DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MANUALLY OPERATED TWO ROW TROLLEY TRANSPLANTER FOR BRINJAL

JHALA KISHORSINH B.¹*, PANKAJ V. THORAT², BANDHIYA RAJESHKUMAR D.^3
1College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, 362001, India
²College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, 362001, India
³College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, 362001, India
* Corresponding Author : jhalakb1960@yahoo.com

Received : 05-07-2018     Accepted : 13-07-2018     Published : 15-07-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 13       Pages : 6610 - 6614
Int J Agr Sci 10.13 (2018):6610-6614

Keywords : Vegetable transplanter, Age of seedlings, Types of bed, Cost of operation, Field efficiency
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Author thankful to College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, 362001, India
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

India ranks second in vegetable production. However the average yield of vegetables in India is still lower than that in many Asian countries. Transplanting of plug seedlings is a manual and labour-intensive operation. In peak season due to unavailability of labours, timely transplanting is not possible. Cost of labours being increased day by day and therefore manual transplanting is becoming uneconomical. The designing was done based on morphological parameters, agronomical requirements and ergonomical parameters, for the purpose of seeding four seedlings at a time in two rows. The jaw is main operational part of vegetable transplanter which is fitted at the bottom of hollow delivery tubes (4 numbers) for transplanting. Maximum field efficiency of 86.80 % was obtained for seedlings of 4 weeks age on bare bed. In general effective field capacity was found as 0.014 ha/h for 6 weeks age of seedlings on mulch bed. Minimum cost of operation, 3719.94 ₹/ha for seedlings of 6 weeks age on mulch bed. The cost of transplanting 1000 seedlings with designed transplanter came out as ₹ 114.43 as against ₹ 156.38 with manual transplanting. The payback period comes out as 3.71 yeas using 250 hours in a year.

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