Energy and Economic Evaluation of Farm Operations in Crop Production

Abstract

The present research work has been carried out at Central Research Station farm of Dr. PDKV, Akola and at Katkheda and Sutala village of the Akola and Bulbhana district respectively. The operations considered were land preparation, sowing, intercultural, harvesting and crop residue management etc. The inputs like human power, bullock power for traditional operation were studied in entire work of the research. Similarly, for the same crops these operations were carried out by the mechanized practice for the exact quantification of the operational energy input. The study reflects the energy use patterns in mechanized and traditional farming and optimized energy efficient cropping system through mechanized farming over traditional farming. The practices evaluated for the crop production which resulted in the high yielding of crop and the crop residues.On the basis of results obtained, it was observed that the traditional operational energy requirement increases from 2680.78 MJ/ha in traditional method to 3130.72 MJ/ha in mechanized method for green gram crop. While, there is decrease in cost of operation from Rs 8407.5/ha in traditional method to Rs 5147.0/ha in mechanized system. Similar trend was observed in cotton, soybean, sorghum and wheat crop. For all the crops seed bed preparation is done by tractors in traditional as well as mechanized method except in mechanized method land smoothening is done by self propelled tiller instead of bullock drawn blade harrow. In most of the crops the farm operations were mechanized with different implements except harvesting operation, due to unavailability of appropriate machine www.ccsenet.org/jas Journal of Agricultural Science Vol. 2, No. 4; December 2010 ISSN 1916-9752 E-ISSN 1916 192 for harvesting of crops except wheat crop. Overall it seen that the application of modern implements and machineries for the crop production over the traditional practices reduces the cost of production which surely impact on the crop production and the net income of the farmers.

Influence of Extra Weight and Tire Pressure on Fuel Consumption at Normal Tractor Slippage

“…Deviations from the operational speed deteriorate the quality of work and increase energy consumption. For example, faster tilling greatly increases the dynamic effects on the soil, the earth is thrown strongly and more energy is consumed (Hashemi, Ahmad, Othman, & Sulaiman, 2012;Khambalkar et al, 2010;Moitzi et al, 2013). For agricultural work to be carried out at the operational speeds, especially on soft soil, the traction power is limited by the grip between driving wheels and the soil.…”

Long Term Evaluation of Reduced Tillage and Low Cost Conjunctive Nutrient Management Practices on Productivity, Sustainability, Profitability and Energy Use Efficiency in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)-Mung Bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) System in Rainfed Semi-Arid Alfisol

“…Application of 4t compost + 20 kg N through urea under conventional tillage recorded significantly highest output energy (131337 MJ/ha) across all the treatment combinations ( Table 3). The reduction in the energy use by 14% in reduced-till green gram and 2% in semi mechanized rice has been reported by Khambalkar et al (2010) and Cherati et al (2011). In the present study, the EUE of the tillage and INM treatments varied from 5.56 to 11.4.…”

Kebutuhan Mesin Pertanian Dan Tenaga Untuk Mekanisasi Usahatani Padi Skala Kecil Di Kabupaten Kampar, Provinsi Riau

“…Selanjutnya, mekanisasi pertanian dapat pemicu perubahan teknologi melalui adopsi sumber tenaga non manusia untuk mengerjakan operasi usahatani (Diao et al, 2016). Selanjutnya, tenaga (power) merupakan salah satu imput yang sangat berharga dalam sistem produksi pertanian (Khambalkar et al, 2010). Perubahan teknologi pertanian dari tenaga manusia atau/dan ternak ke tenaga mesin atau mekanis dalam pertanian akan cenderung meningkatkan permintaan mesin oleh petani.…”