Performance evaluation of yield monitoring system for rice combine harvester in Selangor, Malaysia

Yield monitoring system constructed for combine harvester was able to monitor and store required, measured attributes during field tests. A rugged, wireless crop yield monitoring instrumentation system was employed on a rice combine harvester to measure instantaneous rice yield in this study. A mild steel chute mounted with SWR SolidFlow microwave type flow sensor and SWR M-Sens 2 microwave type moisture sensor were located at the end top of the clean grain auger of the combine harvester to the flow rate of the dropped grain into the grain storage tank and measure the moisture content of the grain transferred by the auger. The objective of conducted performance test was to check both the operational and robustness of the instrumentation system under the actual harvesting operation with the combine in the paddy field. During harvesting, the embedded system, DGPS, router and all sensors within the instrumentation system functioned reliable. Instrumentation system records combined multiple data by following moisture content (%), cutting width (mm), elevator rotation speed (RPM) and combine speed (km/hr). Through yield monitoring and yield mapping, the rice farmers could correct soil nutrient defiencies as indicated by the yield variabilities within the plot for the next cropping seaso

Variability of rice yield with respect to crop health

Chlorophyll content of leaf can be used as an indicator of the crop health. The SPAD chlorophyll meter has been acceptably used for rapid analysis of chlorophyll content and nitrogen status of crops while it has not been established how strongly the SPAD values are correlated with rice yield within a plot. This study was to explore the relationship between rice yields and the leaf SPAD value of the associated rice plots. Twenty sampling points of rice leaves plant were taken at three difference growing stages based on grid point sampling of 30m x 18m for two crop seasons. Two methods, namely instantaneous yield from on-board yield monitoring system mounted on a combine harvester and estimated crop yield from cutting test (CCT) yield were used to measure the variability of harvested rice yield within the rice plot. The SPAD values were found positively correlated with grain yield at different growth stages. The highest significant correlation was at crop age 70 days after planting with Pearson’s correlations (r) ranging 0.7280 to 0.8336 (P<0.001). Consequently, information with regards to SPAD value variability could triggers farmers in taking immediate in situ action for improving the crop yield while information with regards to crop yield variability could assist farmers in planning the proper farming practice for the subsequent cropping seasons. Generally, this available technology would assist farmers in improving their crop yield and their economic status

Modeling of Sapodilla Fruit (Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen) Terminal Velocity in Water

Abstract. Terminal velocity is one of the hydrodynamic fruits properties that significant in the development of sorting equipment. The study aimed to determine terminal velocity of sapodilla which could be used while develop a sorter. The terminal velocity of sapodilla fruit was determined experimentally and empirically by considering the theory of KHAT 2. Experimental measurements were made by dropping the fruit into the water column, while the calculations were empirically considering the parameters of physical properties such as differences in density between fruit and water, volume and shape factor. The results showed that the obtained model was vt = 165.370 (ρf -ρw) 0.026 V 0.813 Sh0+ 0.070. The model has maximized the value of R2, minimizing the RMSE value and reducing the chi-square value which were 0.9046, 0.008 and 7.300E-05, respectively. Volume was the most effective parameter while determining terminal velocity of sapodilla fruit. Pemodelan Kecepatan Terminal Buah Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen) Pada di Air Abstrak. Kecepatan terminal adalah salah satu sifat buah hidrodinamik yang signifikan dalam pengembangan peralatan penyortiran. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan kecepatan terminal sapodilla yang dapat digunakan saat mengembangkan penyortir. Kecepatan terminal buah sawo ditentukan secara eksperimen dan empiris dengan mempertimbangkan teori KHAT 2. Pengukuran eksperimental dilakukan dengan menjatuhkan buah ke kolom air, sedangkan perhitungan secara empiris mempertimbangkan parameter sifat fisik seperti perbedaan kepadatan antara buah dan faktor air, volume dan bentuk. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa model yang diperoleh adalah vt = 165.370 (ρf -ρw) 0,026 V 0,813 Sh0 + 0,070. Model ini telah memaksimalkan nilai R2, meminimalkan nilai RMSE dan mengurangi nilai chi-square yang masing-masing adalah 0,9046, 0,008 dan 7,300E-05. Volume adalah parameter yang paling efektif saat menentukan kecepatan terminal buah sawo