Design and Development of a Variable Rate Applicator for Real-Time Application of Fertilizer

Hasan Mirzakhaninafchi, Manjeet Singh, Vishal Bector, O. P. Gupta and Rajvir Singh
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Hasan Mirzakhaninafchi: Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAET), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana 141004, India
Manjeet Singh: Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAET), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana 141004, India
Vishal Bector: Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAET), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana 141004, India
O. P. Gupta: Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India
Rajvir Singh: Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Rajpura 140401, India

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Variable rate technology offers a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective solution for fertilizer application. A study was conducted to design and develop a variable rate fertilizer applicator to detect real-time deficiency of N within the field and apply it per requirement of the crop. The microcontroller system was designed to receive a signal from the N sensor and send a signal to the pulse-width-modulation valve to vary the rotational speed of the hydraulic motor resulting in variation in the rotation of the metering mechanism drive shaft based on the recommended amount of fertilizer. During the field study, three replications were conducted, each of which was divided into four plots. The response time between the N sensing and fertilizer discharging fell within the range of 3.49 to 4.90 s. Fertilizer applied using the developed variable rate applicator indicated that when the fertilizer rate is increased from N1 to N4 (kg ha −1 ), NDVI increased from 0.56 to 0.78 and drive shaft rotational speed decreased from 20 to 0 rpm in order to apply the fertilizer at a rate of 0.00 instead of 78.36 kg ha −1 . Using the developed applicator demonstrates that this technology could reduce environmental impact, making farming more sustainable.

Keywords: variable rate fertilizer applicator; urea fertilizer; N application; N sensor; normalized difference vegetation index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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