Preliminary field evaluation of seeds drilling assisted by a tractor with autopilot system
2021
Kamal Aizuddin Kamar Zaman | El Pebrian, Darius
Seed drilling is one of the steps in agricultural operations that always needs great attention as it will eventually affect crop production. In a mechanized seed drilling, the quality of operation is measured by precision planting of seeds or seedlings in the rows. This study was conducted to evaluate a seed-drilling machine trailed by a tractor equipped with autopilot system. This machinery system was tested for planting corn on tilled soil. The tractor's operating speeds were set at three levels, i.e., 3.4 km/hr, 4.2 km/hr, and 5.5 km/hr. The effects of these different speeds were investigated towards numbers of seeds per hole, plants distance, and seedlings damage. Field capacity and average heart rate of tractor operator during conducting the operation were also measured. The findings showed significant differences between the operating speeds towards the numbers of seeds per hole and field capacity. Also, the observation showed that the operating speeds and field capacity had a close relationship. The same situation also happened between the operating speeds and average heart rates of operator. The operating speed of 5.5 km/hr was the best speed for achieving the highest field capacity, while the operating speed of 3.4 km/hr was highly recommended if seeds use efficiency become a preference. Generally, this study has successfully given introductory exploration for the potential use of tractor with autopilot system in seeds drilling operation for Malaysia's cash crop.
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