Design Development and Performance Evaluation of T
Design Development and Performance Evaluation of T
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1. INTRODUCTION
Farmers in Indonesia generally use a planting stick to plant corn seeds (Tokora, 2021). This
tool is made of wood which is used to make planting holes (Budiman, 2016). Corn kernels
are inserted into the hole manually (Adetola & Akinmade, 2020). The distance between
plants is only estimated by farmers (Djoyowasito et al., 2017). This method is less efficient
because it requires a lot of time and labor (Iskandar et al., 2017).
Planting corn seeds can be done better by using equipment that suits land conditions
(Ansar et al., 2020). Corn seed planting equipment can be designed based on farmer needs
and land conditions (Hajad et al., 2021). Indicators of success in designing a corn seed
planting tool are the farmer's comfort in using the tool, the tool's ability to increase
efficiency and reduce labor (Ghaderpour et al., 2018).
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Planting corn seeds is generally done by inserting the seeds into the planting hole at
a certain depth (Gill et al., 2014). If done manually, the planting holes are sometimes
filled with unequal numbers of seeds, and the distance between plants is irregular
(Alhassan et al., 2018). As a result, the distance between plants is not the same (Zhang
et al., 2019).
Various types of planting tool designs have been developed by previous researchers
and have advantages and disadvantages when operated. Brune et al. (2018) have
designed a corn seed planter with 94% efficiency, but it cannot be used on narrow
land. Yang et al. (2015) have developed a seed planting device with 73.4% efficiency
and three times faster than manual planting methods. Kumar et al. (2013) have
developed a planter with an average field capacity of between 0.28 to 0.31 ha/h at an
average speed of 2.27 km/h.
Currently, there are many research results that discuss corn seed planting tools
designed to make it easier for farmers when planting corn seeds (Oduma et al., 2014).
However, the planter still has a field working capacity that does not match its actual
capacity. Apart from that, the filling of seeds in each hole is not the same and the
distance between plants is irregular (Ansar et al., 2021).
The planting method using manual planting sticks can result in decreased land
productivity because the distance between plants is irregular (Syafa'at & Subantoro,
2017). Land productivity can be increased by optimally arranging the distance between
plants (Djiemon et al., 2019). However, too many plant populations can also interfere
with the interception of sunlight for photosynthesis (Yuliana et al., 2020). Thus, it is
necessary to design a corn seed planting tool that can regulate the distance between
plants. Based on this argument, this research aims to design and develop a corn seed
planting tool to be operated manually in narrow areas.
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were designed with a variety of seed size that can be changed in a very short time.
Panter handles were made from galvanized cylindrical pipes which can be adjusted to
suit the worker's body size. The drive wheels were made of plastic polyvinylchloride
(PVC) and were both coupled to the drive shaft.
(1)
(2)
(3)
where AFC = actual field capacity (ha/h), TFC = theoretical field capacity (ha/h), Ll =
planted area (ha), Wt = total time used for planting (h), V = equipment forward speed
(m/s), jt = planting space (cm), 36 = conversion factor (cm²/sec = 0.36 ha/h), and Eff =
equipment efficiency (%).
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Figure 2. (a) Performance testing of the designed two-row corn seed planter in field;
(b) Field capacity (ha/h) of the equipment
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Figure 3. Results of performance testing of the designed two-row corn seed planter:
(a) Plant spacing (cm), (b) Planting depth
Spacing between plants that is too wide can improve the growth of individual plant
roots, but provides an opportunity for weeds to grow in the plant gaps. Corn plants
accompanied by weed growth can be detrimental because there is competition in the
use of nutrients, water, light and growing space. Spacing between plants, apart from
reducing the number of plant populations, also reduces the use of sunlight and plant
nutrients, because some of the solar radiation only falls on the soil surface and
nutrients can be lost as a result of evaporation. Nariratih et al. (2013) also reported
that spacing plants that are too close together can disrupt growth, but if they are too
far apart can reduce the number of plants per unit area.
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The seed allocation component is the most important part of this planting tool
because it functions as a divider for the seeds to fall regularly into the planting hole.
This component is driven by the rotational power of the wheel by rotating the planting
unit's axis, so that the seeds can fall based on the earth's gravitational force. The
performance of the seed removal tool has worked well because it is able to place seeds
in the soil with an average of one seed per hole, although there are still holes with two
seeds. More than one seed in one hole can cause competition for sunlight. On the
other hand, if many planting holes are empty, then the plant population is not optimal
so that production per area will be low. Likewise, the number of seeds in each planting
hole must also be considered when cultivating corn. An excessive number of seeds per
planting hole cannot provide optimal results. In order for the growth and development
of corn plants to be optimal with high production, the number of hollow seeds must be
properly regulated to maintain the balance of food nutrients in the soil. The greater the
number of seeds in the planting hole, the nutritional requirements also increase.
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Based on the data in Table 2, it can be seen that the efficiency value of using the
two-row corn seed planting tool is greatly influenced by the pushing speed and soil
texture. The higher the pushing speed, the higher the efficiency of tool use. A similar
thing has been reported by (Yazgi, 2016) that short planting times can provide higher
efficiency. The maximum recommended forward speed limit for this tool is 2.33 km/h
based on previous research. If it's too fast, sometimes the corn seeds won't embed
properly.
The land area used to test the capacity of the tool is 550 x 350 cm. The distance
between plants has been determined based on the results of preliminary research,
namely 20 x 35 cm. To obtain accurate and precise test results, field tests are carried
out in rice fields to produce more accurate data. The location for this field test was a
rainfed rice field which was dry at the time the test was carried out. The testing
process starts from placing corn seeds in the seed storage tank to observing the
number of seeds that come out and are embedded in the hole.
Field test results show that when the tool crosses hard and rocky soil textures, the
planting mouth cannot open a soil groove that matches the desired hole depth. This
happens because the weight of the tool is less than optimal and the groove opening tip
is not sharp enough. Even though the land conditions used to test this planting tool
were uneven, planting holes were still formed. The same thing has been reported by
(Sianipar & Fatoni, 2019) that the hard soil texture conditions sometimes make it
difficult to form planting holes, so that the distance between plants is sometimes not
the desired distance. Furthermore (Cay et al., 2018) said that the distance between
plants in each plot can vary due to the influence of the uneven ground surface. Thus,
as far as possible, till the soil as thoroughly as possible before planting.
4. CONCLUSION
The components of the two-row corn seed planter that have been designed can be
used to plant corn seeds, although there are still several shortcomings and limitations.
These shortcomings can be taken into consideration for the development of
subsequent tools. The lowest distance between plants is 21.3 cm and the highest is
24.2 cm. The depth of the planting hole ranges from 3.0 – 7.1 cm. The distribution of
the number of holes filled with 0 seeds was 3.00%, 90.38% filled with 1 seed, and
6.62% filled with 2 seeds. The average efficiency of planting equipment is 85.61%. The
efficiency value of tool use depends on the worker's pushing speed. High thrust speeds
can also result in high tool usage efficiency. The efficiency value can increase if this
planting tool is used on land with a soft soil texture and a flat surface. Fast planting and
less tiring work are important benefits for farmers from using this tool.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thank and appreciation are expressed to the Director of Research, Technology and
Community Service, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the
Republic of Indonesia for the Applied Research Grant funds for Fiscal Year 2023.
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