Effects of Agricultural Machinery Operations on PM 2.5, PM 10 and TSP in Farmland under Different Tillage Patterns

Lin Jia, Xiaoyi Zhou and Qingjie Wang ()
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Lin Jia: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Xiaoyi Zhou: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Qingjie Wang: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Agricultural machinery can improve agricultural productivity and promote agricultural scale operation. However, machinery operations lead to increased dust in farmland and affect the atmospheric environment; thus, they have been increasingly emphasized. In this study, the effects of agricultural machinery operations in wheat cultivation were investigated regarding the emissions of three kinds of particulate matters, namely fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), inhalable particulate matter (PM 10 ) and total suspended particulate (TSP), from farmland in Beijing. The results showed that the total dust emission from the traditional tillage mode, including straw crushing, rotary tilling and sowing, was 3.990 g per hectare, which was larger than that of the conservation tillage mode including only no-tillage sowing (0.407 g per hectare). The total dust emission for one hectare of farmland under the two modes was 3.415 g, 0.497 g, 0.407 g and 0.078 g for straw shredding, rotary tillage, no-tillage sowing and conventional sowing, respectively. The values of PM 2.5 /PM 10 and PM 2.5 /TSP decreased in each tillage section after each agricultural machinery operation, while the values of PM 10 /TSP were basically unchanged, indicating that particulate matter emissions from farmland due to agricultural machinery operations are mainly PM 10 and TSP. The dust concentration generated by agricultural machinery increased with an increase in the speed of the machinery operation, provided that the quality of the operation was guaranteed. This study provides guidance for reducing dust emissions from mechanized operations, improving air quality and decreasing health hazards to operators of agricultural machinery.

Keywords: tillage pattern; agricultural machinery operation; dust emission; air quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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