Design and Development of Mini Tractor Operated Twin-row Maize Planter

Abstract

Modern agriculture demands innovation solutions to address the challenges of increasing food production while optimizing resource utilization. This research presents the design and development of a twin-row maize planter. The proposed planter incorporates a twin-row planting mechanism, departing from conventional single row systems, to maximize land usage and enhance crop productivity. Maize planted by using developed planter gives more equidistance and staggered plant spacing. This staggered spacing offer better photosynthetically active radiation. The physical properties of seeds were calculated initially. Three varieties of maize seed Rasi-3033, NMH-589 and KMH-2589 were selected. Two seed metering mechanisms namely roller type and cup type metering were selected and evaluated in the laboratory. A roller type metering mechanism with 5 cells on each side with an alternate pattern on its periphery was developed. A nylon roller of 55 mm width and 110mm diameter roller was used for development of seed metering device. In cup device, a vertical plate was used as a rotor. Mild steel of 3 mm thick plate was used to develop a rotor with a diameter of 110 mm. The frame of planter is of rectangular box type made up of 50 mm angular with a length of 1400mm and width of 350 mm, so that planter maintains suitable row to row spacing and can accommodate all the components on the frame. Field test was carried on January 2021 at Dr NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla. Results obtained from actual field conditions the average seed spacing with roller type metering mechanism was 17.8, 19.1, and 20 cm at operating speed of 1.5, 2, and 2.5 kmh-1 respectively. The acceptable seed spacing occurred at operating speed of 2.5 kmh-1. Field efficiency of developed twin-row planter at 1.5, 2, and 2.5 kmh-1 speed of operation was 76.9, 88.8, and 87%, respectively.