Performance Evaluation of a Water Seed Drill

Rana Shahzad Noor, Zhi Wang, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Ameen, Muhammad Imran and Yong Sun
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Rana Shahzad Noor: College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Zhi Wang: College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Muhammad Umair: Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhammad Ameen: College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210031, China
Muhammad Imran: Faculty of Water Resources and Hydroelectric Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Yong Sun: College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Water content plays a crucial role in seed development, particularly at the seed sowing stage, and it ensures good seed germination. A water seed drill was designed and developed to provide an optimum quantity of water that is required for the soil in the same furrow, right after seed placement. This soil moistening method not only improves the moisture level in the field, but it also saves a large amount of water by applying the needed water quantity in the line of sowing after seed placement. The water seed drill consisted of a wheat seed drill, a water application system, and a tank with 400 L capacity. The water seed drill yielded a 48% higher germination count than when wheat is planted through a conventional method. The data recorded also showed that the water seed drill raised the soil moisture to 24% from the existing 13% soil moisture content. The total operational cost of the water seed drill was 2.57-fold greater than the conventional seed drill, but the output cost of the water seed drill was 2.15 times (49,000 Rs/ha) more than that of the conventional seed drill.

Keywords: mechanize farming; water seed drill; line sowing; germination count and rainfed machine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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