https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2024.1566

Development and field testing of biodegradable seedling plug-tray cutting mechanism for automated vegetable transplanter

Early Access
Published: 22 March 2024
Automatic transplanter, biodegradable, field testing, plug-trays, seedlings
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Authors

Bhola Paudel
Graduate Research School, Federation University, Australia; Department of Biosystems Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.
Jayanta Kumar Basak
Institute of Smart Farm, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.
Seong Woo Jeon
Department of Smart Farm, Graduate School of Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.
Nibas Chandra Deb
Department of Biosystems Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.
Sijan Karki
Department of Biosystems Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.
Hyeon Tae Kim
bioani@gnu.ac.kr
Department of Biosystems Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of.

Removing seedlings from plug-trays to transplant in the field poses transplanting shocks to the seedlings and may reduce the survival rate. Therefore, this study designed biodegradable plug-tray cutting mechanism (SPCM) that separates seedlings with plug-cells from plug-trays and eliminates a complex clamping mechanism. SPCM consists of three sub-mechanisms that align the plug-cell at the seedling discharge point to cut and separate the plug-cell from the plug-tray, allowing the seedling to fall into the transplanting hopper. The SPCM separated around 82% of the plug-cell and delivered it to the planting unit. Furthermore, the SPCM-equipped transplanter achieved a transplanting performance of 74% with pepper and cabbage seedlings, with an average field efficiency of 68%, field capacity of 0.032-0.035 ha h-1 and required 73% less labour than manual seedling transplanting. The transplanting performance was satisfactory, with most pepper seedlings (85%) transplanted with a planting angle less than 10°, and 7% of cabbage seedlings were inclined and had sufficient planting depth of 48 mm for cabbage and 53 mm for pepper. In conclusion, the SPCM is a step towards sustainable and efficient vegetable seedling transplanting. Increasing efficiency, planting accuracy, and sustainability present exciting opportunities for further research and development in the field.

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How to Cite

Paudel, B., Basak, J. K., Jeon, S. W., Deb, N. C., Karki, S. and Kim, H. T. (2024) “Development and field testing of biodegradable seedling plug-tray cutting mechanism for automated vegetable transplanter”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering. doi: 10.4081/jae.2024.1566.
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