M E M O I R SBaba Saheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Kanpur

Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Etawah was established during the year 1994-th95. The foundation stone of the College was laid down on 8 October 1994 by Sri Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then Hon'ble Chief Minister of

Uttar Pradesh. The main motto of the college is to make provision for education to rural people of Uttar Pradesh and provide good facilities for research and extension in the field of agricultural engineering and technology. The B. Tech degree programme in agricultural engineering was started in academic year 1994-95. Annual intake under this programme is 60 students and upto 2005, sixteen batches have passed out. B Tech degree programme in the disciplines of Electronics and Communication Engg and Computer Science and Engg has also started from the academic session 2002-03 and B. Tech. degree programme in Mechanical Engineering has been started from academic session 2003-04.

Achievements:

Teaching: Meritorious students were selected through UP State Engg. Examination (UPSEE-UPTU), Lucknow and ICAR New Delhi are admitted in the college. Students of B.Tech. (Agril. Engg.) programme are taught as per syllabus prescribed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. However, in other Engineering programmes syllabus prescribed by All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi is being followed. Except Mechanical Engg. all other programmes have the approval of All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. Presently, the following degree programmes are being offered since 1994.

Degree Year of commencement B.Tech. (Agricultural Engineering) 1994 B.Tech. (Electronics and Communication Engineering) 2002 B.Tech. (Computer Science Engineering) 2002 B.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) 2003

Board of Management of the University has approved the 10 departments in this college. These are Production Technology; Farm Machinery and Power Engineering; Soil and Water Conservation Engineering; Irrigation and Drainage Engineering; Post Harvest Technology and Food Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Electronics and Communication Engineering; Computer Science and Engineering; Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Till now, through 15 batches, 536 students have completed B.Tech. (Agril. Engg.) degree programme. Also, 272, 303 and 230 students have been awarded with B. Tech. in Computer Science Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Mechanical Engineering disciplines, respectively.

M E M O I R S

Training and placement: A training and placement cell has been established at college for B.Tech. students. This cell is working with close liaison of Directorate of Training and Placement established at university level. Most of the students are being recruited by Tractor Industries, namely Punjab Tractors Ltd., Indofarm, TAFE, State Bank of India, NGO's, ICAR Institutes and State Agricultural Universities, coaching centers, etc. Apart from this, most of the meritorious students are opting higher studies through JRF and GATE examinations conducted by ICAR and IIT, respectively. The performance of students in these examinations was excellent during the past.

Research: The CAET has undertaken feasibility testing and validation trials, improvement and refinement in existing designs and development of new machines for crop production, resource conservation and post harvest operations.

Prototype equipments developed/ manufactured and field evaluated:

Garlic planter: It is manually operated, duplex hopper, single row equipment for planting garlic cloves. It consists of handle, frame, duplex hopper, cupfeed metering mechanism, shoe type furrow opener and ground drive wheel. It requires two persons for its operation.

Parameters of garlic planter Results Row Spacing (cm) 15.7 Planting spacing (cm) 7.46 Speeding operation (km/h) 1.8 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.018 Labour requirement (No.) 3 Missing (%) 11 Plant density (m2) 70

Cost of operation (Rs/ha) 26 Cost of Machine (Rs.) 1500

Pneumatic planter: It is six-row tractor drawn equipment to plant single seed at desired seed rate and row spacing. It is suitable to plant seed of vegetable pea, pigeon pea, mustard, groundnut and maize. It consists of main frame, pneumatic metering device (aspirator, blower and disc with cell type metering plate), individual hopper, PTO driven shaft, shoe type furrow openers and ground wheel.

Parameters of pneumatic planter Results Row Spacing (cm) 32 Planting spacing (cm) 12 Speeding operation (km/h) 3.5 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.7 Labour requirement (man-h/ha) 8.1 Missing (%) - Plant density (m2) 21

Cost of operation (Rs/h) 300 Cost of Machine (Rs.) 48000

Till plant machine: It is a six-row power tiller operated Chinese designed seeder. It consists of 1.2m size rotovator for seed bed preparation and a seeding unit for drilling of seed simultaneously in one pass. It is suitable for sowing of wheat, soybean, chickpea, pea, barley and lentil in light and medium soils.

Parameters of till plant Results Row Spacing (cm) 20 Planting spacing (cm) 12 Speeding operation (km/h) 2 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.08 Labour requirement (man-h/ha) 10 Cost of operation (Rs/h) 800 Cost of Machine (Rs.) 6000

Resource conservation tillage technologies (RCTTs): Resource conservation tillage technologies (RCTTs) have been field evaluated for improving the sustainability and productivity of wheat in Rice-wheat system. Study showed that the RCTTs helped in raising the input use efficiency, reducing cost, providing various environmental benefits and ultimately improving the farmers livelihood and helping to reduce poverty. The three types of RCTTs given below have been studied:

Zero tillage system: Drilling of seeds and fertilizer without seed-bed preparation.

Bed planting system: Planting of wheat or other crops on the raised bed in ridge-furrow system. In this system management of irrigation water is improved, gives better crop yield by more than 20% and fertilizer application also becomes easier at the top of the beds.

Seeding systems

Parameters

ZTFSD (T1)

Seed cum ferti dri ll seeding on same date as T1 (T2)

As T2 but 10 -15 days delayed from T1 (T3)

Machine size (cm) 9 x 20 9 x 20 9 x 20 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.49 0.48 0.49 Weed intensity (No/m2) 32 61 32 Cost of seed bed (Rs/ha) 423.30 2054.30 2066.00

Savings wrt T2 and T3 Labour (%) 76 - - Fuel (l/ha) 31.50 - - Cost (%) 79 - -

Avg. yield (q/ha ) 49.0 48.0 41.0

College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology

M E M O I R S

Till planting system: This system is a reduced tillage system. It is based on combining tillage done by rotavator with seeding and fertilizer application in one pass. Farmers also use this system by first broadcasting the fertilizer and then using the rotavator with seeder to incorporate the fertilizer into the soil and seeding by seeder in one pass. The system provides the benefits of timely planting, fertilizer incorporation and reduced cost of seeding.

Zero till ferti seed drill: Study on field evaluation of zero till ferti seed drill (ZTFSD) in comparison to conventional seed drilling using seed cum ferti drill showed the major advantages like saving in planting time, fuel and irrigation water; improves fertilizer use efficiency; reduces density of Phalaris minor and weed pressure; promotes residue management; helps to reduce environmental pollution; saving in land preparation cost of about Rs.1600 to 2500 /ha; increases yield by 15-25% in late sown wheat.

Rice transplanter: An eight row self propelled Chinese rice transplanter was field evaluated for rice transplanting using mat type nursery in comparison to manual rice transplanter and hand transplanting.

Parameters of rice transplanter SRT MRT HT 20 x 10 cm 24 x 12 cm

EFC (ha/h) 01- 0.11 0.11-0.12 0.02 - Hill (No/m2) 32-36 30-34 30-40 25-35 Missed hills (%) 6.8 8.4 12 - Labour requi. including nursery raising (m-h/ha ) 125 110 240 463 Cost of transplanting (Rs/ha) 2260 2055 2387 3692 Labour saving (%) 73 78 48 -

Cost saving (%) 39 44 35 - Grain yield (q) 49.9 40.36 38.37 32.66 Increase in grain yield over HT (%) 52.8 23.6 17.5 -

Dry land weeder: It is a manually operated for

weeding and interculture in row crops like groundnut and sunflower. It consists of handle adjustable v-blade and peg holding roller. Roller, while uprooting weed breaks, the top crust and soil mulching are done, push and pull action by the blade.

SRT: Self-propelled rice transplanter, MRT: Manual rice transplanter, HT: Hand transplanting

Parameters of dry land weeder Results Working depth (mm) 30 Speeding operation (km/h) 1.5 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.008 Labour requirement (man-h/ha) 115 Cost of operation (Rs/ha) 1300 Weight of machine (kg) 10 Cost of machine (Rs.) 250

Vertical conveyer reaper: It is a 35 hp or above tractor front mounted PTO operated reaper to harvest rice and wheat crops. It consists of cutter bar, star wheel, conveyer belt, telescopic shaft and universal joint.

Parameters of vertical conveyer Results Row Spacing (cm) 22 Planting height (cm) 85 Speeding operation (km/h) 1.8 Field capacity (ha/h) 0.16 Labour requirement (man-h/ha) 2 Grain moisture content (db) (%) 12 Height of cut (cm) 6-10

Cost of operation (Rs/ha) 394 Cost of machine (Rs.) 28000

Potato slicer: It is simple hand operated

equipment for slicing potato to produce chips and wafers at farmers' fields. It consists of main frame, four plastic pipes, handle and spring loaded pressing device. It can accommodate1 kg potato of 50 mm diameter.

Parameters of potato slicer Results Capacity (kg/h) 30 Labour requirement (man-h/q) 3.3 Cost of operation (Rs/q) 38 Weight of machine (kg.) 30 Cost of machine (Rs.) 3000

Grain mill: It is 1HP single-phase electric motor

operated equipment for grinding of cereals and pulses to produce flour and split, respectively. It consists of hopper, feed adjuster and grinder wheel. It is suitable for 8-10% moisture content (wet basis) with low oil content.

Parameters of grain mill Results Capacity (kg/h) 12 Labour requirement (man-h/q) 3 Cost of operation (Rs/q) 50 Weight of machine (kg.) 69 Cost of machine (Rs.) 5500

College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

College of Agriculture Engineering

Undergraduate students in Soil Machine LabUndergraduate students in Fitter Lab

Undergraduate students in classroomUndergraduate students in classroom

Undergraduate students in Soil Physics LabUndergraduate students in Soil Physics Lab

Undergraduate students in LibraryUndergraduate students in Computer Lab

M E M O I R S

Dhal mill: It is a 2.0 hp three phase electric motor operated for dehusking and splitting of pigeon pea, urdbean and lentil. It consists of carborandum roller, feed hopper, concave and dhal outlet. The material is first soaked in water and then sun dried and later on fed into to achieve complete milling in two passes.

Parameters of dhal mill Results Milling efficiency (%) 88 Capacity (kg/h) 100 Labour requirement (man-h/q) 1 Cost of operation (Rs/q) 16 Weight of machine (kg.) 90 Cost of machine (Rs.) 13000

Zero energy cool chamber: Study conducted on adoption of zero energy cool chamber showed high adoption (70%) among farmers. It has following advantages- The zero energy cool chambers can be utilized

safely for on-farm storage of fruits and vegetables for a period of 4 to 8 days.

Owing to easy construction and maintenance, the farmers can install it at any site.

Ideal for household storage.

Parameters of zero energy cool chamber Storage at Room

temperature Zero energy

cool chamber Maximum temperature (0C) 38 28 Relative humidity (%) 57-68 86-90 Shelf life of leafy vegetables, vent packed (days) 2 4 Shelf life of leafy vegetables, unpacked (days) 1 3 Shelf life of frui ts and vegetables, packed with

200 gauge high density polyethylene (2% vent)

4 8

Physiological loss in weight (%) 6 3.5

The chamber can keep the temperature 10-15ºC cooler than the outside temperature and maintains about 90% relative humidity. Shelf life of leafy vegetables can be increased by 2-3 times and other vegetables by 6-8 times The chambers do not require any electrical/mechanical power to operate.

Pressurized irrigation system-drip irrigation system: Study on adoption of pressurized in comparison to border method of irrigation gave following advantages Saving water, labour and energy. Ease in fertilizer, micronutrients and pesticide

use, even root cause medicine may also be

Irrigation system Parameters

Border method

Drip irrigation

Variety Nasik Nasik Saving in irrigation water 0-10% 50-60% Bulb yield (q/ha) 53.38 80.95 Benefit cost ratio 1.17:1 1.89:1 Net Return (Rs/ha) 3038.50 15325.40

applied in liquid form with most efficient and effective manner. By the use of drip system, there are fewer weed density and pests. Very much useful for wasteland and denuded lands.

Students research projects: More than 50 projects have been conducted related to various aspects of agricultural engineering. The major findings of a few projects are given herein:

* The performance of the multi-crop seed cum-ferti drill was evaluated at CAET Farm, Etawah in well-prepared field after paddy harvesting. Soil type was silty loam having, initial moisture content of 15.5% and the bulk density after seedbed preparation was 1.39g/cc. The average grain yield of wheat sown by multi-crop seed drill was 40.35q/ha as compared to the average yield of 35q/ha sown by conventional system.

* The field evaluation of manually operated garlic planter was done by raising garlic crop. The average labour requirement (man-h/ha) for sowing garlic in manually operated garlic planter and manual planting was 167 and 544 man h/ha, respectively. The average yield by manually operated garlic planter and manual planting was 60.83 and 64.68q/ha, respectively.

* The performance of tractor drawn precision pneumatic planter (CIAE make) was field evaluated for planting pea in sandy loam soil, 3having initial soil moisture content of 16.3 per cent and bulk density after seedbed preparation 1.52 g/cm . The average seed rate with

this planter was 60 kg/ha, which is low in comparison to seed drill (100 kg/ha). The uniformity coefficient for pneumatic planter and seed drill was 90.8 per cent and 82.38 per cent, respectively. Total man-h/ha required for planting with pneumatic planter and seed drill was 6 and 9, respectively.

* Study on milling performance of pre-treated pigeon pea seeds was conducted to investigate the effect of various concentrations of sodium bicarbonate and different seed to solution ratios on milling performance of pigeonpea seeds. The concentrations of sodium bicarbonate solution were 8%, 10% and 12% and seed to solution ratios were 16:1, 20:1 and 24:1. The study revealed that minimum and maximum finished product from sodium bi carbonate treated pigeon pea milling was 69.66 and 78.10%, respectively. This indicated that about 9% more finished product could be obtained by changing the grain to solution ratio and concentration of sodium bi carbonate. The maximum dhal recovery (78.10%) and hulling efficiency (91.74%) were obtained at 10% conc. of sodium bi carbonate with 20:1 grain to solution ratio.

College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology

M E M O I R S

* Study of various grain storage structures in Etawah district was conducted, which revealed that average losses were 2.1% in metal bins, 3.6% in Kuthlas, 4.2% in Kachchi Kothis and 5.6% in Jute bags during storage of grains.

* Study on evaluation of performance of power operated potato grader was conducted which revealed that one hp single phase electric motor is appropriate for operating the potato grader. The maximum grading efficiency of 87.09% was found at the grader shaft speed of 35rpm and span speed of 4.39m/min.

* Study on processing and preservation of garlic in Etawah district was conducted, which revealed that the losses were 25% after processing and 5% during storage at farmers' level. It was suggested that proper ventilation is needed during April-October but after October up to February, storage structures should be kept airtight.

* Study on evaluation of performance of multipurpose grain mill for wheat milling was conducted and it was revealed that 1hp single phase electric motor was appropriate to operate the machine. The maximum input capacity of 11.11 kg/h of grains was found at grinding shaft speed of 540rpm, whereas highest fineness modulus was found to be 2.18 and corresponding average particle size was 0.266 mm, which showed uniform grinding of wheat.

* Study on protein losses during successive milling of pigeonpea grain was conducted, which revealed that average protein content in dhal (10% in sodium bicarbonate treated grains) for 8 sec duration of milling was 25.49% which was 0.3%, 1.78% more than average protein content of 10 sec. and 12 sec. of milling, respectively. It is concluded that the protein content of dhal was maximum (26.64%) in first pass with 76.66% finished product, whereas maximum finished product of 80.60% with protein content of 25.82% was obtained in second pass of 10 sec. of milling of sodium bicarbonate treated grains.

* Comparative study was conducted on characteristics and cost analysis of traditional and modern dhal mill for milling of pigeon pea grains. The study revealed that hulling efficiency was higher in modern dhal mill (91.74%) in comparison to traditional dhal mill (73.62%). Net profit in one-quintal pigeonpea was Rs. 125 in traditional method, whereas in modern method it was Rs. 387.89. The maximum dhal recovery of 78.10% and hulling efficiency of 91.74% ware obtained at 10% concentration of sodium bicarbonate and 20:1 grain to solution ratio.

* The onion storage structures, which were made by UPDASP saved about 70 –80% onion than the traditional technique. Relative 0humidity of 30-70% and temperature 25-35 C gave better performance for onion storage in onion storage structure.

* The tractor drawn two row automatic potato planter was found cheaper for potato planting and labour saving (95%) and economical compared to the traditional method of planting using spade.

* Self propelled Chinese row rice transplanter performed satisfactory and gave 73-78% labour saving over traditional hand transplanting.

* The performance of drip irrigation system for onion cultivation was compared with conventional system of irrigation and it was found that when crop was irrigated on an alternate day with drip system gave highest yield (7142.85 kg/ha) and water saving of about 70% as compared to conventional method of irrigation. Benefit cost ratio, net return, gross revenue were also higher in drip system of irrigation than border method of irrigation.

* Water application and storage efficiency were increased by sprinkler method of irrigation as compared to surface method of irrigation. Water saving by sprinkler irrigation method was found 42% higher in comparison to surface method of irrigation and it also saved irrigation time and pumping.

3* The NADEP tank of 3x2x1 m size with cemented floor having about 35.5% open area in its walls, proved best because of less percentage of aeration, resulting good aerobic microbial activity and less leaching of nutrients. The nutrients composition of NADEP compost was N 1.41%, P 0.82% and K 1.35%. It was found that NPK content in NADEP compost was 135%, 82.2% and 58.82% higher than ordinary manure.

Trainings Organized: Farmers-scientist interaction and farmers' technical training programmes have been organized on various aspects of agriculture.

College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology