ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Farm machinery opens new avenues for better management of farm enterprises. Selection of farm machinery is influenced by the farm size, cost of farm labour, cost of farm machines and energy requirement, yet the use of improved agricultural machinery ensures better quality of field operation in lesser time. In the state 90 per cent farmers are having holdings in the range of 0-2 ha (57 % cultivated area) cultivating variety of crops like wheat, bajra, maize, gram, soybean, mustard, groundnut, etc. A noticeable increase in the number of farm equipments and many fold increase in tractor population in the last decade indicate the preferential use of improved agriculture equipments for different farm operations. However, there is further need to improve the quality of operation and reduce the cost. For which introduction of rotavator, multicrop seed drill cum planter, groundnut thresher and many more efficient machines for different farm operations will certainly find suitable place in future scenario of farm mechanization. The performance of different equipments evaluated at the university is presented as follows: Rotavator- a unique implement of seed bed preparation In kharif season the time available to farmers is very less for seedbed preparation and subsequent sowing due to uncertainty of rains. Rotavator is a device for seedbed preparation in one pass omitting the concept of primary and secondary tillage equipment besides its use for puddling and green manuring. Quality seedbed with proper tilth can be achieved in shorter time as compared with conventional equipments. This also provides overall saving in energy requirement. Operation of Rotavator for seed bad preparation Demonstration of Rotavator was conducted in Udaipur, Banswara and Bhilwara region on farmer s field for seed bed preparation. The performance of Rotavator was appreciated by the farmers. The cost of the implement is about 60 to 70 thousand per 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 1

unit. The state Deptt. of Agriculture has also approved the equipment for subsidy to the tune of 25 percent of cost of machine or 20,000 whichever is less. Multicrop seed drill cum planter Maize-wheat and soybean-wheat are major crop rotations followed in south and south-east Rajasthan covering area of around 15 lakhs hectare. The farmers of the area are using animal drawn implements or tractor drawn seed cum fertilizer drill. Sowing of seeds at proper spacing of both row-to-row and plant-to-plant with proper depth of placement is very important. In order to mechanize the planting of these crops and to avoid financial burden on farmers to own two separate equipments for the sowing of these crops, tractor drawn multicrop seed drill cum planter developed at PAU, Ludhiana was introduced which was well received by the farmers of Udaipur and Banswara region for maize, wheat and Bengal gram. Cost of the implement is around Rs. 27,000/-. It is very much liked by the farmers. Operation of multicrop seed drill cum planter Whole crop maize thresher Maize crop thresher was developed at CTAE, Udaipur for threshing of whole plant of maize so that besides grain maize stalk is also converted in to maize straw which can easily be consumed by animals. The thresher was designed with spike tooth cylinder having bolts or flats in the arrangement of 6-7 per row with 6 rows in each cylinder. Concave was made with 8 mm square bars at spacing of 18 mm. The speed of threshing cylinder was 620 rpm. Two blowers were provided for the better cleaning of grain due to higher straw content. 12.5 mm and 4 mm sieves were provided for removal of cob hertz s and fine trashes from the grain. Thresher was operated by 5.5 kw motor. The out 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 2

put of the thresher in whole maize plant threshing was observed to be in the range of 1.5-1.75 q of grain per hour and 3.5-4.0 q of straw per hour. Straw length was less than 50 mm. The designed thresher saves mainly time and labour of female workers employed for dehusking operation in the order of 25-30 man days/ha. The total energy requirement and cost of operation will also be economized because of elimination of custom hiring of chaff cutter at the rate of Rs 300/hr. High capacity multicrop thresher Two tractor operated high capacity threshers of CIAE, Bhopal and Amar Thresher, Ludhiana were tested on the farmer s field at village Palana, Ambawadi and Gudli. In all 472 q of wheat, 13 q of mustard and 44 q of gram were threshed. The output capacity was also found considerably high which indicates their suitability for custom hiring operation. The output of both the threshers was observed in the range of 8-11 q/hr for wheat, 3 to 4 q/hr for mustard and 8 to 10 q/hr for gram. Grain breakage was found to be less than 0.5 per cent where as un-threshed grain ranged from 1-1.5 per cent particularly for Lok-1 variety of wheat. These models were found ideal for custom hiring High capacity multicrop operation. The local dealer has sold eight threshers in different areas of Udaipur thresher district. These threshers were preferred by the farmers over other brands because of their sturdy construction, ease of adjustment, trolley fitted and quite operation. Post Harvest Technology The status of awareness and adoption of improved post harvest technology and gadgets in the country and the state in particular is still or very poor. Either no post harvest equipment or traditional inefficient methods/ gadgets are in use, resulting in poor recovery and high losses and wastages. Post Harvest Technology sector involves many unit operations such cleaning, grading, drying, milling, decortications, size reduction, product development, cooking, baking, storage, etc. A conservative estimate indicates that post harvest losses in cereals accounted for 10-15 per cent and become much higher to the tune of 25-40 per cent in case of fruits and vegetables. In India, about 37 MT of farm produce worth Rs. 24,288 crores could be saved using simple post harvest 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 3

technologies and equipments. As of now only 1 per cent of farm produce is processed while in other countries it is as high as 40-80 per cent. In view of the above there is urgent need to develop post harvest technology for different crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants and its popularization among the farmers by making cooperatives / self help group so that farmers income can be raised and employed opportunities can be created at the village itself. In the university some work has been carried out on development of equipments for dehusking cum selling of maize, breaking of garlic bulbs, making garlic paste and flakes and processing unit for aonla. The details of these equipments are as follows: Garlic Peeling Machine Garlic is emerging as one of the important spice in the state as it has medicinal value and good export potential. Peeling of garlic is very deduce critical, time and labour consuming operation being accomplished manually in small scale garlic processing and pickle industries. Therefore, to solve this problem, a garlic clove peeling machines (batch and continuous type) with 10-kg/hr capacity have been developed. The batch type garlic clove peeling has been evaluated and found satisfactory with 92-94 per cent efficiency. A flaking machine for pressing the cloves before dehydration has been designed. The machine is useful in flaking the cloves before drying, thereby enhancing the drying rate. Garlic Peeling Machine Renewable Energy Source Renewable energy sources acquired promising option for meeting essential energy requirement for domestic, agriculture and for agro industrial sector. The importance of renewable energy will further gets momentum, when liquid fuel and cooking gas will be exhausted. It is expected that within next 15 years, the supply of conventional fuel will be under dark. The unit operation essentially required for preservation of fruits, vegetables and other agriculture products can be energized with the help of solar energy. It is expected that drying of agriculture products can be accelerated at faster rate on commercial basis with the help of solar dryer. The solar energy and biogas can also be used for meeting energy in cooking, water heating and desalination. In view of this 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 4

research has been carried out in this university and developed following Solar and Biomass gadgets: Solar Tunnel Dryer Drying of industrial product Solar tunnel dryer for drying industrial products has been designed and installed at the factory premises of M/s Phosphate India Limited, Udaipur. The system is used to dry di-basic calcium phosphate from 40 per cent to 10 per cent moisture content. It consists of solar air collector cum drying chamber (21 m x 3.75 m) for drying 1.5 ton of di-basic calcium phosphate per batch. It is semi cylindrical shaped tunnel metallic frame structure covered with UV stabilized semi transparent polythene of 200 micron. Two chimneys of 0.25 m diameter and 0.6 m height have been provided to allow natural convection. The temperature inside the solar tunnel dryer comes out to 20-25ºC higher than ambient temperature. Approximate cost of the dryer is Rs. 50,000.00. Drying of cotton [ A solar tunnel dryer of size 17x 3.75m has been installed at factory site of M/s Cotton Products of India, Ayad, Udaipur. The unit is in position to dry 500 kg cotton from 40 % moisture content to 5 % moisture content in one solar day. The effective size 17x3.75 m is sufficient to accommodate 500 kg cotton in a batch. Solar tunnel dryer for cotton Drying of fruit & vegetable A Solar Tunnel Dryer of 12x3.75m has been commissioned at M/s Greengold, Village Vana, Panchayat Samiti Bhinder, Udaipur for drying of 750 kg of fruit and vegetable in a batch. This dryer is suitable for drying vegetable like green peas, ginger turmeric, garlic etc. A required size of tray for accommodating 750 kg in the batch has been installed in it. Solar Tunnel Dryer for fruit & vegetable 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 5

Drying of Ayurvedic medicines Two Solar Tunnel Dryers of size 5x3.75m, to dry 150 kg materials in each, are commissioned at M/s Sadhana Chemicals, Udaipur for drying of Ayurvedic medicine. Drying hand made papers A solar tunnel dryer for drying paper sheet and Cellulosic material is installed at M/s Cellulosic Waste Recycling Education Project, Vidhya Bhawan Society, Udaipur. This unit is sufficient for drying 1500 sheets in a batch. Solar tunnel dryer for hand Drying of Stevia Leaves made papers Modified tunnel dryer for drying Stevia leaves has been developed and installed at M/S Nagneshia Herbal Farm, Banswara. On an average 250 kg of material is available with firm for drying in single day. Earlier the firm was using diesel based hot air generator for the purpose of drying Stevia leaves, which consumes about 18 litre of diesel for drying 250 kg material in an hour The average air temperature rise inside the solar tunnel dryer over ambient air temperature was 30.5 0 C during full load condition of Stevia leaves drying. Dryness of Stevia and overall appearance of the Stevia leaves at the end of drying process were found good. Inside view of tunnel dryer The total cost of construction of solar tunnel dryer was about Rs. 1, 20,000/-. The estimated payback period of solar tunnel dryer for drying Stevia leaves is about 15months. The net present worth and BC ratio of designed solar tunnel dryer is 1480637/- Rs. 5.38 respectively. 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 6

Solar Refrigerator One unit of SPRERI refrigeration has been installed for evaluating performance at primary health centre Jadole (Rajasthan govt.).. The SPRERI Refrigerator was tested under full load conditions. The readings were taken after each 1 hour from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm for 1 day in mid of the month, for observing the performance of refrigerator. Solar Refrigerator with PV panel The medicines which were kept inside the refrigerator were Diphtheria, Tetanus, Measles polio vaccines etc. The temperature requirement fors afe storage of thesel medicines is about 2-8 o C The inside temperature of chamber where medicines were kept varied between safe limit. It can be concluded that the SPRERI refrigerator is efficient for proper storage of vaccines and medicines. The hospital authorities informed that 50 per cent of the medicines were earlier damaged due to non availability of electricity for 5-6 hours in a day. The cost of damaged medicine as reported was about Rs 15,000/ per month. Community solar cooker Community solar cooker based on flat plate collector for preparing food of 35-40 persons at a time has been designed and commissioned at Ashadham Ashram, Udaipur. The cooker is designed in such a way that width to length ratio for reflector glass window is about three, so that maximum radiation falls on the glass window without making any azimutual tracking. The absorber area of cooker is 1.35m 2. Cooking utensils are especially designed from aluminum sheet having 440 mm x 550 mm x 75 mm dimensions. Ten such utensils can be kept inside the cooker. Two doors in the rear side have been provided for loading and unloading of cooker. The cost of the unit is approximately Rs. 5500. 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 7

Modified Janta biogas Modified Janta Biogas plant of 1.0 cum was constructed and modified as per the requirement of dry fermentation, which gave average gas production and total solid degradation 190 l/kg dm and 45 per cent, respectively. The technology provided reduced digester volume, higher gas production and better-digested slurry management. Ground Water Utilization Twenty three pumping test to determine the aquifer parameters in Ahar River Basin were conducted in a systematic square grid pattern to account for spatial variability. Based on the pumping test data analysis by using Papadopuls-Cooper method, contours of specific yield and transmissivity were prepared and are shown on the basin map (Fig. 1). It is apparent that specific yield is the highest in north part of the Ahar River Basin. Specific yield is also high in southwest portion compared to other parts of the basin. It is seen that specific yield value is less than 0.01 for more than 75% area of the basin. The transmissivity in the Ahar River Basin varies from less than 100 to about 600 m 2 /day. This figure makes it obvious that transmissivity is the highest at two point locations in northeast and southeast portions of the basin. However, transmissivity for the largest portion of the basin is in the range between less than 100 to 250 m 2 /day. Based on the combined results of these two figures, it is inferred that the basin area between north and northeast portions is having moderate specific yield and moderate transmissivity. Therefore, this area looks to be suitable for constructing direct subsurface recharge structures. Also, aquifer beneath this area may yield significant quantities of water for long duration. For remaining portions of the basin, either specific yield or transmisivity or both are low and thus, this portion is not suitable for recharge and pumping for long duration. 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 8

Fig.1. Map showing spatial variation of specific yield and transmissivity. A study was conducted to find out the quality of groundwater of Udaipur district for which total 61 groundwater samples were collected randomly from all the blocks of Udaipur district. The pre and post monsoon water quality maps of Udaipur district were prepared and contours of EC, ph, SO 2-4, Cl -1, CO 2-3 + HCO - 3, Ca 2+, and Mg 2- etc. were plotted and are shown for EC and sulphate in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. After analyzing the water quality parameters of the Udaipur district, it is found that highest EC occurred in Bhinder block followed by Mavli, Salumber and Badgaon during post monsoon year 2006 and the similar trend was observed in the pre monsoon year 2007 for the EC but the values were high during pre-monsoon and exceeded the critical value of 2.25 ds m -1 in Mavli and Bhinder blocks (Fig. 2). There was no defined pattern in ph variations in groundwater during post and pre-monsoon seasons. Very clear spatio-temporal variations observed in case of sulphate concentrations of groundwater during post and pre-monsoon periods and highest concentrations of SO 2-4 recorded in Bhinder block, which exceeded the safe limit of 150 ppm (Fig. 3). 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 9

Fig. 2. Pre and Post Monsoon EC of different blocks Fig. 3. Pre and Post Monsoon Sulphate content in different blocks of Udaipur Ergonomics and Safety in Agriculture A survey of agricultural accidents in Rajasthan for the year 2005-06 has been completed in consultation with IASRI, New Delhi. The agricultural accident survey work was carried out in selected districts of Rajasthan state, which were already stratified, based on different agro-climatic zones. The selection of districts and villages was based on the basis of tractor density in different districts of the state. The average accident incidence rate per 100,000 workers in the state was 373 which varied from a maximum of 1169 in Alwar district to a minimum of 44 in Jhalawar district. Tractor was mainly responsible for the machinery accidents followed by chaff cutters and threshers. More than half of the tractor accidents were reported during 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 10

transportation, therefore the on-road accidents of tractor are of major concern. The percentage of fatal accidents was 11.48 out of total agricultural accidents during the survey period. The major reason for fatal accidents was snake bite followed by electric shock and tractor. The snake bite accidents occurred in the summer and rainy season because of higher snake population in the region and non use of protective shoes in the field. Study for optimum speed of rotation of chaff cutter was made and it was found that a speed of 35 rpm is optimum and ergonomically falls under light category of operation while the HR value varied from 25.95 to 47.7 bpm. The speed below 35 rpm results in reduction in output while increase in operating speed resulted in increase in HR and fatigue. 7 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY.doc 11