Orang Taki; Ardeshir Asadi
Abstract
In recent years, expanding of technics in transplanting of sugar beet bare-root seedlings has become one of the priorities of the Ministry of Agriculture of Iran. Bare-root seedlings grown in traditional nursery plots, have no uniformity in root size, therefore automatic transplanters are not so efficient ...
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In recent years, expanding of technics in transplanting of sugar beet bare-root seedlings has become one of the priorities of the Ministry of Agriculture of Iran. Bare-root seedlings grown in traditional nursery plots, have no uniformity in root size, therefore automatic transplanters are not so efficient to put seedlings properly into the furrows or to cover them properly with soil. To introduce a semi-automatic transplanter, common methods of conveying seedlings to the soil, including rotary grippers and gravitational delivery tube, were evaluated in a completely random design experiment. In gravitational method, dropping seedlings with different lengths into the bottom of the furrow resulted a non- uniform placement of their crowns, leading to establishment of less than one third of total planted seedlings. Implication of rotary grippers also caused some seedlings to be partly uncovered resulting in establishment of less than two third of total seedlings. Therefore, manual placement of seedlings directly into the soil opener was considered as an intelligent method for proper lodging of seedlings. By omitting the conveying mechanisms of the machines and modifying them for direct transfering of seedlings into the furrows, the quality of transplantation was considerably improved. Among the modified machines, the one with disk ridgers and floating units had an acceptable result with 86% stand establishment. However, low field capacity of the machine still does not guarantee the feasibility of the method in large scale sugar beet farms.
Ardeshir Asadi; Orang Taki
Abstract
Using bare-root seedlings for sugar beet farming has been given special attention due to recent droughts and introducing a mechanized system for production of seedlings in the nursery is important. To determine an appropriate sowing pattern, a split plot experiment based on the complete randomized blocks ...
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Using bare-root seedlings for sugar beet farming has been given special attention due to recent droughts and introducing a mechanized system for production of seedlings in the nursery is important. To determine an appropriate sowing pattern, a split plot experiment based on the complete randomized blocks design was arranged to evaluate the effect of two seed distribution patterns including drilling and broadcasting (main plots) and applying of sand mulch or without sand (sub plots) on emergence indexes and number of applicable seedlings. To determine the most appropriate digging machine for the seedlings, four digging treatments including: undercutting with a blade digger, digging and sifting with a chain digger, undercutting and digging in two passes with the equipment of first two treatments and digging and picking by labour were compared in terms of quantitative losses and labour requirement in one of the subplots of the planting experiment. The results showed that broadcasting pattern along with applying sand mulch, having more uniform horizontal distribution compared to drilling and higher seed emergence than bare bed, can be introduce as the most appropriate system to host the required number of seedlings for an area equal to 10 times of the nursery. Evaluation of digging treatments revealed that employing the chain digger caused a high percentage of quantitative losses. Undercutting the seedlings by a blade digger, having lowest percentage of damaged seedlings and 30% cut in lobour forces compared to the manual digging, is recommended as the most applicable method among the available technologies.
Orang Taki; Ardeshir Asadi
Abstract
The most common types of post hole diggers are the auger styles including the engine powered and tractor mounted types which neither are applicable in current situations of Iran. In this study a hydraulic driven post hole digger was developed which is applicable in restricted spaces and has the ability ...
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The most common types of post hole diggers are the auger styles including the engine powered and tractor mounted types which neither are applicable in current situations of Iran. In this study a hydraulic driven post hole digger was developed which is applicable in restricted spaces and has the ability of digging 15-20 cm wide holes to a depth of 50 cm. In contrast to tractor and engine powered types, in the developed machine the auger is screwed down at a relatively slow rotational speed under a vertical force and the soil compacted between the auger’s flights is brought out of the hole as the auger is lifted. In order to choose an appropriate auger for this machine three types of spiral augers with conical tips (two size of flights pitch) and flange tip and a cylindrical type were evaluated. The results showed that spiral augers with conical tip, the lowest energy consumption and time requirement was the most appropriate for this digger. I order to have a better evacuation of holes in hard and frictional soils, augers with smaller pitch are recommended whereas bigger pitches of auger are more appropriate for sticky soils to avoid soil compaction between the auger’s flights.
Ardeshir Asadi; Orang Taki
Abstract
Soil aeration by imported machines were reportedly unsatisfactory due to creation of shallow holes, taking off some patches of the turf and time consuming work needed for collecting the excavated cores. Considering these problems, a machine was developed to suit Iran’s lawn spaces. To develop an ...
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Soil aeration by imported machines were reportedly unsatisfactory due to creation of shallow holes, taking off some patches of the turf and time consuming work needed for collecting the excavated cores. Considering these problems, a machine was developed to suit Iran’s lawn spaces. To develop an appropriate aerator, the shape of the plugs was studied at the first step and for this purpose six types of plugs with conical and cylindrical cross section (with and without slot) with tips cut diagonally and perpendicularly were built. The plugs were compared in an experiment based on complete randomized blocks design with 3 replication in an urban lawn space with clay soil in terms of the required static force for cutting the thatch and penetrating to the soil as well as the length of out coming cores. The results showed that the conical plugs with beveled tips had a 28 millimeter longer cores than the cylindrical plugs with similar tip using approximately equal forces for insertion. Having chosen the appropriate shape of plug, a split roller with a relatively large diameter were constructed for installing plugs around it and the whole device attached to a walking tractor. Comparing the developed machine with a commercial self-propelled aerator revealed that the developed aerator improved the length of the cores and depth of the holes. The split roller in the machine which windrowed the cores also caused a 65% decrease in labor requirement for collecting the cores and did not have dug patches of turf.
