Indian Journal of Design Engineering (IJDE)

ISSN: 2582-8584 (Online), Volume-1 Issue-2, August 2021

Field Capacity and Efficiency of a Turmeric

Rhizome Planter in Response to Machine Speeds
and Some Selected Crop Parameters
Agidi Gbabo, Chukwudi Muogbo, Gana Ibrahim Mohammed

 harvesting in Nigeria. Turmeric, if fully mechanized, will

Abstract: This study present variation in field capacity and ensure timeliness of operation in the farm and reduce cost and
efficiency of a turmeric rhizome planter in response to the drudgery associated with planting, mulching and harvesting.
machine speed and some selected turmeric parameters In an attempt to address this turmeric planter was developed at
(dimension); turmeric rhizome length and diameter. This was Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State,
done with a view to ascertaining the best condition under which
Nigeria. The field capacity of the machine is expressed as the
the planter could perform optimally. The land area covered in a
specific duration by the planter depends largely on the field area of field covered in given time. The differences between
capacity. The turmeric rhizome planter consists of trapezoidal field capacity in relation to the planting speed may be related
hopper, grooved cylindrical metering devise, ground wheels made to the other variables that are occurring and not being
of mild steel, chain/sprocket drive system, three linkage point and considered such as turmeric rhizome length and diameter for
frame. The experiment was randomized in a factorial design of the optimal performance of the mechanism.
three levels of rhizome lengths of 30, 45 and 60 mm, diameter of The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of
25, 30 and 35 mm and operational speeds of 8, 10, and 12 kmh-1. machine speed, as well as turmeric rhizome length and
The result of the study shows that increase in planter operational
diameter on field capacity of a tractor-drawn turmeric
speed resulted in an increase in field capacity and efficiency of the
planter, and had a significant effect on them. The turmeric rhizome planter.
rhizome lengths and diameter were found to have insignificant
effects on the field capacity and efficiency of the planter. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Keywords: Dimension, Planter, Speed, Turmeric.
A. Materials
I. INTRODUCTION
Turmeric Rhizome Sample

Turmeric (Curcuma longa linn) belongs to the same A turmeric rhizome sample and a demonstration plot at the
Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering,
family as ginger (Zingiberaceae). It grows in the same hot and Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria were used
humid tropical climate. The rhizome is deep bright yellow in for the study.
colour. Turmeric was derived from Latin word terra merita
(merited earth) [1]. India is the largest producer, consumer Equipment
and exporter of turmeric. Indian turmeric has been known to A turmeric rhizome planter (Figure 1) developed at the
the world since ancient times. It has been used as a dye, Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering,
medicine and flavouring since 600 BC [2]. In spite of Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria, was used
increasing demand for derived products of turmeric in Nigeria in the study. The planter consists of the ground drive wheel,
which makes its large-scale production attractive, it is still hopper, metering system furrow opener, residue cutting edge,
cultivated mainly in small plots around homes. In Nigeria, furrow closing device press wheel and power transmission
turmeric has not gained the desired attention that will boost its mechanism. A 75mm x 75mm x 6mm angle iron was used for
large-scale production. According to [2], turmeric has little or the construction of the frame and also the 3-point hitching
no mechanization in its production processes from planting to linkages system. The hopper was made from 1.5 mm thick
mild steel sheet. It has a trapezoidal shape (340 mm x 340
mm) top and (70 mm x 40 mm) lower end. A rubber seal was
Manuscript received on 11 June 2021 | Revised Manuscript fixed round the lower end to avoid bruising of the rhizomes.
received on 29 July 2021 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 August The metering device was constructed in a circular disc. The
2021 | Manuscript published on 30 August 2021. circular disc has six grooves of 70 mm x 60 mm x 50 mm. The
* Correspondence Author disc is slightly touching the hopper which is standing
Gbabo Agidi*, Department of Agricultural and Bioresources vertically above the metering device. This is to ensure that the
Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria. Email:
agidides@yahoo.com
rhizomes fall into the grooves of the metering system. The
Chukwudi Muogbo, Engineering Section, N National Root Crops power generated by the ground wheel rotates the metering
Research Institute, Umudike, Nigeria system through a chain transmission system.
Gana Ibrahim Mohammed*, Department of Agricultural and
Bioenviromental Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Nigeria. Email:
ganaibro74@yahoo.com

© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is

an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Retrieval Number:100.1/ijde.B8002081221 Published By:

DOI: 10.54105/ijde.B8002.081221 Lattice Science Publication (LSP)
Journal Website: www.ijde.latticescipub.com 1 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
Field Capacity and Efficiency of a Turmeric Rhizome Planter in Response to Machine Speeds and Some Selected Crop
Parameters

The metering disc on rotation drops the rhizome into the teeth) fitted to the shaft of the drive wheel and a smaller
delivering system. The delivery system is made up of lower sprocket (15 teeth) connected to the shaft that was fastened to
and upper parts. The upper part of the delivery system was the frame of the planter with two pillow bearings. From that
made of flat stainless plate curved in a frustum shape. The point, power was taken to the metering device shaft with the
upper end of the plate was fastened to the frame and passed aid of chain and two sprockets (34 teeth). Chain and sprockets
through to the metering system. The lower end of the flat plate are used to transmit power in the drive so as to prevent power
was fastened into a 3 inches PVC pipe. The 400mm length loss during transmission.
PVC terminated behind the furrow opener and was suspended
B. Design of experiments
by a circular metallic ring formed with 8 mm rod. The design
of the furrow opener of this planter has height adjustable The experimental design was designed as a function of the
length. The adjustment was provided to ensure control of 5 – tractor speed, rhizome length and diameter (independent
10 cm planting depth as recommended in the agronomic variables) using Box-Behnken design. In order to obtain the
practice of turmeric production. It was made from 8mm thick required data, the range of values of each of the three
mild steel flat bar and has horizontal V shape with a sharp variables (k) was determined as reported by [4] and is
edge attached to serve as residue cutting device. The V shape presented in Table 1.
of the furrow opener prevents soil from falling back into C. Statistical analysis
created furrow. It is fastened to the machine frame using
A Minitap software package was used for the regression and
17mm size standard bolts and nuts. The furrow closing device
graphical analysis as reported by [5]. Analysis of variance
was designed from a 6mm thick mild steel flat bar to form an
(ANOVA) was carried out to estimate the effects of main
expanded horizontal U – shape. A 6mm thick mild steel
variables and their potential interaction effects on the field
angular bar with holes at the lower end for height adjustments
capacity and efficiency.
was braced perpendicular to the planter frame downward. A
similar angular bar was braced to the U – shape closing device D. Determination of parameters
and fastened to the perpendicular angular bar with bolts and The performance parameters were determined based on
nuts. The press wheel was constructed in the shape of a car field capacity and efficiency
tyre rim. It has a diameter of 200mm with the two edges
rolling on the ground. The centre of the rim was designed to Effective Field Capacity
curve inward. The inward curved allow some quantity of soil The effective field capacity was the actual average time
to be packed and pressed on top of the turmeric rhizome for consumed during planting operation (lost time + effective
good sprouting. It also ensures that the air spaces around the time). It was determined as reported by [6] and is given in
seed inside the soil are covered. The ground drive wheels are equation 1.
made up of larger diameters in order to reduce rolling
(1)
resistance especially in the case of traction wheels [3]. The
circumference of the drive wheel was formed with 12mm mild where, is the effective field capacity (ha/hr), is the
steel rod. An angular mild steel of 4mm was used to brace the actual area covered (m2), is the total time (hr)
two circular flat bar at an interval of 50mm round the drive
wheel. A 12mm rod was used to design the spokes. These Field Efficiency
spokes are used to support the center bushing or hub. The This was calculated by using the values of the theoretical
spokes are arranged in such a way that they braced the field capacity and effective field capacity rates as reported by
circumference and also give it necessary radial support. [6].
(2)
(3)

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results
The results of the influence of machine speed, turmeric
length and diameter on the field capacity and efficiency of the
tractor-drawn turmeric rhizome planter is presented in Table
1. The field capacity ranges from 1.08 ha/hr to 0.63 ha/hr.
The highest value of 1.08 ha/hr was obtained from
combination of tractor speed of 12 km/hr, turmeric rhizome
length and diameter of 60 mm and 30 mm respectively while
Fig. 1. The Developed Planter. the low value of 0.63 ha/hr was obtained from combination of
The two wheels are connected to the two shafts which are tractor speed of 8 km/hr,
suspended in two sets of bearing. The wheels transmit power
obtained from the pull of the tractor. The power transmission
system reduces the ground speed of the tractor to a
permissible level that is suitable for the operation of the
turmeric rhizome metering system. It is comprised of chain
and two sprockets of predetermined sizes. A big sprocket (42

Retrieval Number:100.1/ijde.B8002081221 Published By:

DOI: 10.54105/ijde.B8002.081221
Lattice Science Publication (LSP)
Journal Website: www.ijde.latticescipub.com
2 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
 Indian Journal of Design Engineering (IJDE)
ISSN: 2582-8584 (Online), Volume-1 Issue-2, August 2021

Table- I: Matrix transformation of three levels- three factors factorial design of the experiment
Std Run Coded Value Tractor Length Diameter Field Efficiency
Order Order Speed (mm) (mm) Capacity (%)
(km/hr) (ha/hr)
X1 X2 X3
9 1 0 - - 10 30 25 1 90.83
2 2 + - 0 12 30 30 1.06 96.29
14 3 0 0 0 10 45 30 0.95 86.3
12 4 0 + + 10 60 35 1.05 95.38
15 5 0 0 0 10 45 30 0.98 89.02
5 6 - 0 - 8 45 25 0.63 57.23
7 7 - 0 + 8 45 35 0.63 57.23
11 8 0 - + 10 30 35 1.00 90.84
10 9 0 + - 10 60 25 1.05 95.38
6 10 + 0 - 12 45 25 0.96 87.2
1 11 - - 0 8 30 30 0.75 68.13
4 12 + + 0 12 60 30 1.08 98.12
3 13 - + 0 8 60 30 0.74 67.22
13 14 0 0 0 10 45 30 0.95 86,23
8 15 + 0 + 12 45 35 0.96 87,20

Turmeric rhizome length and diameter of 45 mm and 25 the experimental was presented in Table 2.
mm respectively. The efficiency ranges from 57.23% to The value of Probability > F less than 0.0500 indicated that
98.12%. The highest efficiency of 98.11% was obtained from model terms were significant. In this case A, A2, and B2 were
combination of tractor speed of 12 km/hr, turmeric rhizome significant model terms with P-values of < 0.0001 each. It can
length and diameter of 60 mm and 30 mm respectively while be clearly observed that only A (speed of the tractor) had
the low value of 57.23% was obtained from combination of significant effect on field capacity. The regressed model
tractor speed of 8 km/hr, turmeric rhizome length and equation to predict the field capacity was presentenced in
diameter of 45 mm and 25 mm respectively. equation 4, the insignificant terms were removed and the
regressed model was reduced to equation 5 [7]. The
Discussion
coefficient of determination R value of 0.9975 indicated that
Effects of the tractor speed and rhizome length on field the model was able to predict 99.75 % of the variance and
capacity only 0.25 % of the total variance was not explained by the
The result of statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) of model [8].

Table- II: Name of the Table that justify the values

Source Coefficient of Standard error F – value P- value Prob R- Squared
estimate >F
-3.375 0.9951
Model 0.556 420.53 < 0.0001 Significant
A-Speed (rpm) 0.777
0.056 193.15 < 0.0001
B-Length (cm) -0.037
0.006 37.89 0.002
C-Diameter 0.570
(cm) 0.249 5.25 0.071
AB 0.0003 0.0002 0.69 0.443
-0.0000001 0.00000001 0.00 1.000
AC
0.0000001 0.00000001 0.00 1.000
BC
-0.0353 0.00235 226.67 < 0.0001
A^2
0.0004 0.000042 89.49 < 0.0001
B^2
-0.0950 0.0375 6.41 0.052
C^2
Lack of Fit 1.14 0.499
The regressed field capacity model equation is given as
= = -3.375 0.7769 0.03531 0.000394 (5)
-3.375 0.7769 0.03708 0.570 0.000250 0.000
00 0.00000 0.03531 0.000394 0.0950 It is important to add that the variable A in the model had
positive co-efficient implying a direct proportionality. That is
(4) independent increase in A increased the field capacity.
Where, is the field capacity, A is the speed, B is the length,
C is the diameter.
The model equation was improved by removing insignificant
model terms. The values that are greater than 0.1000 implies
that they are not significant, since these terms are insignificant
the model was reduced to equation 5, in order to improve it
[5]. The fitted field capacity model equation is given as

Retrieval Number:100.1/ijde.B8002081221 Published By:

DOI: 10.54105/ijde.B8002.081221 Lattice Science Publication (LSP)
Journal Website: www.ijde.latticescipub.com 3 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
Field Capacity and Efficiency of a Turmeric Rhizome Planter in Response to Machine Speeds and Some Selected Crop
Parameters

The effects of the tractor speed on field capacity indicated that hand the field capacity remains constant with variation
the capacity increased significantly from 0.75 ha/hr to 1.05 turmeric length, this indicated the length have no any
ha/hr as the speed increases from 8 km/hr to 10 km/hr and significant effects on the field capacity
then remain constant with further increased in speed to 12
km/hr (Figure 2).

Fig.4. Response Surface for Field Capacity with respect to

Tractor Speed and Diameter

Fig.1. Response Surface for Field Capacity with respect to

Tractor Speed and Length

Fig.5. Contour Plot for Field Capacity with respect to

Tractor Speed and Diameter

Effects of the tractor speed and rhizome length on field

efficiency
Fig.3. Contour Plot for Field Capacity with respect to
Tractor Speed and Length From Figures 6 and 7, the effects of the tractor speed on
field efficiency indicated that the efficiency increased from
67% to 95% as the speed increased from 8 km/hr to 10 km/hr
Effects of the tractor speed and rhizome diameter on
and then remain constant with further increased in speed to 12
field capacity
km/hr.
The effects of the tractor speed on field capacity indicated
This is in agreement with results of similar studies
that the capacity increased significantly from 0.5 ha/hr to 1
conducted by [9] which indicated that increasing the forward
ha/hr as the speed increases from 8 km/hr to 10 km/hr and
speed increased the field efficiency. But the length of the
then remain constant with further increased in speed to 12
km/hr (Figure 2). This could be due to increase in area turmeric rhizome has no any significant effects on the field
covered with increased in tractor speed. This is in agreement efficiency.
with results of similar studies conducted by [9] which
indicated that increasing the forward speed resulted to
increase in field capacity. On the other hand the field capacity
remains constant with variation turmeric diameter, this
indicated the diameter have no any significant effects on the
field capacity.
This could be due to increase in area covered with
increased in tractor speed. This is in agreement with results of
similar studies conducted by [9] which indicated that
increasing the forward speed from 1.0 to 4.0 km/h at a
constant moisture content of 22 %, increased field capacity
from 0.31 to 1.14 fed/h using Yanmar combine. On the other

Published By:
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Lattice Science Publication (LSP)
DOI: 10.54105/ijde.B8002.081221
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Journal Website: www.ijde.latticescipub.com
 Indian Journal of Design Engineering (IJDE)
ISSN: 2582-8584 (Online), Volume-1 Issue-2, August 2021

help in creating employment and ensure proper planting

operation.

REFERENCES
1. E. N. Nwakor, G. N., Asumugha, C. C., Nwokocha, T. O., Ekedo,
“Guide to Turmeric Production, Processing and Marketing in Nigeria”.
Extension Service Programme, National Root Crops Research Institute
Umudike, Nigeria, Extension Guide No. 28, 2014,
2. M. Chukwudi, A. Gbabo, N. Nnaemeka. (2019). Field Performance
Analysis of a Tractor-Drawn Turmeric Rhizome Planter. Journal of
Agricultural Engineering, University of Belgrade, No. 2, pp. 33-46.
[CrossRef]
3. M. R. Bharat, D. Sidharth, “Tire modelling for rolling resistance”
Master’s Thesis in Automotive Engineering, Vehicle Dynamics Group,
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, 2014, p. 24
4. I. M. Gana, G. Agidi, P. A. Idah, J. C. Anuonye. (2017). Development
Fig.6. Response Surface for Field Efficiency for Tractor and testing of An Automated Grains Drinks Processing Machine. Food
Speed and Tumeric Length and Bioproducts Processing 104, pp. 19 – 31. Elsivier Journal.
[CrossRef]
5. W. T. Chih, I. T. Lee, H. W. Chung (2012). Optimization of multiple
responses using data envelopment analysis and response surface
methodology. Tamkang J. Sci. Eng. Vol. 13 (2), pp. 197–203
6. M. A. E. Moheb (2011). Manually Operated Planter for Planting
Different Seeds in Small Areas. Misr J. Ag. Eng., Vol. 28(4), pp.
865-882 [CrossRef]
7. O. A. Aworanti, A. O. Agarry, A. O. Ajani (2013). Statistical
optimization of process variables for biodiesel production from waste
cooking oil using heterogeneous base catalyst. Br. Biotechnol. J. Vol. 3
(2), pp. 116–132. [CrossRef]
8. Z. Xue, J. Zhang, Y. L. Zhang, C. B. Li, S. Chen (2015). Test and
Analysis on the Mechanical Properties of Cassava Stalks. Journal of
Animal and Plant Sciences. Vol. 25(3), pp. 59 – 67.
9. M. M. Badr, “Comparative study between some different combine sizes
in respect to unit plot area”. M.Sc. Thesis. Agric. Eng. Dept., Faculty of
Agric., Zagazig Univ. Egypt, 2015.

AUTHORS PROFILE

Fig.7. Contour Plot for Field Efficiency for Tractor Speed Dr. Gbabo Agidi, B.E., M.E., MNIAE, MNSE,
and Tumeric Length R-COREN, Ph.D, an Associate Professor, Department of
Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, Federal
University of Technology Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
The regressed field efficiency model equation is given
equations 6 and 7
The regressed field efficiency model equation is given as Chukwudi Muogbo, B.ENG., M.ENG., a Principal
Research Officer, National Root Crops Research
Institute, Umudike, Nigeria.
= 0.
00000 0.000001
Dr. Gana, Ibrahim Mohammed, B.ENG., M.ENG.,
MNIAE, MNSE, R-COREN, Ph.D, a Senior Lecturer,
(6) Department of Agricultural and Bio-environmental
Engineering, Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State,
Where, is the field efficiency (%), A is the speed (rpm), B Nigeria.
is the length (mm), C is the diameter (cm)

The model equation was improved by removing

insignificant model terms. The values that are greater than
0.1000 implies that they are not significant, since these terms
are insignificant the model was reduced to equation 7 from
equation 6, in order to improve it [5].

The fitted field efficiency model equation is given as

= (7)

IV. CONCLUSION
The result of this study provides the best condition under
which the tumeric planter could perform optimally. This
would increase production, save planting time, utilization,

Retrieval Number:100.1/ijde.B8002081221 Published By:

DOI: 10.54105/ijde.B8002.081221 Lattice Science Publication (LSP)
Journal Website: www.ijde.latticescipub.com 5 © Copyright: All rights reserved.