No-till Seeder Research Articles

Comparison of various single-disc type furrow openers used in no-till seeders in terms of furrow properties and acting forces

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of various single-disc type furrow openers used in no-till seeders on furrow aspects and forces acting on the discs at various soil moisture contents, soil compaction levels, and seeding depths in soil bin. Factors included plain, notched, wavy, concave, and fluted types of disc coulters, two soil moisture levels (12-18%), two soil compaction levels (2-3 MPa), and two seeding depths (50-75 mm). According to the results, the plain, notched, and fluted type discs had the lowest vertical, draft, and side force, while the wavy type disc had the maximum vertical force, draft force, and side force and the concave type disc had the highest side force. The vertical, draft, and side force requirements of all furrow openers were found to be lower in loose soils with low moisture content and greater in compacted soils with high moisture content. Fluted, concave, and wavy-type discs produced the best results in terms of the specific vertical, specific draft, and specific side forces, respectively. While the highest furrow cross-sectional area was obtained in the wavy disc, this furrow opener was followed by concave, notched, fluted, and plain-type furrow openers, respectively.

The Effect of Furrow Opener and Disc Coulter Configurations on Seeding Performance under Different Residue Cover Densities

The performance of the no-till seeder is one of the most important factors that affect the success of the no-tillage. Striking the right balance between furrow opener design and residue cover is essential for optimizing seeding conditions and ensuring sustainable agricultural practices that promote both soil conservation and high-yield crop production. This study investigates the impact of residue cover on no-tillage maize seeding after wheat harvest, focusing on plant spacing, seeding depth, mean emergence time, and percent emergence. Trials with hoe-type and double-disc-type furrow openers, accompanied by plain- or ripple-disc-type coulters, were conducted in Antalya, Turkey. The results indicate that residue cover had no significant effect on mean plant spacing, but a higher residue cover increased spacing variation. The seeding depth in hoe-type furrow opener trials remained consistent, while double-disc-type furrow openers showed lower depths with 80% and 90% residue covers. The percentage of plant emergence and mean emergence time decreased as the residue cover increased in double-disc-type furrow opener trials. At 90% residue cover, PE decreased to 60%. The impact of disc coulters on hoe-type furrow openers was limited, but they increased seeding depth and MET in double-disc-type furrow openers. These findings can help optimize residue management for improved efficiency in no-till farming systems.

Effects of the disc and tilt angle of a single disc-type furrow opener of a no-till seeder onresidue distribution and the furrow profile

Effects of the disc and tilt angle of a single disc-type furrow opener of a no-till seeder onresidue distribution and the furrow profile

Optimization and Design of Disc-Type Furrow Opener of No-Till Seeder for Green Manure Crops in South Xinjiang Orchards

For the issues of the poor stability of the furrow opener depth, large soil backfill depth, and inconsistent furrow shape on a no-till seeder for planting green manure between rows of orchards in South Xinjiang, a double-disc, corrugated furrow opener is designed. This paper analyzes the law of soil movement between corrugated double-disc and traditional double-disc furrow openers using the discrete element method (DEM) and concludes that the corrugation width and number of corrugations on the corrugated double-disc furrow opener are the primary factors affecting furrowing operation. When the number of corrugations is sixteen, the forward speed is six kilometers per hour, and when the corrugation width is seventeen and a half millimeters, the simulation operation parameters are optimal. The soil-bin validation experiment results are as follows: Under the condition of an 80 mm furrow depth, the stability of the average furrow depth is enhanced by 3.54%, the working resistance and the average disrupted soil area are increased by 26.16 N and 220 mm2, respectively, and the backfill depth is decreased by 10.98 mm. The operation effect of a double-disc furrow opener with corrugated discs is enhanced by the high stability of the furrow depth, low working resistance, and small backfill depth. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the design and optimization of the furrow opener components of a no-till seeder for planting green manure between rows of orchards.

Determination of Performance of No-Till Seeder and Stubble Cutting Prototype

One of the most common problems in maize production is the management of plant residues. Small agricultural enterprises, which cannot allocate capital for acquiring stalk cutting machines for their operation, face many technical problems in preparing the sowing bed for the products that will be planted after maize. Stalks of maize that cannot be shredded adequately and on time cause machinery to clog, prevent the preparation of a proper sowing bed, increase fuel consumption and increase costs. The aim of this study is to compare the no-till sowing machine prototype and stalk cutting machine prototype with the classical stalk cutter in terms of some management values. The prototype stubble cutting machine used in the study was manufactured with a cylindrical structure and equipped with 24 cutting blades 1 cm thick and 8 cm wide. İn addition, the prototype stubble cutting machine used in the study was manufactured with a cylindrical structure and equipped with 24 cutting blades 1 cm thick and 8 cm wide. İn addition, the no-till seeder prototype was manufactured as a bucket-type seed hopper equipped with granular fertilizer capable of sowing four rows. It was concluded that the stubble cutting machine prototypes resulted in less fuel consumption with lower penetration resistance when compared with the classical stalk shredder.

Design and experiment of the key components of the seeding monomer for high-speed corn no-till seeders

Design and experiment of the key components of the seeding monomer for high-speed corn no-till seeders

Parameter Optimization and Experiment of a Seed Furrow Cleaning Device for No-Till Maize Seeding

To avoid the issues of seeds lying atop straw, where the seeds cannot germinate, during no-till maize seeding, a seed furrow cleaning device is proposed. The device uses rotating spring teeth and a curved sliding shovel to clear the straw from the seed furrow to the outside. The critical components of the side throwing mechanism, rotary disc and spring teeth design are analyzed, and the value range of the installation inclination angle, rotating speed and bending angle of spring teeth are determined. The force on the straw at the moment of starting to touch and throw it is analyzed theoretically in the three installation directions of forward inclination, radial and backward inclination on the rotary disc, and the backward inclination of the spring teeth is determined. A simulation model of the seed furrow cleaning device is established by using the discrete element method simulation software; the forwarding speed, rotating speed, installation inclination angle, and bending angle of spring teeth are used as influencing factors to carry out single-factor experiments. The influence characteristics of different parameters on seed ditch cleaning effect are analyzed from the aspects of straw cleaning quantity and soil disturbance. A field validation experiment is carried out, and the results show that when rotating speed is 180 r/min, installation inclination angle of spring teeth is 40°, and bending angle is 30°, the straw cleaning rate is 82.26%. The research could provide references to develop the no-till seeder for maize seeding.

Design and experiment of seed furrow cleaning device based on throwing and sliding for no-till maize seeding

In order to solve the serious problems of seeds are covered by residual film and overhead by straw during no-till seeding, a seed furrow cleaning device for no-till maize seeding was developed, which adopted a collaborative cleaning method of rotating spring teeth and curved sliding shovel. The movement process and motion trajectory of throwing residual film and straw were constructed. The maximum distance of throwing to one side in horizontal and maximum height in vertical were obtained. The motion trajectory of adjacent spring teeth was analyzed by Matlab, the motion trajectories of adjacent spring teeth at different speeds of 120 r/min, 150 r/min and 180 r/min were achieved, the theoretical analysis results showed that the area of omitted area decreased with the increase of rotation speed. Based on theoretical and simulation analysis of critical parameters, the forward speed of machine, rotation speed of spring teeth, and dip angle between spring teeth and rotary disc were selected as the influencing factor. Straw cleaning rate (SCR) and residual film cleaning rate (RFCR) were selected as the response values for three factors and three levels of orthogonal experiment design. The optimal combination of the selected parameters was obtained, and the field test verification was also conducted. The results showed that the rotation speed of spring teeth, forward speed and dip angle of spring teeth significantly affect SCR and RFCR were in decreasing order. The field test results indicated that when forward speed was 6 km/h, rotation speed of spring teeth was 180 r/min and dip angle of spring teeth was 40°, SCR and RFCR were 88.27% and 84.31%, respectively. This study provides a reference for the development of no-till seeder in Xinjiang and the northwestern regions of China. Keywords: maize, conservation tillage, no-till seeding, seed furrow cleaning, straw, residual film DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20221504.7097 Citation: Yuan P P, Li H W, Lu C Y, Wang Q J, He J, Huang S H, et al. Design and experiment of seed furrow cleaning device based on throwing and sliding for no-till maize seeding. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2022; 15(4): 95–102.

Development and First Results of a No-Till Pneumatic Seeder for Maize Precise Sowing in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China

In Huang-Huai-Hai plain of China, farmers collect the maize straw for livestock during maize harvest to increase their revenue. To maintain the sustainable productivity of the soil, all straw after the wheat harvest is returned to the field. This straw brings difficulties in the no-till seeding for maize after wheat harvest, and thus it is necessary to develop efficient no-till seeders that can cope with heavy residue and improve sowing quality. In this work, we designed a wide-strip-till no-till pneumatic maize (WNPM) seeder to satisfy the need in this plain. The key parameters of the opposite-placed anti-blocking mechanism of the WNPM seeder were determined via the discrete element method (DEM) technology, while the parameters of the pneumatic maize seed meter were specified using the coupled simulation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and DEM. We also carried out field experiment to test the performance of our machine. Under the operating speed of 8 km/h, the soil disturbance was 38.2%. Moreover, the straw cleaning rate achieved 94.4% in the seeding belt while the residue cover index of the seed plot was over 58%, and the seeding performance was improved significantly. The qualified seed spacing index, uniformity variation coefficient, qualified index of sowing depth and variation coefficient of sowing depth were 96.6%, 19.1%, 95.1% and 3.2%, respectively. In general, the WNPM seeder improves the working efficiency of maize sowing because both the reliable working speed and the sowing quality were increased. These results are of considerable importance for crop production in Huang-Huai-Hai plain of China.

Design of the real-time detection system based on LabVIEW for no-till seeder working performance

In order to ensure the working performance of the seeder, reduce the labor intensity of manual testing, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of the detection, a real-time detection system for detecting the performance of no-till seeders was designed based on the LabVIEW software platform of virtual instrument technology and the MCC USB-231 data acquisition card. The detection system can be used to detect the seeding quality index and residue cover index. The detection of the seeding quality index included the middle detection between the metering device and the opener, the end detection between the opener and the furrow. The result of the field test showed that the detection accuracies of seed quantity, multiple index, and miss index were 94.51%, 92.83%, and 91.81%, respectively. The fault position can be accurately determined, and the measurement accuracy of residue cover index was 94.54%. The working performance of the no-tillage seeder can be monitored by the detection system to avoid the occurrence of reseeding and miss-seeding and improve production efficiency. Keywords: LabVIEW, no-tillage seeder, seeding quality, real-time detection, residue cover index DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211405.6208 Citation: Zhu H B, Qian C, Guo Z H, Bai L Z. Design of the real-time detection system based on LabVIEW for no-till seeder working performance. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(5): 100–106.

Brief Review of Minimum or No-Till Seeders in China

Minimum or no-till seeding technology is the core of conservation tillage, which can effectively reduce soil degradation by water and wind erosion. It is an essential part of agricultural modernization. The anti-blocking technology is the key to realize minimum or no-till seeding technology. According to the principle, it can be divided into three types: straw-flowing type, gravity-cutting stubble type, and power-driven type. Emphasis is placed on the anti-blocking principle, technical characteristics, and development trends of minimum or no till seeders based on three different anti-blocking principles. In view of analyzing and summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of three technologies and typical machines, the future development trends of minimum or no-till seeders were prospected as follows: (1) strengthening research on basic theories and integration mechanisms; (2) building a big data-sharing platform for seeding operations; (3) establishing and improving specific systems of minimum and no-till seeders with China character.

Effects of Different Management Methods for Sunn-Hemp Cover Crop on Corn Production in a No-Till System in Cambodia

Highlights Soil type, operational speed, machinery weight, and power size affected corn seeding rate and seeding efficiency Corn growth and yield was affected by seeder type, so utilization of appropriate machinery is very important Having cover crop residue on the land can maintain soil moisture for a longer time than tilled land Abstract.Conservation agriculture (CA) is gaining popularity in Cambodia to sustain soil fertility, productivity, and profits. However, the adoption remains slow due to the low engagement so far of local services into CA machinery and technology. Therefore, this paper aimed to compare different no-till seeders and residue retention methods for corn (Zea mays L.) sowing and to determine their effects on growth and yield. The experiment was conducted in Rattanak Mondul District, Battambang Province, in the wet season of 2019. Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) was grown as a cover crop for 74 days prior to corn. Each main plot was 14 × 34 m and was subdivided lengthwise with 4.0-m buffers for operations of two different seeders, namely one-row Morrison seeder mounted on 14 kW Oggun tractor and four-row Brazilian seeder mounted on 56 kW John Deere tractor. The results show that using Brazilian seeder saved around 50% of seed and 80% of time, when compared with Morrison seeder. Plant population, plant diameter, and kernel characteristics were also significantly greater with Brazilian seeder, when compared to the Morrison seeder. A combination of the Brazilian seeder and Cambodia made crimper plots had larger ear size and weight. Volumetric Moisture Content (VMC) was significantly affected by residue retention with higher VMC for rolled and crimped residue compared to disked/incorporated residue. The study demonstrates that using no-till equipment such as roller crimpers and no-till planters is feasible in Cambodia’s small farming systems although more research is needed to study long-term effects on crop yields and soil health. Keywords: Battambang Province, Conservation agriculture, Green manure, Soil improvements

Design of the real-time detection system based on LabVIEW for no-till seeder working performance

Design of the real-time detection system based on LabVIEW for no-till seeder working performance

Anti-blocking performance of ultrahigh-pressure waterjet assisted furrow opener for no-till seeder

No-till planting method is widely used for maize-wheat two-crops-a-year area in the North China Plain. However, cruel soil conditions, especially the large number of maize stalks which are hard to cutoff covering, often cause an unsatisfying planting quality. Based on the authors’ previous investigation, ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) waterjet is capable to solve this problem and obtain qualified seedbeds. Thus, a UHP waterjet assisted furrow opener for no-till seeder was designed. Field tests showed that double-disc furrow openers worked well with UHP waterjet, since the sharpened disc blades could help to cut soil and residue, meanwhile, minimize soil disturbance. Response surface method (RSM) was used to investigate the relationship among forward speed, waterjet pressure, jet impingement angle and anti-blocking performance (stalks cutoff ratio and depth of soil cutting), and a Box-Behnken three-factor design was used to identify the optional operation parameters. A total of 17 combinations were conducted, and the results showed all three operation parameters significantly affected anti-blocking performance. Stalks cutoff ratio and depth of soil cutting increased with the increase of waterjet pressure, jet impingement angle, and decreased with the increase of forward speed. The optimization analysis indicated that when waterjet pressure was 267-280 MPa, jet impingement angle was 80.2° to 90.0° and forward speed was 4.00-4.42 km/h, the overall performance of UHP waterjet assisted double-disc furrow opener for no-till seeder was maximized. Stalks cutoff ratio could be above 95% and no blockage occurred. This study may provide a new approach and reference for the anti-blocking technology of no-tillage seeding. Keywords: waterjet, ultrahigh-pressure, conservation tillage, maize stalks, cutting, no-till, anti-blocking DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201302.5630 Citation: Hu H N, Li H W, Wang Q J, He J, Lu C Y, Wang Y B, et al. Anti-blocking performance of ultrahigh-pressure waterjet assisted furrow opener for no-till seeder. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(2): 64–70.

Validating the Model of a No-Till Coulter Assembly Equipped with a Magnetorheological Damping System

Variability in soil conditions has a significant influence on the performance of a no-till seeder in terms of an inconsistency in the depth of seeding. This occurs due to the inappropriate dynamic responses of the coulter to the variable soil conditions. In this work, the dynamics of a coulter assembly, designed with a magnetorheological (MR) damping system, were simulated, in terms of vertical movement and ground impact. The developed model used measured inputs from previously performed experiments, i.e., surface profiles and vertical forces. Subsequently, the actual coulter was reassembled with an MR damping system. Multiple sensors were attached to the developed coulter in order to capture its motion behavior together with the profiles, which were followed by the packer wheel. With the aim to validate the correctness of the simulation model, the simulation outputs, i.e., pitch angles and damper forces, were compared to the measured ones. The comparison was based on the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) in percentage, the root-mean-squared deviation (RMSD), and the correlation coefficient. The average value of the RMSE for the pitch angle, for all currents applied on the MR damper, was below 10% and 8% for the speeds of 10 km h−1 and 12 km h−1, respectively. For the damper force, these figures were 15% and 13%. The RMSD was below 0.5 deg and 1.3 N for the pitch angle and the damper force, respectively. The correlation coefficient for all datasets was above 0.95 and 0.7 for the pitch angle and the damper force, respectively. Since the damper force indicated a comparatively lower correlation in the time domain, its frequency domain and coherence were investigated. The coherence value was above 0.9 for all datasets.

Disc angle and tilt angle effects on forces acting on a single-disc type no-till seeder opener

Disc angles which play an important role on horizontal (draft), side and vertical forces are divided into two as the disc and tilt angle. Five disc angles (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20°), five tilt angles (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10°), three vertical disc loads of 50 kg, 100 kg and 150 kg and no-residue, wheat and corn residue conditions were taken into account in this study which was conducted under soil bin conditions. The angles of the disc opener were easily changed by using a mechanism designed and manufactured for this purpose. According to the obtained results, the increase in disc angle led to an increase of the vertical and draft forces that affect the disc and minimum values at 0° disc angle and maximum values at 20° disc angle were obtained. The vertical forces acting on the disc according to disc angle varied between 321.5 N and 373.4 N while the draft forces were between 92.2 N and 131.3 N. As the tilt angle increased, the draft forces decreased, and these values were measured between 122.7 N and 103.7 N. The vertical forces ranged from 335.1 N to 360.6 N. It has been determined that the 7.5 and 10° tilt angles generally give better results. The increase in the vertical load applied to the disc enabled penetration into the soil, while at the same time an increase incurred in the vertical, draft and side forces acting on the furrow opener. In addition, the vertical, draft and side forces acting on the disc type opener and the data of cross-sectional area of the furrows opened were used to calculate specific vertical, specific draft and specific side forces Results indicate that an increase in disc angle decreased specific draft, side and vertical forces. An increase of the tilt angle caused the specific vertical, draft and side forces to increase.

A comparison of different tillage systems in irrigated conditions by risk and gross margin analysis in Erzurum region of Turkey

The potential of tillage systems for generating environmental pollution and the economic risks of the systems are influential factors for farmers to adopt conservation tillage practices. This study was carried out between 2000 and 2008 in order to evaluate the economic and risk of different tillage and planting systems in the province of Erzurum, Turkey. Tillage treatments consist of conventional tillage [moldboard plow + disk harrow + combined harrows + precision seeder, (CT)], reduced tillage 1 [cultivator + combined harrows + precision seeder, (RT1)], reduced tillage 2 [rotary power harrow + precision seeder, (RT2)] and no-till seeding [no-till seeder, (NT)] systems which were studied. A trial field has been tilled with four different tillage systems with a crop rotation of common vetch–winter wheat–sunflower. The economic evaluation of the tillage and planting systems was made by calculating the gross margin and the risk appraisal and the standard deviation of the yield and gross margins. The conventional tillage system required the most labor, fuel, oil and variable costs. According to conventional tillage and planting system, the most cost-saving system is direct planting by NT. The highest pollutant in terms of environment was the CT system with the highest carbon dioxide release, while the NT system was the most environmentally friendly system. The order of systems from high to low, in terms of obtained gross margin, ranked a CT, RT1, RT2 and NT. The lowest variation in terms of productivity was in the NT system for all products, and the highest variation was in the RT1 system. In terms of gross margin, the lowest variation was again in the NT system. A farmer who decides on the basis of gross margin should choose the CT system with the highest average gross margin. A producer considering gross margin should decide on the NT system based on risk assessment.

Effects of wheat residue and depth-control mechanism of no-till seeder on corn sowing performance

No-till planting can promote soil and water conservation and has gradually been adopted on the North China Plain where an annual wheat–corn double cropping system serves as the main cropping system. Corn is planted in June immediately after the winter wheat harvest so that fields are covered with wheat residues. The presence of wheat straw makes it difficult to maintain uniform corn seed spacing and sowing depth. To overcome these problems, a new seeder unit has been developed with a depth-control mechanism on a single-sided gauge wheel. A study was conducted to compare the performance of this seeder unit with two conventional seeder units (with depth-control mechanisms using double-sided gauge wheels and a rear gauge wheel) by testing in fields with two different amounts of residue (0.78 kg/m2 and 0.64 kg/m2). Seed spacing, sowing depth, and emergence time were measured after planting. The results indicate that the newly designed seeder unit with a single-sided gauge wheel performs better on seed spacing, sowing depth and emergence time uniformity, particularly in fields with a small amount of residue, with the quality of feed index, quality of sowing depth index and quality of emergence time index of 91.90%, 95.45% and 87.87%, respectively. The new seeder unit can meet the requirements of no-till planting for corn.

Automatic depth control system for a no-till seeder

Sowing depth has an important impact on the performance of a no-till seeder. The seeds should be placed at optimal depth for rapid germination and emergency. To compensate the spatial variation in soil type and conditions, an automatic depth control system was designed, which consisted of a deformation sensor, an actuator and a controller. The deformation sensor was made of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film, which was fixed on the inner surface of the gauge wheel, and the output voltage was determined by the deformation of the wheel. Two models of the PVDF sensor with a tiled shape and an arched shape were set up to analyze the relationship between the output signal and the wheel deformation. In the experiments, the relationship between the output voltage and gauge wheel deformation was obtained, and the results were in accord with the model analysis results. The voltage of both sensors increase with the augment of deformation, the arched sensor was more sensitive than the tiled one. The arched sensor embedded in the control system was able to maintain the desired seeding depth within tolerance ±8 mm at driving speed of 2.78 m/s, which can satisfy the agronomic requirements for the no-till seeder. Keywords: no-till seeder, sowing depth, control system, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film, sensor DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20181101.3229 Citation: Zhao J L, Zhu L T, Jia H L, Huang D Y, Guo M Z, Cong Y J. Automatic depth control system for a no-till seeder. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(1): 115–121.

Automatic depth control system for a no-till seeder

Automatic depth control system for a no-till seeder