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Title: Evaluation of a Variable Rate Irrigating Hill-Seeder

Author
item YANG, QING - NW AGR & FOR UNIV,CHINA
item YANG, SHUMING - NW AGR & FOR UNIV,CHINA
item Yang, Chenghai

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/30/2009
Publication Date: 7/1/2009
Citation: Yang, Q., Yang, S., Yang, C. 2009. Evaluation of a Variable Rate Irrigating Hill-Seeder. ASABE Annual International Meeting. ASABE Paper No. 08-3583.

Interpretive Summary: Sowing failure and poor emergence due to limited rainfall are a serious problem for crop production in arid and semiarid regions in north China. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a variable rate irrigating hill-seeder that can adjust water application automatically according to the soil moisture content and realize the synchronization between water and seeds when planting maize. Laboratory and field experiments showed that the machine had very good performance and worked reliably during field operations. These results indicate that the variable rate irrigating hill-seeder can be used for simultaneous seeding and watering under drought conditions to alleviate drought and save water.

Technical Abstract: A variable rate irrigating hill-seeder is a drought-alleviating and water-saving agricultural machine that can adjust water application automatically according to the soil moisture content and realize the synchronization between water and seeds through photoelectric-detecting technology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of such a machine when it was used for planting maize. Experiment results showed that the machine had very good linearity and stability. The r-squared values for linear regression lines between measured and supplied water amounts were 0.989,0.988 and 0.985, respectively, when the tank was 100% full, 1/2 full and 1/8 full. Stability experiments showed that the coefficient of variation of the measured water amounts, when 200 ml of water was applied 30 times, was 2.42%,2.38% and 4.85%, respectively, for the three tank water levels. Field experiments indicated that the total synchronization rate between seeds and water reached 95% and that the mean distance between the seed and the center of water area was only 2.5 cm. The detection rate of the photoelectric sensor for maize seeds was 99.5% and 96%, respectively, for casting seeds manually and automatically. These results indicate that the variable rate irrigating hill-seeder works reliably and can be used for simultaneous seeding and watering under drought conditions.