<div>Background: Soil compaction can occur due to the intensity of tractor traffic in the tillage process. The objective of this study was to determine the changes in physical, mechanical properties of the soil and plant growth that occurred due to tractor traffic and how it would affect if the addition of organic matter (compost) was added to the soil. 
 
Methods: The experimental work was conducted at the Sugarcane Plantation of PTPN II Klumpang at an initial soil moisture content of 24.69% and a bulk density of 1.08 gr/cm3 with compost and no compost then the land is traversed by the tractor with 2,4 and 6 passes. 
 
Result: The results of&nbsp; indicate that the tractor trajectory and the addition of compost have a significant effect on soil compaction. The highest values for water content, bulk density, particle density and penetration resistance were obtained at 6 times tractor traffic with soil without compost sowing respectively 35.36%, 1.31 gr/cm3, 1.87 gr/cm3, 9.61 kgf/cm2, while in soil with compost, the values obtained were 33.62%, 1.23 gr/cm3, 1.82 gr/cm3, 9.04 kgf/cm2, respectively. These findings indicated that the application of compost can reduce the level of soil density so that plant growth becomes better and more even rate of plant growth is obtained than without compost.</div>

Effect of Soil Compaction due to Organic Matter and 4-Wheel Tractor Traffic on Sugarcane Growth

<div style="text-align: justify;">Because of long product development cycles, effective production planning of automobiles requires accurate demand forecasting in order to effectively managing resources and maximizing revenue. Errors in demand forecasts have often led to enormous costs and loss of revenue due to suboptimal utilization of resources. Since early 2000 India has been the largest manufacturer and consumer of farm tractors in the world. This paper develops multiplicative seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (MSARIMA) and autoregressive moving average model with exogenous variable (ARMAX) to forecast monthly demand for farm tractor. The result indicates that ARMAX with real agriculture credit has found to be outperformed MSARIMA model in forecasting demand of farm tractors in the horizon of six months. The accurate monthly forecasting of farm tractor would help the manufacturers for better raw material, inventory and supply chain management.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Forecasting monthly farm tractor demand for India using MSARIMA and ARMAX models</div>

Background: Fuel consumption is a critical factor in the performance of an agricultural tractor. And it can be affected by numerous parameters. Farming practices is an essential aspect that affects the cost of operation and the overall efficiency of the tractor. Predictions of fuel consumption rates in tractors and the energy consumption parameters of primary tillage equipment under local conditions are therefore essential selection criteria in purchasing decisions. 
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Methods: A prediction model for fuel usage during tillage operations was created using dimensional analysis. The model was established by incorporating experimental findings into an equation. The experiment was conducted in the El Ouracia region of Setif, Algeria in 2022/2023 crop season, with fuel usage per time unit determined through topping-up the tank method. The fuel experiment parameters were measured according to their respective standard procedures. 
 
Result: By simulating fuel usage with tillage depth, tillage width, travel speed, soil bulk density and cone index. The constant in the prediction model was obtained. This developed model has the potential to forecast the tractor fuel consumption during tillage operation.

Dimensional Analysis based Prediction Model for Fuel Consumption in the Deutz Agrotrac Tractor

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: A well-managed manure is a valuable resource in providing nutrients for crop production. Farmers usually follow manual manure application practices which involves lot of drudgery and physical stress to pulverize as well as to apply in field. Also traditional practices results in a reduced field capacity along with higher cost of application. So there is a need to create a medium between the farmers and manure application practices by introducing manure pulverizers and applicators. Hence a study was undertaken to analyze the economic impact of a tractor powered manure pulverizer cum applicator over traditional practices. 
 
Methods: A manure pulverizer cum applicator helps in managing the manure by simultaneous pulverization and application in the field as basal application. On the other hand traditional practices involve manual dumping, clearing of lumps and spreading them in the field which require more than 3 labours to cover an acre in a day. Cost incurred with both manual and mechanical practices were calculated in terms of rupees per hour and rupees per hectare of operation. 
 
Result: The actual field capacity and efficiency of manure pulverizer cum applicator was observed to be 0.311 ha h-1 and 86.5% at a forward speed of 2.0 km/h-1. The cost of manure pulverizer cum applicator alone was Rs. 64,000. Cost of operation of manure pulverizer cum applicator as an attachment to tractor was found to be 1943.5 Rs ha-1. Cost of manual manure application followed by manure pulverization was noted as 4662.2 Rs ha-1. Saving in cost of operation was more than Rs. 2700 with tractor operated manure pulverizer cum applicator over manual application practices. The benefit-cost ratio of the developed machine was 1.4:1.</div>

Economic Analysis of Tractor Powered Manure Pulverizer cum Applicator over Traditional Manure Application Practices

<div style="text-align:justify">Auger drilling, which is a digging method that a large helical drilling part gets out the soil from the earth. Different types of auger&nbsp;drillers are available today, and they are widely used in agricultural works. In this study, an 300 mm diameter auger drill was modeled, for agricultural works, and it was analyzed efficiently in Autodesk Inventor software with the help of Nastran in computer-aided design (CAD) module. According to the analysis, Von Misses stress analysis result was found as maximum 2266 MPa and minimum 0 MPa. Also,&nbsp;Safety Factor analysis result was found as maximum 15 uL and minimum 0.11 uL.</div>

Computer-aided Stress Analysis of a Model of Tractor&nbsp;Mounted Auger Drill

<div style="text-align: justify;">The present study was undertaken to investigate design values of pressurized pumping system. To begin with the estimated range of moisture requirement required to attain sowing moisture for different soil type was determined. For loamy sand soil an application range of aqueous fertilizer was 0.15-092 liter per meter for raising moisture from 3 to 7% to germination moisture of 14 per cent. Whereas, for sandy loam soil the same was 0.17-1.34 liter per meter for raising moisture from 4 to 12 % to germination moisture of 20 per cent and for loam soil it was 0.23-1.59 liter per meter for raising moisture from 8 to 16 % to germination moisture of 27 per cent. Based on estimation, an aqueous fertilizer requirement of 5500 to 8000 l/ha was required in experimental field with clay loam soil. To optimize different pump variables for required discharge rate five levels of pump rotational speeds i.e. 1998, 1665, 1332, 999 and 666 rpm, four levels of line pressure staring from fully opened valve i.e. gauge pressure of 0 kg/cm2, by reducing valve opening area up to 2, 4 and 6 kg/cm2 and three levels of nozzle sizes i.e. 8, 10 and 12 mm were taken. Pump rotational speed influenced discharge directly in a linear manner at fully opened valve for all pump speeds for each nozzle. As line pressure increased the discharge rate decreased. A reduction to the flow of 2 to 6 times was obtained by creating the line pressure through control valve at rotational speed of 1998 to 666 rpm. The selected design values for pressurized pumping system were pump rotational speed from 666, 999, 1332 and 1665 rpm, line pressure of 0, 2 or 4 kg/cm2 and nozzle size of 10 mm.</div>

Design and development of tractor drawn seed cum pressurized aqueous fertilizer drill

Background: Clusterbean is one of the most important crop of arid and semi-arid region of India. It is mainly grown for vegetable, manure, fodder and seed purpose. Seeds of clusterbean contain galactomann (stored in endosperm) which has industrial uses, thus making it the major cash earner crop. Various biotic and abiotic stresses affects the crop during its growth stages. Among biotic stresses, weeds are the major one affecting the crop growth and yield. Due to initial slow growth of the clusterbean intense crop-weed competition takes place upto 20-30 DAS and if weeds are not managed properly there will be a severe yield reduction. Under Haryana conditions only manual weeding is recommended which is time consuming and expensive hence there is need to exploit other methods of weed control. Therefore, present study was conducted to study the effect of mechanical methods of weed management on growth, yield and economics of clusterbean. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2018 to study the effect of mechanized weed management practices on growth, yield and economics of clusterbean at Regional Research Station, Bawal (Rewari), CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Experiment was performed in randomized block design with ten treatments and three replication. 
 
Result: It was found that among various weed management practices, two mechanized weeding with power weeder at 20 DAS and 35 DAS under 60 cm row spacing resulted in significantly higher plant height, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation, seed yield and its attributes in comparison to other treatments and it was statistically at par with mechanized weeding at 20 DAS and 35 DAS with tractor drawn cultivator. The weeding with tractor drawn cultivator was found to be most economical with maximum net returns (Rs. 36076 ha-1) and B:C (2.37) in comparison to other treatments followed by weeding with power weeder that fetched net return of Rs. 35868 ha-1 with B:C of 2.25. Therefore, two times interculture with power weeder or tractor drawn cultivator found beneficial and economical for farmers.

Growth, Yield and Economics of Rainfed Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) as Influenced by Various Mechanized Weed Management Practices

<div>Background: Manures (FYM, vermicompost, edible oil cakes etc.) are important resources which provide nutrients that could reduce bagged fertilizer costs and improves the crop growth and performance. A well-managed manure is a valuable resource in providing nutrients for crop production. As manure dries, nutrients not only get concentrated on a weight basis, but also on a volume basis due to structural changes. Compared to fresh manure, it is easier to handle and transport because of decreased volume and weight. Hence, it is necessary to pulverize the manure when it is applied to the land. 
 
Methods: Various research works previously carried out on manure pulverizers and applicators have been considered in the study to come up with an idea of developing a tractor powered manure pulverizer cum applicator. Studies concluded the importance of manure pulverization, effect of wind, angle of repose and coefficient of friction in the designing and development of manure dispensing equipment. 
 
Result: Manure pulverizer integrated with tractor PTO along with an applicator was designed and developed. The machine consists of KAU manure pulverizer, feed chute, blower, frame and hitch, gearbox and extension shaft. Power to the gearbox was drawn from the tractor PTO. Dried manure was continuously fed through the feeding chute and rotating blade helps in pulverizing the manure until it achieves a size smaller than the sieve. The pulverized manure reaches the blower unit by means of a chute and gets discharged through the flexible pipes. Maximum field capacity was noted at a traveling speed of 3.0 km h-1. A larger application rate of 1387.1 kg ha-1 for cow dung, 1624.4 kg ha-1 for goat faecal pellets and 1618.6 kg ha-1 for neem cake was noted at an engine rpm of 2500, forward speed of 2 km h-1 with a field capacity of 0.31 ha h-1.</div>

Manure Pulverizers and Applicators: A Review

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in the world. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar are Indian states have maximum production of sugarcane. During 2019, approximately 307 lakh tonnes of sugarcane was produced in India, which is nearly 11.8 per cent of the global sugarcane production. Sugarcane crop has very long leaves. Stripping of sugarcane leaves is a major problem, which requires labor-intensive effort. Therefore, to resolve this problem, a tractor operated sugarcane stripper machine was designed using the computer aided design (CAD) software.&nbsp; 
Methods: In main frame of CAD design, a power transmission system, transportation system, feed hopper conveyer, sugarcane de-topper and a stripper system were designed. This machine will reduce human drudgery. Currently, this sugarcane stripper machine is getting very good acceptance nationwide. Further research has been undertaken at Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. This machine was designed. 
Result: Use of this machine will also help in reducing the cost and time of operation. In future, this machine will help in improving quality of stripping as well as ensuring effective utilization of the resources. The Design and development of sugarcane leaf stripper machine will play a significant role.</div>

Design and Development of Sugarcane Leaf Stripper

<div>Background: The present investigation is an attempt to study the effect of different harvesting and threshing methods on germination and seedling vigour of dhaincha. The use of a combine harvester to harvest dhaincha will be an effective alternative method that has not been widely tried. However, work on different methods of harvesting and threshing of dhaincha is limited. Hence, a study was conducted to evaluate the impact of various harvesting and threshing methods on germination and seedling vigour of dhaincha. 
 
Methods: This study was conducted at Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. The dhaincha crop was harvested and threshed using four different methods viz., manual harvesting and manual threshing, manual harvesting and threshing by tractor treading, manual harvesting and mechanical threshing&nbsp;and harvesting and threshing by combine harvester. The resultant seeds were tested for mechanical damage and germination potential. The experiment was laid in completely randomized block design. Germination was tested by roll towel method using 100 seeds in four replications. Germination percentage, root and shoot length were measured in seven days after sowing from ten randomly selected seedlings in each replication. For the estimation of dry matter production, ten seedlings were selected at random and kept in a hot air oven maintained at 85oC for 24 hours after measuring their root and shoot length and vigour index was calculated. Mechanical damage to seeds was observed by ferric chloride test. Seed recovery per cent was calculated based on the 100 kgs of dhaincha seeds were cleaned and graded treatment wise using cleaner cum grader and the seeds retained on the bottom sieve were weighed and expressed as per cent of total quantity of seed. 
 
Result: The results revealed that the significant difference was found among the different harvesting and threshing methods. The seeds harvested and threshed by manual method recorded 85 per cent germination followed by seeds harvested manually and threshed by mechanical threshing (84 per cent) and seeds harvested manually and threshed by tractor treading (80.5 per cent). The lowest germination of 80.0 per cent was recorded by combine harvesting. From this study, it could be inferred that combine harvester is a modern method for harvesting of dhaincha that saves time and labour when compared to all other methods.</div>