https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1327
Biomimetic tool design improves tillage efficiency, seedbed quality, and straw incorporation during rototilling in conservation farming
Published: 16 March 2023
Abstract Views: 959
PDF: 468
HTML: 68
HTML: 68
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Rotary tillage facilitates conservation agriculture in rice-based crop farming systems through minimal soil disturbance for seedbed preparation and crop residue management. However, efficiency of rotary tiller blades is hampered by degraded paddy soils and excessive crop residue conditions. Biomimetics presents an edge in the optimisation design of cultivation tools and can be employed to improve the efficiency of rotary tiller blades. This study was designed to evaluate the adaptability and performance of biomimetic rotary tiller blades inspired by the geometric structure of a mole rat’s claw. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the blades’ torque and power requirements, soil fragmentation, displacement characteristics, and the rate of straw incorporation at three tillage depths (i.e., 40, 70, and 100 mm). Results revealed that the biomimetic blades minimised torque by up to 21.05%, had lower specific power requirements, and produced finer tilths with granular and more even clod sizes than conventional blades. It also achieved more redistribution of topsoil and improved the straw burial rate. The biomimetic rotary tiller blades are thus energy-efficient and can improve soil structure and the quality of seedbeds, besides managing crop residues through incorporation, and therefore advance conservation tillage in intensive farming systems.
Ahmad F., Ding W., Ding, Q, Rehim A., Khawar J. 2017. Comparative performance of various disc-type furrow openers in no-till paddy field conditions. Sustainability. 9:1-15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071143
Ahmadi I. 2017. A torque calculator for rotary tiller using the laws of classical mechanics. Soil Till. Res. 165:137-143.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.08.009
ASABE. 2006. Soil Cone Penetrometer. In ASAE Standards American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers. ASAE S313.3
ASTM. 2017. Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System). ASTM International. ASTM D2487-17.
Beeny J.M., Khoo D.C.P. 1970. Preliminary investigations into the performance of different shaped blades for the rotary tillage of wet rice soil. J Agr Eng Res. 15(1):27–33.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-8634(70)90107-1
Carter M.R., Gregorich E.G. 2008. Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis (2nd ed.). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420005271
Celik A., Ozturk I., Way T.R. 2008. A theoretical approach for determining irregularities of the bottom of the tillage layer caused by horizontal axis rotary tillers. Agric. Eng. Int.: CIGR J. 9:1–9.
FAO. 2014. Conservation agriculture: The 3 principles. Conservation Agriculture: The 3 Principles. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture/en/. Accessed 17/09/2021.
Fredlund D., Vanapalli S. 2002. Shear Strength of Unsaturated Soils. In J. H. Dane & G. C. Topp (Eds.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 4 Physical Methods. Soil Science Society of America. 5:329–361.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2136/sssabookser5.4.c15
Guo Z., Zhou Z., Zhang Y., Li Z. 2009. Bionic optimization research of soil cultivating component design. Sci. China Ser. E-Technol. Sci. 52:955–965.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-008-0208-4
Ji W.F., Chen D.H., Jia H.L., Tong J. 2010. Experimental investigation into soil-cutting performance of the claws of mole rat (Scaptochirus moschatus). Wear. 7(S):S166–S171.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(09)60231-6
Kemper W.D., Rosenau R.C. 1986. Aggregate stability and size distribution. In A. Klute (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part I. Physical and Mineralogical Methods 2nd ed. Agronomy, pp 425–442.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2136/sssabookser5.1.2ed.c17
Liu M., Han G., Zhang Q. 2019. Effects of Soil Aggregate Stability on Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen under Land Use Change in an Erodible Region in Southwest China. Int. J. Env. Res. Pub. He. 16(3809).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203809
Matin Md. A., Hossain M.I, Gathala M.K., Timsina J., Krupnik T.J. 2021. Optimal design and setting of rotary strip-tiller blades to intensify dry season cropping in Asian wet clay soil conditions. Soil Till. Res. 207(104854).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2020.104854
Mottalib M.A., Hossain M.A., Hossain M.I., Amin M.N., Alam M.M., Saha C.K. 2019. Assessment of cost-benefit parameters of conservation agricultural machinery for custom hires entrepreneurship in the southern region of Bangladesh. Agric. Eng. Int.: CIGR J. 21(3):94–103.
Saimbhi V., Wadhwa D., Grewal P. 2004. Development of rotary tiller blade using three-dimensional computer graphic. Biosyst. Eng. 89:47-58.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2004.05.011
Sirisak C., Niyamapa T. 2010. Variations of torque and specific tilling energy for different rotary blades. Int. Agric. Eng. J. 19(3):1–14.
Srivastava A.K., Goering C.E., Rohrbach R.P., Buckmaster D.R. 2006. Engineering Principles of Agricultural Machines (2nd Ed.). American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Tong J., Moayad B.Z., Ma Y., Sun J., Chen D., Jia H., Ren L. 2009. Effects of biomimetic surface on designs on furrow opener performance. J. Bionic Eng. 6:280–289.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(08)60128-6
Tong J., Ji W., Jia H., Chen D., Yang X. 2015. Design and Tests of Biomimetic Blades for Soil-rototilling and Stubble-breaking. J. Bionic Eng. 12(3):495–503.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60140-2
Yang Y., Fielke J., Ding Q., He R. 2018. Field experimental study on optimal design of the rotary strip-till tools applied in rice-wheat rotation cropping system. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 11(2):88–94.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25165/j.ijabe.20181102.3347
Yang Y., Li M., Tong J., Ma Y. 2018. Study on the interaction between soil and the five-claw combination of a mole using the Discrete Element Method. Appl. Bionics Biomech. 1–11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7854052
Yang Y., Tong J., Huang Y., Li J., Jiang X. 2021. Biomimetic rotary tillage blade design for reduced torque and energy requirement. Appl. Bionics Biomech. 1–16.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8573897
Yang Y., Tong J., Ma Y., Jiang X., Li J. 2019. Design and experiment of biomimetic rotary tillage blade based on multiple claws characteristics of mole rats. Trans. Chin. Soc. Agric. Eng. 35(9):37–45.
Yao S., Teng X., Zhang B. 2015. Effects of rice straw incorporation and tillage depth on soil puddlability and mechanical properties during rice growth period. Soil Till. Res. 146(Part B):125–132.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2014.10.007
Yu H., Han Z., Zhang J., Zhang S. 2021. Bionic design of tools in cutting: Reducing adhesion, abrasion or friction. Wear. 203955:482–483.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2021.203955
Zhang Z.J., Jia H.L., Sun J.Y. 2016. Review on application of biomimetic for designing soil-engaging tillage implements in Northeast China. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 9(4):12–21.
Zhang Z., Wang X., Tong J., Carr S. 2018. Innovative design and performance evaluation of bionic imprinting toothed wheel. Appl. Bionics Biomech. 9806287.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9806287
Zhao H.B., He J., Li H.W., Mao Y.J., Hu H.N., Zhang Z.Q., Liu P. 2018. Comparison on soil, straw disturbance and resistance of conventional and plain-straight blade for strip-tillage with Discrete Element Method. Int. Agric. Eng. J. 27(4):229–240.
Zhu W., Chen C. 2013. Bionics design of stubble blade based on the digging claw of mole cricket. Appl. Mech. Mater. 397:775–778.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.397-400.775
How to Cite
Torotwa, I. (2023) “Biomimetic tool design improves tillage efficiency, seedbed quality, and straw incorporation during rototilling in conservation farming”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 54(1). doi: 10.4081/jae.2023.1327.
Copyright (c) 2023 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Marco Grella, Marco Manzone, Fabrizio Gioelli, Paolo Balsari, Harvesting orchard pruning residues in southern Piedmont: a first evaluation of biomass production and harvest loss , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 44 No. 3 (2013)
- Giuliano Vox, Pierfrancesco Losito, Fabio Valente, Rinaldo Consoletti, Giacomo Scarascia-Mugnozza, Evelia Schettini, Cristoforo Marzocca, Francesco Corsi, A wireless telecommunications network for real-time monitoring of greenhouse microclimate , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 45 No. 2 (2014)
- Lorenzo Picco, Alessia Tonon, Riccardo Rainato, Mario Aristide Lenzi, Bank erosion and large wood recruitment along a gravel bed river , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 2 (2016)
- Yanmei Meng, Tingting Zhang, Jin Wei, Jinlai Zhang, Xulei Zhai, Design and experiments of an automatic pipe winding machine , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 2 (2023)
- Giovanna Calia, Vittorio Serra, Antonio Ledda, Andrea De Montis, Green infrastructure planning based on ecosystem services multicriteria evaluation: the case of the metropolitan wine landscapes of Bordeaux , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 4 (2023)
- Elio Dinuccio, Jacopo Maffia, Carla Lazzaroni, Gianfranco Airoldi, Paolo Balsari, Davide Biagini, Clinoptilolite (E567), a natural zeolite, inclusion in heavy-pig diets: effect on the productive performance and gaseous emissions during fattening and manure storage , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 53 No. 1 (2022)
- Antoniotto Guidobono Cavalchini, Gian Luca Rognoni, Francesco M. Tangorra, Annamaria Costa, Experimental tests on winter cereal: Sod seeding compared to minimum tillage and traditional plowing , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 44 No. s2 (2013): Proceedings of the 10th Conference of the Italian Society of Agricultural Engineering
- Maria Lucia V. de Chiara, Maria Luisa Amodio, Francesco Scura, Luigina Spremulli, Giancarlo Colelli, Design and preliminary test of a fluidised bed photoreactor for ethylene oxidation on mesoporous mixed SiO2/TiO2 nanocomposites under UV-A illumination , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 45 No. 4 (2014)
- Qing Guo, Huihuang Xia, A review of the discrete element method/modelling in agricultural engineering , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 4 (2023)
- Roberto Beghi, Simone V. Marai, Valentina Giovenzana, Enrico Ferrari, Riccardo Guidetti, Testing and design of a passive container for the optimisation of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cold chain , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 2 (2016)
<< < 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
