemical properties were studied. It has been shown that the thickness of coatings, which is responsible for the effectiveness of barrier protection, increases as expected with an increase in the number of applied coating layers, and decreases even with a slight increase in temperature and with an increase in the amount of solvent in the case of coating by dipping. Increasing the amount of solvent added to the bitumen primer from 40 wt. % up to 67 wt. % leads to a reduction in coating thickness by 55 times. Brush application produces thinner finishes than dip application. Moisture absorption for modified BP with 67 wt. % solvent is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of BP with 40 wt. % white spirit, therefore, a decrease in protective effectiveness can be expected for these materials. According to experimental studies, the contact angles for the original BP exceed 900C, which indicates the presence of hydrophobic properties. The type and concentration of additives affect the contact angles. Introduction 5 wt. % of modifying additives, paraffin P2 and Emulgin, reduces the contact angle of BP, the addition of KO-SZhK, on the contrary, increases it, improving hydrophobic properties. BP with 40 wt. % white spirit, including those with additives, shows good adhesion to carbon steel 0.8 kp. At 67 wt. % solvent in the presence of drying oil and unrefined sunflower oil additives, adhesion worsens. Viscosity-temperature dependences in semi-logarithmic coordinates for modified BP are close to linear in the temperature range 20 -60 0C with a high approximation reliability index R2 = 0.9543 - 0.9833. Based on the physicochemical properties, high anti-corrosion properties can be assumed.

Analysis of the Economic Feasibility of Using Modern Agricultural Machinery in Oil Palm Plantations in South Sumatra

This study investigates the economic feasibility of using modern agricultural machinery in oil palm plantations in South Sumatra. A quantitative approach was employed, involving 40 samples collected through a structured questionnaire utilizing a Likert scale from 1 to 5. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26, focusing on key economic indicators such as production efficiency, cost savings, and profitability. The results revealed strong positive and significant relationships between the use of modern machinery and all three economic indicators. The findings suggest that modern agricultural machinery significantly enhances economic performance in oil palm plantations, making it a viable investment for improving productivity and profitability. These insights provide valuable guidance for plantation owners and policymakers in promoting the adoption of advanced agricultural technology in the region.

ЗАЩИТНЫЕ СВОЙСТВА МОДИФИЦИРОВАННЫХ БИТУМНЫХ ПРАЙМЕРОВ ДЛЯ ПРОТИВОКОРРОЗИОННОЙ ЗАЩИТЫ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОЙ ТЕХНИКИ И ОБОРУДОВАНИЯ

In order to protect agricultural machinery from atmospheric corrosion during the nonworking period, it is possible to use bitumen primers (BP), which are compositions of petroleum bitumen with the addition of solvents and, possibly, other additives. The protective properties of compositions based on the bitumen primer "Orgkrovlya No. 1" diluted with white spirit with modifying additives on samples of 08kp steel were studied in the work. Accelerated corrosion tests in 0.5 M NaCl solution showed the following: dilution of BP with 40 wt. % white spirit when applied in one layer leads to a decrease in the protective efficiency to 75%, 67 wt. % - to 37%; the introduction of additives (5 wt.%) of P2 paraffin into the diluted BP with 40 wt. % white spirit increases its protective efficiency (Z) to 98%, KO-SZhK - up to 87%, Emulgin - up to 94%; When diluting BP with 67 wt.% white spirit, the maximum Z = 60% is provided by the addition of 1 wt.% drying oil +1 wt.% POOM. Accelerated tests in the G-4 heat and humidity chamber and the salt spray chamber showed the best results for BP coatings diluted with 40 wt.% white spirit and with the addition of 5 wt.% P2 paraffin. The highest values of protective efficiency in the G-4 heat and humidity chamber for BP diluted with 67 wt.% white spirit are provided by coatings with 2 wt.% drying oil (Z = 97%), 5 wt.% POOM (Z = 97%), 1 wt.% drying oil +1 wt.% POOM (Z = 96%). According to the 9-month results of full-scale bench tests of modified BP diluted with 40 wt.% white spirit, the best results are provided by the coating with the addition of 5 wt. % paraffin P2 and Emulgin. These 2 additives effectively protect steel in a concentrated solution (200 g/l) of mineral fertilizer borofoska.