Research paper Predicting the Effects of Agricultural Soil Tillage Operations on Fuel Use
Abstract
Wastage and economic loss in agricultural productivity during tillage operations could be predicted and reduced at the design stages. This study used a factorial experimental design to optimize tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging operations. The research aimed to investigate tillage effect on fuel utilization efficiency for reduction of operational cost and increase agricultural productivity. A 4,480 m2 research plot split into three blocks of nine treatments with three replicates was adopted for the research. The plot varied from loamy sand to sandy loam, which are good for agricultural productivity. Field test parameters (ploughing depth (or ridging height), and tractor onward speed) and fuel use were measured. Using MINITAB 19 software, statistical analyses of the general full factorial design (GFFD) were carried out. These analyses included model fit adequacy, analysis of variance (ANOVA), main and interaction effects, multiple linear regression model, and response optimizer. Normal probability plots showed that the hourly fuel use during ploughing and ridging were approximately normally distributed, satisfying model fitness examination, and was confirmed by the model competence plot of frequency versus residual. The hourly fuel use during ploughing and ridging was shown to be randomly distributed with no discernible structure in the residual versus fitted value plots, supporting the residuals' constant variance requirement. Statistical analysis, and ANOVA in GFFD indicated that a significant difference exists with 95 and 99 % levels of significance on the influence of ploughing depth (or ridge height), tractor onward speed and their effects on tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging operations. Optimized tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging was attained at plough depth and ridge height of 0.10 m respectively, and tractor onward speed of 5Km/h. This study determined that the minimum fuel consumption per hour for tractor under optimised working circumstances were 2.93 L/h and 3.30 L/h for ploughing and ridging operations respectively.
