https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2024.1566
Development and field testing of biodegradable seedling plug-tray cutting mechanism for automated vegetable transplanter
Published: 22 March 2024
Abstract Views: 634
PDF: 206
HTML: 10
HTML: 10
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Transplanting seedlings from plug trays into the field can cause transplant shock and lower the seedling survival rate. In order to avoid the need for a complicated clamping mechanism, this study developed a biodegradable seedling plug-tray cutting mechanism (SPCM) that separates seedlings with plug cells from plug trays. In order to cut and separate the plug cell from the plug tray and enable the seedling to fall into the transplanting hopper, the three sub-mechanisms that make up the SPCM align the plug cell at the point of seedling discharge. Approximately 82% of the plug cell was separated by the SPCM before being delivered to the planting unit. Additionally, using pepper and cabbage seedlings, the SPCM-equipped transplanter achieved a 74% transplanting performance, with an average field efficiency of 68%, a field capacity of 0.032-0.035 ha h-1, and a labor requirement that was 73% lower than that of manual seedling transplanting. The majority of pepper seedlings (85%) were transplanted with a planting angle of less than 10°, and 7% of cabbage seedlings were inclined with a planting depth of 48 mm for pepper and 53 mm for cabbage. These transplanting results were considered satisfactory. In conclusion, the SPCM represents a step toward effective and sustainable vegetable seedling transplanting. Enhancing productivity, precision in planting, and sustainability offer stimulating prospects for additional study and advancement in the area.
Basak, J.K., Qasim, W., Okyere, F.G., Khan, F., Lee, Y.J., Park, J., Kim, H.T. 2019. Regression analysis to estimate morphology parameters of pepper plant in a controlled greenhouse system. J. Biosyst. Eng. 44:57-68.
Bingliang, Y.E., Tao, T., Gaohong, Y.U., Weiming, Y.I., Guofeng, Z. 2019. Dynamic analysis of rotary seedling pick-up mechanism of vegetable transplanting machine with counterweight. Nongye Jixie Xuebao/Transact. Chin. Soc. Agric. Mach. vol. 50.
Chen, K.J., Marsh, T.L., Tozer, P.R., Galinato, S.P. 2019. Biotechnology to sustainability: consumer preferences for food products grown on biodegradable mulches. Food Res. Int. 116:200-10.
Choi, S., Xu, L., Kim, H.J. 2019. Influence of physical properties of peat-based potting mixes substituted with parboiled rice hulls on plant growth under two irrigation regimes. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 60:895-911.
Choi, W.C., Kim, D.C., Ryu, I.H., Kim, K.U. 2002. Development of a seedling pick-up device for vegetable transplanters. Trans. ASAE 45.
Evans, M.R., Hensley, D.L. 2004. Plant growth in plastic, peat, and processed poultry feather fiber growing containers. Hort Science 39:1012-4.
Evans, M.R., Karcher, D., 2004. Properties of plastic, peat, and processed poultry feather fiber growing containers. Hort Science 39:1008-11.
Filho, W.L., Salvia, A.L., Bonoli, A., Saari, U.A., Voronova, V., Klõga, M., Kumbhar, S.S., Olszewski, K., De Quevedo, D.M., Barbir, J. 2021. An assessment of attitudes towards plastics and bioplastics in Europe. Sci. Total Environ. 755:142732.
Fuentes, R.A., Berthe, J.A., Barbosa, S.E., Castillo, L.A. 2021. Development of biodegradable pots from different agroindustrial wastes and byproducts. Sustain. Mater. Technol. 30:e00338.
Gutiérrez, C., Serwatowski, R., Gracia, C., Cabrera, J.M., Saldaña, N. 2009. Design, building and testing of a transplanting mechanism for strawberry plants of bare root on mulched soil. Span. J. Agric. Res. 7:791.
Han, L., Mao, H., Hu, J., Kumi, F. 2019. Development of a riding-type fully automatic transplanter for vegetable plug seedlings. Span. J. Agric. Res. 17:e0205.
Iqbal, M.Z., Islam, M.N., Chowdhury, M., Islam, S., Park, T., Kim, Y.J., Chung, S.O. 2021. Working speed analysis of the gear-driven dibbling mechanism of a 2.6 kW walking-type automatic pepper transplanter. Machines 9:6.
Jang, D., Kwon, Y., Choi, K., Kim, I.S., 2018. Comparison of growth characteristics fruit vegetable seedlings grown on cylindrical paper pot trays of plug trays. Prot. Hortic. Plant Fact. 27:381-90.
Javidan, S.M., Mohammadzamani, D. 2019. Design, construction and evaluation of semi-automatic vegetable transplanter with conical distributor cup. SN Appl. Sci. 1:999.
Jin, X., Li, D., Ma, H., Ji, J., Zhao, K., Pang, J. 2018. Development of single row automatic transplanting device for potted vegetable seedlings. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 11:67-75.
Jo, J.S., Okyere, F.G., Jo, J.M., Kim, H.T. 2018. A study on improving the performance of the planting device of a vegetable transplanter. J. Biosyst. Eng. 43:202-10.
Jorg, O.J., Sportelli, M., Fontanelli, M., Frasconi, C., Raffaelli, M., Fantoni, G. 2021. Design, development and testing of feeding grippers for vegetable plug transplanters. AgriEngineering 3:669-80.
Khadatkar, A., Mathur, S.M. 2022. Design and development of an automatic vegetable transplanter using a novel rotating finger device with push-type mechanism for plug seedlings. Int. J. Veg. Sci. 28:121-31.
Khadatkar, A., Mathur, S.M., Gaikwad, B.B., 2018. Automation in transplanting:a smart way of vegetable cultivation. Curr. Sci. 115:1884.
Khan, A.A., Mahmood, T., Bano, B. 2000. Development of biodecomposable (jiffy) pots for raising and transplanting nursery plants. Int. J. Agric. Biol. 2:380-1.
Kumar, G.V.P., Raheman, H. 2008. Vegetable transplanters for use in developing countries - a review. Int. J. Veg. Sci. 14:232-55.
Kumar, G.V.P., Raheman, H. 2011. Development of a walk-behind type hand tractor powered vegetable transplanter for paper pot seedlings. Biosyst. Eng. 110:189-97.
Kumar, G.V.P., Raheman, H. 2012. Automatic feeding mechanism of a vegetable transplanter. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 5:1-8.
Liu, D., Gong, Y., Zhang, X., Chen, X., Wang, G., Zhang, X. 2022. Design and experiment of dry-farming cantaloupe transplanter under water. Agriculture 12:796.
Marr, C.W., Jirak, M. 1990. Holding tomato transplants in plug trays. HortScience 25:173-6.
Muriuki, J.K., Kuria, A.W., Muthuri, C.W., Mukuralinda, A., Simons, A.J., Jamnadass, R.H. 2014. Testing biodegradable seedling containers as an alternative for polythene tubes in tropical small-scale tree nurseries. Small-scale For. 13:127-42.
Ni, Y., Jin, C., Liu, J. 2015. Design and experiment of system for picking up and delivering seedlings in automatic transplanter. Trans. Chinese Soc. Agric. Eng. 31:10-9.
Parish, R.L. 2005. Current developments in seeders and transplanters for vegetable crops. Horttechnology 15:346-51.
Park, S.H., Kim, J.Y., Choi, D.K., Kim, C.K., Kwak, T.Y., Cho, S.C. 2005. Development of walking type chinese cabbage transplanter. J. Biosyst. Eng. 30:81-8.
Paudel, B., Basak, J.K., Kaushalya Madhavi, B.G., Kim, N.E., Lee, G.-H., Choi, G.-M., Choi, Y.W., Kim, H.T. 2022. Properties of paper-based biodegradable pots for growing seedlings. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 63:793-807.
Shao, Y., Han, X., Xuan, G., Liu, Y., Gao, C., Wang, G., Hu, Z. 2021. Development of a multi-adaptive feeding device for automated plug seedling transplanter. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 14:91-6.
Sharma, A., Khar, S., 2022. Current developments in vegetable transplanters in developing countries: a comprehensive review. Int. J. Veg. Sci. 28:417-40.
Tian, Z., Ma, W., Yang, Q., Yao, S., Guo, X., Duan, F., 2022. Design and experiment of gripper for greenhouse plug seedling transplanting based on EDM. Agronomy 12:1487.
Wen, Y., Zhang, J., Tian, J., Duan, D., Zhang, Y., Tan, Y., Yuan, T., Li, X. 2021. Design of a traction double-row fully automatic transplanter for vegetable plug seedlings. Comput. Electron. Agric. 182:106017.
Xin, J., Kaixuan, Z., Jiangtao, J., Hao, M., Jing, P., Zhaomei, Q. 2019. Design and experiment of automatic transplanting device for potted tomato seedlings. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part C J. Mech. Eng. Sci. 233:1045-54.
Yang, C., Fang, X., Yang, X., Wang, C., Liu, Z.J., Sun, X. 2013. Automatic delivery mechanism of potted-seedling for vegetable transplanter based on PLC. Trans. Chin. Soc. Agric. Mach. 44:19-23.
Yuan, T., Wang, D., Wen, Y.S., Zhu, S.S., Chen, Y., Tan, Y.Z. 2019. Design and experiment of seedlings unloading mechanism based on methods of air-blowing and vibration for vegetable transplanter. Trans. Chin. Soc. Agric. Mach. 50:80-7.
Zhang, X., Wang, C., Chen, Y. 2019. Properties of selected biodegradable seedling plug-trays. Sci. Hortic. 249:177-84.
How to Cite
Paudel, B. (2024) “Development and field testing of biodegradable seedling plug-tray cutting mechanism for automated vegetable transplanter”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 55(2). doi: 10.4081/jae.2024.1566.
Copyright (c) 2024 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Shadrack Kwadwo Amponsah, Ahmad Addo, Komla Dzisi, Jean Moreira, Sali Atanga Ndindeng, Comparative evaluation of mechanised and manual threshing options for Amankwatia and AGRA rice varieties in Ghana , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 48 No. 4 (2017)
- Roberto Deboli, Angela Calvo, Christian Preti, Comparison between ISO 5008 and field whole body vibration tractor values , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 43 No. 2 (2012)
- Zhiqiang Song, Chuanxing Du, Yongcheng Chen, Dianlei Han, Xinzhong Wang, Development and test of a spring-finger roller-type hot pepper picking header , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 55 No. 2 (2024)
- Mohammad Bijankhan, Ali Teymourkhani, Vito Ferro, Portable central baffle flume , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 53 No. 2 (2022)
- Ameneh Sobhani, Shawkat B.M. Hassan, Giovanna Dragonetti, Raffaella Balestrini, Mauro Centritto, Antonio Coppola, Alessandro Comegna, Comparing actual transpiration fluxes as measured at leaf-scale and calculated by a physically based agro-hydrological model , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 3 (2023)
- Roberto Beghi, Simone V. Marai, Valentina Giovenzana, Enrico Ferrari, Riccardo Guidetti, Testing and design of a passive container for the optimisation of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cold chain , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 2 (2016)
- Aristide Timene, Haman Djalo, Design of a five-bar duckbill-type mechanism for sorghum transplanting , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 2 (2023)
- Francesco M. Tangorra, Aldo Calcante, Stefano Nava, Gabriele Marchesi, Massimo Lazzari, Design and testing of a GPS/GSM collar prototype to combat cattle rustling , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 44 No. 2 (2013)
- Maria Lisa Clodoveo, Tiziana Dipalmo, Cristina Schiano, Domenico La Notte, Sandra Pati, What’s now, what’s new and what’s next in virgin olive oil elaboration systems? A perspective on current knowledge and future trends , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 45 No. 2 (2014)
- Daniela Lovarelli, Jacopo Bacenetti, Marco Fiala, A new tool for life cycle inventories of agricultural machinery operations , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 1 (2016)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
