Performance Evaluation of 4-Wheel Tractor Driven 3-Rows Semi-automatic Sugarcane Planter

Sachin Kumar Mishra; Shreemat Shrestha; Mukti Nath Jha; Manoj Joshi; Bikash K.C.; Dwarika Chaudhary; Sunil Sahani

Sachin Kumar Mishra Agriculture Implement Research Station, Ranighat, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
Shreemat Shrestha National Agricultural Engineering Research Centre, Khumaltar, Kathmandu, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Mukti Nath Jha National Agricultural Engineering Research Centre, Khumaltar, Kathmandu, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
Manoj Joshi Directotrate of Agricultural Research, Koshi Pardesh, Tarharara, Sunsari, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
Bikash K.C. Agriculture Implement Research Station, Ranighat, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
Dwarika Chaudhary Agriculture Implement Research Station, Ranighat, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
Sunil Sahani Agriculture Implement Research Station, Ranighat, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal

Abstract

Sugarcane is major cash and industrial crop grown in Nepal and second prioritized crop of Madesh Pradesh after rice. Planting sugarcane is a very laborious job which involves considerable human drudgery compared to rice, wheat, maize and potato crops. Cost of mechanized sugarcane planting is less compared to traditional methods. It also reduces drudgery involved in unit operation of sugarcane planting. Therefore, this station procured an Indian made 3-rows semi-automatic sugarcane planter (Cost = NRs. 300,000) and conducted its field testing and demonstration at National Sugarcane Research Program, Jeetpur, Bara. This machine completed 8 operations of sugarcane planting in a single pass using by 55 hp tractor and has 3 units. The field capacity of the machine was 0.3 ha/hr. in sandy loam soil with field efficiency 81 % at effective working width of 2.25 m (row to row distance = 0.75 m) with a forward speed of 1.62 km/hr (3rd Low gear). The seed rate was 5.80 ton/ ha., having sett length 30 cm metre with average overlap of 6.25 cm and planting depth = 25-35 cm (adjustable). The planter saves about 90 % labour requirement and 70% of time as compared to conventional method. The planted sugarcane was free of any damage of buds. Sugarcane growers of Nepal found this unit acceptable. The crop germination was about 96%. The cost of operation per ha was in the range of Rs. 7700 as compared to Rs. 17400 manually. The planter planted sugarcane yield was 85.0 ton/ha, (variety-Co 0118) while the sugarcane yield planted by local method was 74.26 ton/ha. The cost of operation reduced by 56% and yield increased by 14.46 %. This planter has shown better utilization of resources and quality work performance resulting in better production and productivity.

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