A. Hemmat, A. Assadi Khoshoei,
Volume 6, Issue 2 (7-2002)
Abstract
To increase mechanized cotton planting in areas with saline irrigation water and crust forming soil in Isfahan Province, assessment of seeders in flatland planting method with or without crust breaking is essential. An experiment was conducted at the Kabootarabad Research Station of Isfahan Research Center to compare the performance parameters of planting equipment in a clay loam soil. Four planting equipment treatments using Bazrsazan and John Deere planters and Nordsten drill along with three crust breaking methods, including rolling cultivator, rolling-type crust breaker and no crust breaking, were laid out in a factorial experiment within a randomized complete block design with three replications. Planters’ performance was evaluated by measuring the number of plants and plant spacings in each treatment, and estimation of the mean and standard deviation, multiples index, miss index, quality of feed index, precision, and hill-dropping index.
Although the plant spacings, and not the seed spacings, were measured in this experiment, the indices used in this research showed the planters’ performance to be very satisfactory. The suggested hill-dropping index showed the multiple seeds dropping characteristics of the seeders to be better than those of the multiples index regardless of the crust breaking methods. In the non-crust breaking method, the multiple seeds dropping tendency of Bazrsazan planter brought about a reduction in the mean and standard deviation of plant spacings. Crost breaking caused a reduction in plant spacings for all seeders, especially for the drill whose multiple seeds dropping tendency was negligible. The results indicated that the seed metering systems in Bazrsazan and John Deere planters were volumetric rather than single seed metering devices.
Z. Feizi, A. Ranjbar Fordoee, A.r. Shakeri,
Volume 27, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Maintaining soil structure and stability is essential, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with poor soil structural stability. Destruction of soil and its crust can cause wind erosion and desertification. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using hydrogel nanocomposite mulch on the stabilization of sand surfaces. A wind tunnel test was used to evaluate the erodibility of samples treated with different amounts of hydrogel nanocomposite. The compressive strength of the samples was measured by a manual penetrometer. The prepared nanocomposites were examined using scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) images. The results of the wind tunnel showed that the addition of hydrogel nanocomposite to the samples improved the soil erosion rate by 100% at a speed of 15 m/s compared to the control sample. Bonding between sand particles by spraying hydrogel nanocomposites improves the erodibility of sand. Measurement of mechanical strength of treated samples after 30 days showed that the resistance of the crust increased with increasing the amount of nanocellulose in the composite, which can be expressed due to the increased surface area of the nanoparticle and the possibility of further bonding of the nanocomposite polymer bed with sand particles. While the crust diameter showed no significant difference with increasing concentration and the sample treated with nanocomposites containing 3% nanoparticles was thicker compared to other samples.
