Design, Development and Field Evaluation of Raised Bed Inclined Plate Planter for Direct Sowing of Onion (Allium Cepa L.) Seed on Beds

Abstract

In India Onion (Allium cepa L) occupies an area of 1064 thousand ha, with production of 15118 thousand tons. The export of onion during 2011 -12 was 13,09,863.26 thousand tons with a value of Rs 1,722.85 crores. India is the 2nd largest producer of onion, in the world next only to China but the productivity of onion in India is very low i.e. 14.21 t.ha-1 as compared to China and other countries like , Egypt, Netherlands, & Iran etc. India is the world’s second largest producer of vegetables after China. Timeliness of operations and efficient use of the inputs are the important keys in achieving higher levels of productivity and quality. In order to increase area under onion cultivation and make it competitive and profitable, it is important to introduce mechanized technologies for its cultivation. Manual sowing and transplanting of onion is very laborious and costly operation. Therefore to mechanize its sowing operation a tractor operated raised bed planter with inclined plate metering mechanism was designed and developed based on onion seed properties. The developed prototype was evaluated in field for its performance evaluation for direct sowing of onion seed variety Punjab Naroya on beds. The planter was operated at three speeds 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 km•h-1 and three plate angles 26º,36º and 46º and two row spacings of 15 and 18 cm. The average seed spacing varied between 6.09-11.68 cm. Average seed spacing at 2 km/h forward speed and 36 plate angle was 7.6 cm that was closer to the required theoretical spacing of 7.5cm. The overall saving in cost and time with raised bed onion planter as compared with manual method were 57.89 % and 98.75 % respectively.

U Indiji crni luk (Allium cepa, L.) zauzima površinu od 1064 ha, sa proizvodnjom od 15118 hiljada tona. Izvoz luka tokom 2011 -12 bio je 13,09,863.26 hilada tona u vrednosti od Rs 1,722.85. Indija je drugi najveći proizvođač luka u svetu odmah posle Kine, ali prinos luka u Indiji je veoma nizak, 14.21 t.ha-1 u poređenju sa kinom i drugim zemljama kao što su Egipat, Holandija, Iran i dr. Indija je drugi proizvođač povrća u svetu posle Kine. Trajanje postupaka i efikasna upotreba inputa su od ključnog značaja u postizanju visokih nivoa proizvodnosti i kvaliteta. Radi povećanja površine pod lukom i povećanja konkurentnosti i profitabilnosti proizvodnje, važno je uvoditi mehanizovane tehnologije u njegovom gajenju. Ručna sadnja i presađivanje luka je veoma skupa operacija koja zahteva mnogo rada. Zato je konstruisana sadilica sa mernom kosom pločom za sadnju luka u leje sa pogonom od traktora, na osnovu osobina semena luka. Razvijeni prototip bio je testiran u poljskim uslovima radi ocene njegovih karakteristika u direktnoj setvi luka varijeteta Punjab Naroya u leje. Sadilica je radila sa tri brzine 1.5, 2.0 i 2.5 km•h-1, tri ugla ploče 26º,36º i 46º i dva međuredna rastojanja 15 i 18 cm. Srednje rastojanje u redu variralo je od 6.09 do 11.68 cm. Srednje rastojanje u redu pri brzini od 2 km•h-1 i nagibu ploče od 36 bilo je 7.6 cm, što je bliže traženom teorijskom rastojanju od 7.5 cm. Ukupna ušteda troškova i vremena sa ovom sadilicom u poređenju sa ručnom sadnjom bila je 57.89 % i 98.75 %, redom.