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Project Title

Suitable Tillage Pattern for Fuel Economy

Presented by Md. Sultan Mahmud

St. id.:1107048Session: 2010-11

Shagor SarkarSt. id.:1107051Session: 2010-11

A.B.M. Hasanul KabirSt. id.:1107052Session: 2010-11

SupervisorProf. Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin SarkerDean, Faculty of Engineering

Muhammad Abdul MunnafLecturer, Dept. of Agricultural and Industrial Engineering

Co-Supervisor

INTRODUCTION

At present agriculture contributes about 20% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh.

Crop sub sector alone contributes about 11% of the total GDP of the country and about 75% of the agricultural GDP (GOB, 2011).

The status of the economy of Bangladesh in terms of output and employment still greatly depends on the agricultural sector.

Agricultural mechanization embraces the use of tools, implements and agricultural machinery in an efficient form, to increase the crop production and improve quality and reduce costs.

It includes agricultural land development, harvesting, preparation for storage, and on-farm processing (Gatea, 2013).

The objectives of tillage are to develop a desirable soil structure or suitable tilth for a seedbed (Srivastava et al, 2006).

A total numbers of 3,50,000 power tillers and 40,000 tractors are found to be available in Bangladesh (Wohab, 2013).

In tillage operation, power tiller is suitable for saving labour cost, maintaining timeliness in operation, better quality of soil preparation and desired depth of tillage which has its ultimate bearing on soil fertility.

Substantive improvements can be made in the field efficiency by analyzing and changing the model for planning and field operations that depend on the area and shape of the field Hunt D. R. (1999).

As a developing country, Bangladeshi farmers need to apply appropriate tillage pattern for saving fuel and reducing the cost of tillage in different soil condition all over the country.

The main objective of the research work was to find a suitable tillage pattern for fuel economy.

OBJECTIVES

Specific objectives were:• To select different tillage pattern from existing literature.• To select suitable land area for tillage operation.• To plow selected plots in different selected plowing method.• To measure the fuel consumption and time for individual tillage

operation.• To measure the soil properties of the selected lands for plowing.• To analyse the collected data and prepare report we recorded.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The research work was carried out in the experimental field of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur.

List of Materials RequiredPower tiller with rotary blade Sedimentation Cylinder

Stop watch Hydrometer Hand Hoe Electrical Stirrer

Auger PlungerHammer Soil texture triangle

Core sampler Tape, Scale etc.

SELECTION OF LAND AND TILLAGE PATTERN

Three different patterns such as Straight alternation Tillage pattern, Circuitous tillage pattern and overlapping alternation or mechanically operated traditional tillage pattern were chosen to perform the tillage operation.

Land was selected for application of different tillage pattern to increase the efficiency of fuel.

Figure: Land condition before tilling.

TILLAGE PATTERN SELECTION

Figure: Circuitous tillage pattern

Figure: Straight Alternation Tillage Pattern

Figure: Overlapping Alternation Or Mechanically Operated Traditional Tillage Pattern.

LAND CONDITIONThe selected land was dry and grassy. The height of grass was

approximately 9 cm. The land was planed all over the experimented plot.

Figure: Dry and grassy land

POWER TILLER SPECIFICATION

Model MEGN-12

Type Rotary tiller

Transmission speed change Six speed forward, two speed reverse

Power transmission Engine to main shaft by V-beltMain shaft to wheel by gear, to

rotary by chainEngine horsepower 13 hp (9 kw)

Number of rotary blades 18

Cultivating depth (cm) 7-15

Weight (kg, with engine) 234+150 = 384

Fuel type Diesel

1813 hp (9 kw)

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN For the operation of tillage an area of (90×15) m2 was selected

from a cultivable land. Total area was sub-divided into three plots, (30×15) m2 each.

Figure-6: Design of experiment of land

COLLECTION OF SOIL SAMPLE

Soil sample was collected from three plot of land for determining soil properties.

Figure: Soil sample collection

AFTER TILLAGE MEASURED PARAMETERS WERE

Fuel consumption Time required to till Tillage depth

Figure: Fuel consumption measuring

SOIL PROPERTIES DETERMINATION

The selected parameters were:a) Soil moisture contentb) Particle density of soilc) Bulk density of soil andd) Soil texture

SOME PICTURES FROM THE LAB EXPERIMENT

SOME PICTURES FROM TILLAGE OPERATION

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Soil Analysis Test on Research Farm:

Soil Properties Plot-1 Plot-2 Plot -3 Average

% Sand 65.6 55.6 55.6 58.93

% Silt 17.6 25.6 25.6 22.93

% Clay 16.8 18.8 18.8 18.13

Soil type Sandy Loam

Sandy Loam

Sandy Loam Sandy Loam

Moisture content (%)

14.95 15.5 15.2 15.22

Particle density (g/cm3)

2.22 2.24 2.17 2.21

Bulk density (g/cm3)

1.5 1.58 1.5 1.53

Table: Soil analysis test

Soil type Sandy Loam

Sandy Loam

Sandy Loam

Sandy Loam

FUEL CONSUMPTION, TILLAGE DEPTH AND TIME REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS

Properties Circuitous pattern

Traditional pattern

Alternation pattern

Fuel consumption (L)

0.95 0.8 0.8

Tillage depth (cm)

8 7 7

Time required (min)

25 18 22

Table: Data for fuel consumption, tillage depth and time requirement

0.8

18

CONCLUSION

The experimental results shown that, for tilling of specific land (0.045 ha) with overlapping alternation or mechanically operated traditional pattern required minimum time (18 min) and consume lowest fuel (0.8 L).

After tillage operation, traditional and alternation pattern both consume same amount of fuel (0.8 L) and tilling depth were also same (7 cm). Whereas, the time requirement was different for those two pattern.

Study shown that the traditional tillage pattern is most effective and economic for tillage operation .

Further study is necessary to confirm the results of conducting experiments with large area of land and with same tillage patterns.

THANKS TO ALL