Program: B.Sc.

, Agriculture, Semester- III, 2020

AENG -211: Farm Machinery and Power

Unit No. - 5
Calibration of Seed Drill

Lecture No. - 17
Er. Mukesh Kumar Seetpal

Assistant Professor, School of Agriculture

Outlines
• Introduction
• Calibration of Seed drill
• Procedure of Calibration
• Calculations
• Numerical problem
• Assignment
• Learning Outcomes
• <References>
 CALIBRATION OF SEED DRILL
 Laboratory testing of a seed drill to determine the rate of seed
delivery is called calibration of a seed drill.
 This is done to ascertain whether a seed drill delivers the seed in
accordance with the recommended seed rate or not.
 If any discrepancy is found between seed delivery of the drill and the
recommended seed rate, then the seed metering mechanism is
adjusted to deliver correct seed rate.
 This method avoids the difficulty of setting the seed delivery rate of
the seed drill in actual field conditions.
 PROCEDURE
1. Determine the width of sowing of seed drill (W)
W = M x S, metre
Where, M = number of furrow openers
S = Spacing between the furrow openers, meter
2. Find the length of the strip of land (L) for an area of 1/25 ha taking the
width of sowing as cover 1/25 ha
L = (1 /25) x 10000 m2) x 1/ w , meter
= 400/W
3. Determine the number of revolutions (N) of the ground wheel of the
seed drill required to cover a strip of length L meter
L = π x D x N = 400/W metre
N = 400/ π x D x W revolutions per minute
4. Jack the seed drill so that the drive wheel turn freely. Make a mark on
the drive wheel and a corresponding mark at a convenient place on the
body of the drill to help counting the revolutions of the drive wheel
5. Fill the seed in the seed hopper. Place a container under each boot for
collecting the seeds dropped from the hopper
6. Set the seed rate control adjustment for maximum position and mark
this position on the control for reference
7. Engage the clutch and rotate the ground wheel for N revolutions (N =
400/ π x D x W)
8. Weigh the quantity of seed collected in the container and record the
observation Ws kg
9. Calculate the seed rate in kg/ha
 CALCULATION

Seed collected for an area of 400 m² = Ws kg

Seed rate per hectare = kg/ha

If the calculated seed rate is higher or lower than the desired rate of

selected crop, repeat the process by adjusting the seed rate control

adjustment till the desired seed rate is obtained.

 SOLVED EXAMPLES

Q.1. The following results were obtained while calibrating a seed drill.
Calculate the seed rate

per hectare.

(i) No. of furrows = 10

(ii) Spacing between furrows = 20 cm

(iii) Diameter of drive wheel = 1.5 meter

(iv) Revolutions of ground wheel rotated for seed delivery = 500

(v) Seed collected = 20 kg.

Solution:

Width of seed drill = 10 x 20 cm = 2 m

Circumference of drive wheel = π x 1.5 m

Area covered in one revolution = π x 1.5 x 2 m²

Area covered in 500 revolution = π x 1.5 x 2 x 500 = 4712.3m²

Seed dropped for 500 revolutions= 20 kg

Seed delivery rate = (20 x 10000)/ 4712.3= 42.22 kg / ha

Q.2- Calculate the seed rate of a 7 x 17 cm seed drill whose main drive
wheel diameter is 124 cm and total weight of grain collected in 20
revolutions is 0.423 kg.

Solution –
Width of operation = 7 x 17 = 119 cm = 1.19 m
Circumference of main drive wheel = π x 1.24 = 3.90 m
Area covered per revolution = 1.19 x 3.9 = 4.64 m²
No. of revolutions/ha = 10000/4.64 = 2155.17 revolutions
Seed collected in 20 revolutions = 0.423 kg
Seed collected in 1 revolutions = 0.423/20 kg
Seed collected in 2155.17 revolutions = (0.423× 2155.17) /20 kg
Seed rate of the drill = 45.58 kg/ha
Q.3- Calculate the time required for sowing 1.6 hectares of land by 5
furrow seed drill going 12.5 cm deep. The speed of seed drill is 3.2
km/hr and pressure exerted by the soil on the seed drill is 0.42 kg/cm².
The space between furrow openers is 10 cm and loss in turning is 10%.
Solution:
Total width of seed drill = 5
Theoretical area/ hr = SW/10000
Theoretical area/ hr = (50/100) (3.21000) / 10000 = 0.16 ha
Actual area/ hr = (0.1690)/100 = 0.144 ha
Time of sowing 1.6 ha = 1.6/0.144 = 11.11 hrs
 Assignment

Explain calibration of seed drill.

 Learning Outcomes

The learners may aware about calibration of seed drill that will help
students in adjustment of seed drill according to seed rate of crop.
 References
1. Dr. Jagdishwar Sahay; Element of Agricultural Engineering,
Standard Publishers Distributors.
2. O.P. Singhal; Element of Agricultural Engineering, Aman
Publishing House.
3. http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/course/view.php?id=141