Performance evaluation of tractor operated two row forward reverse rotavator for sugarcane crop

Abstract

India is the world's second - largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil, contributing 19.98% to global production, making sugarcane an important cash crop in the country. Although machinery for the sugarcane crop has been produced, it has not been widely used as it could have been. There is a large mechanization deficit as a result, particularly in the areas of sugarcane intercultural, planting, harvesting, and ratooning. Numerous intercultural procedures are necessary for sugarcane to control weeds, earth up, save moisture, and create a better environment for plant growth in general. In light of the aforementioned factors, a machine has been constructed, and its performance has been assessed, in an effort to lessen the laboriousness associated with inter-cultural operations. During the design phase, a number of design parameters, including horsepower, the number of blades, speed reduction, shaft diameter, and allowable stresses, were determined. The tractor-operated two - row forward-reverse rotavator executes two operations, namely intercultural and earthing-up. During forward rotation, the machine performs intercultural operation; however, during reverse rotation, earthing up operation is performed by throwing soil outward near the crop base. The machine's performance was evaluated by taking into account factors including working depth, speed of operation, and moisture content. The study's findings showed that the effective field capacities for forward and reverse directions were 84% and 73%, respectively. The field efficiency was found to be 83.32% and 80.85% in the forward and backward directions, respectively. The height of the ridge created after the reversal procedure was measured at 25-35 cm. Fuel usage for forward and reverse directions was measured at 6.91 l/ha and 8.01 l/ha, respectively.