Design of High-Efficiency Soil-Returning Liquid Fertilizer Deep-Application Furrow Openers for Improving Furrowing Performance in Cold Regions of Northeast China

Abstract

Liquid-fertilizer deep-application techniques are techniques for applying fertilizers to the root system of crops, which can effectively improve the utilization rate of fertilizers and reduce application amounts. Due to the soil viscosity of soils in the cold region of Northeast China, the soil return rate of furrow openers for liquid-fertilizer deep applications is low, which can easily cause excessive volatilizations of liquid fertilizers. Therefore, aiming at the operational requirements of low soil disturbance for liquid-fertilizer furrowing and deep applications, an efficient soil-returning liquid-fertilizer deep-application furrow opener was innovatively designed based on soil characteristics during the inter-cultivation period in the cold region of Northeast China. The discrete element method (DEM) was used to analyze the operating performance of the high-efficiency soil-returning liquid-fertilizer deep-application furrow openers, which is determined by key operating parameters including width and slip cutting angle. The DEM Virtual Simulation Experiment results show that the optimal combination is the width of 37.52 mm and a slip cutting angle of 43.27°, and the test results show that the optimal performance of the high-efficiency soil-returning liquid-fertilizer deep-application furrow opener is that the soil disturbance rate is 51.81%, and the soil-returning depth is 52.1 mm. This paper clarifies the relationship between the width and the slip cutting angle in furrowing resistance and soil disturbance and the mechanism by which the width and slip cutting angle affect soil disturbance. Above all, this study provides a theoretical and practical reference for the design of liquid-fertilizer deep-application furrow openers.

Design and Experiment of a Targeted Variable Fertilization Control System for Deep Application of Liquid Fertilizer

“…The targeted fertilizer spraying system adopts photoelectric sensors to detect plants as the trigger signal for fertilizer spraying, and the speed measurement module is equipped with a single-chip microcomputer to collect speed information in real time. Combined with the pre-stored and set crop spraying range, the opening and closing timing of the solenoid valve group is calculated to realize the targeted spraying of liquid fertilizer [16,33].…”

“…The disc opener creates a fertilizer ditch near the root of the crop plant, the user can adjust the amount of fertilizer applied at any time in the intelligent fertilization system, and the fertilizer injection needle injects the liquid fertilizer regulated by the intelligent fertilization system into the ditch, so as to achieve the precise and deep application of liquid fertilizer. Wang et al designed a deepfertilization machine using photoelectric sensors, solenoid valves, hydraulic pumps, and other devices, equipped with a fertilization control system based on target recognition [16]. The electromagnetic valve is controlled to open when the photoelectric sensor recognizes the crop, realizing the precise targeted deep application of liquid fertilizer.…”

Optimization of liquid fertilizer management improves grain yield, biomass accumulation, and nutrient uptake of late‐season indica fragrant rice

“…24 Liquid fertilizer has the advantages of convenient production, balanced nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium ratios, low environmental pollution, and high crop absorption rate, which can effectively curb the excessive application of chemical fertilizers. 25 Liquid fertilizers are used as foliar sprays; thus they have the advantages of saving labor, time, and fertilizer, and thus improving the N utilization rate. 26,27 So, liquid fertilizers are now widely used in agricultural production to achieve higher yields with higher NUE.…”

Optimized Design and Experiment of a Self-Covering Furrow Opener for an Automatic Sweet Potato Seedling Transplanting Machine

“…Compared with the traditional test and trial and error method, the simulation method can design the required products more efficiently and improves the reliability and adaptability of the products [29][30][31][32]. Zhou et al [33] established the corresponding EDEM soil particle model based on the soil characteristics of the black soil in the northeast cold region. Based on the soil model, the mechanism of the deep ditcher is designed by using the discrete element method.…”