Stationary Animal Feed Block Formation Machine: Useful for making animal feed blocks of size 20 cm x 20 cm using crop residues along with essential nutrients. The power required for operation is a 25 hp electric motor with a capacity of 250 kg/h. It is also available in 125 kg/h capacity with a block size of 10 cm X 10 cm. It has a hydraulic ram and cylinder system for the compaction of blocks which are integrated with hydraulic power packs. The shelf life of the feed blocks is one year. Saving in transport cost. Saving in storage space. Very useful for making available animal feed in challenged areas and also during natural calamities.

Mobile Feed Block Formation Machine: It is useful for making animal feed blocks of size 15 cm X 15cm, powered with a 6.5 hp diesel engine (air cooled) having a capacity of 100-125 kg/h. It has a hydraulic cylinder and power pack for compaction of biomass for desired density. It is a mobile unit of animal feed block formation machine mounted on a four-wheel trolley of 3 m X 1.5 m size and can be transport for on-the-site use

Urea Molasses Mineral Block Making Machine (UMMB): It is useful for making blocks of size 22.5 cm x 4.5 cm using Urea, molasses, minerals and grains, powered by a 1 hp electric motor, capacity of 150 Kg/h. It Provides animal feed blocks of balanced nutrients and minerals for a balanced ration; feeding milking animals with 200-300 grams of this feed increases their milking production.

Pusa Compost Turner Cum Mixer: Pusa Compost Turner-cum-mixer was designed and developed for the thorough mixing of crop biomass including rice residues. Each windrow consists of paddy straw mix, cow dung, good quality soil, old compost in the ratio of 8: 1: 0.5: 0.5. Windrows are kept trapezoidal with a bottom width of 2 m and a top width of 1.5 m to match the width of the rotor of windrow PUSA Turner-cum-Mixer. To enhance the process of composting, PUSA Compost Inoculant is also added through an in-built spraying system during the turning of the material. Turning and mixing maintain optimum temperature and proper aeration for rapid degradation that results in Composting 60-80 days as compared to the six months for the traditional pit method. Pusa Compost Sieving Machine: The machine is suitable for sieving and separating the finer grade material from the coarse grade one. The capacity of the machine is 5.0 tonnes per day.

Pusa Automatic Compost Sieving Machine: Sieving for separating the different grades of compost. It is powered by three-phase Electric motors (2 hp, 3 hp and 3 hp) with a capacity of 3 – 5 tonnes per hour. It has a rotating sieve and conveyor for conveying the material. It facilitates the separation of different sizes of compost for value addition. Smaller grades are used in pots. Convert waste into the best.

Pusa Compost Loader:

Lifting and carrying compost material up to a height of 3 m and loading the FYM in trucks and tractors trolleys. It can be operated with a 55 hp Tractor. It has a hydraulic system comprised of cylinders for bucket movement. It can unload 12 tonnes of compost

Salient Feature

It takes only half an hour to load a truck/trolley (5 tonnes capacity) whereas 5 man-hr is required for manual operation.

Animal Feed and Fodder Crusher: Suitable for proper crushing of fodder, useful for pre-treatment, preservation and storage of crop residues. Operated with a 3hp electric motor having a capacity of 1000 kg/h. It has a hopper, crusher unit and power transmission system.

Enhance the rate of drying. Very useful in making crop residue suitable for block formation.

Feed and fodder mixer: Ingredients like roughages, concentrates, minerals, vitamins and other ingredients are mixed uniformly before making blocks.

Salient Feature

One power source multiple operations.

Tri-wheel riding type equipment.

Operated by an 8 hp diesel engine.

Hydraulic lifting of tillage equipment.

Rotary and linear power tapping system.

Less turning radius and better steerability.

Utility

Appropriate technology for the mechanization of small land holdings.

Ownership feasibility for small and marginal farmers.

Performs multiple field operations like shallow ploughing, interculturing, weeding, sowing and rototilling.

Pusa telerobotic pesticide applicator for a greenhouse,

Robotic vehicle: Overall dimensions (0.7 × 0.65 × 2.1 m), Speed range: 1-3 km/h.

Drive Wheel (30-50 cm diameter), Caster wheel (Size8 inch, width 10cm ), Gearbox (02 )

Battery (12V,100 Ah Lithium ion battery),  charger ( Input: 240-150V AC, Output: 24 V DC, 15A (maximum),  DC Motors (24 V, 250 W and 120 rpm, nominal torque: 20 N.m. ),  Motor driver (6V-30V DC,64 A peak, 32A continuous, dual channel)),

Pixhawk, with GPS and other accessories.

Ground control station: Remote control with receiver ( FS-RM003 2.4GHz Module), Range 1 km (minimum),  12V, 9 Channel

Real-time video transmission unit: 

Camera with transmitter(1200 pixel),  Display with receiver ( 4-6 inch, 480 pixel, range 1 km

Spraying system: Tank (50 litre, size500 × 450 × 400mm), solenoids ( 6 No.s, 12V on-off type solenoids, operating pressure; 0.02-0.8 MPa, rated current, 1A), spray pump(12V DC diaphragm pump, 5 L.min-1 and 8.5 kg cm-2),  Pressure gauge (1 No, analog type, working pressure  0-7 kg cm-2),  Nozzle ( flat fan nozzle; flow rate, 1.1 L.min-1, working pressure 2.8 bar), nozzle chocking sensor, linear actuator (24 volt, relay, driver), Controller, Step down converter (24 to 12 volt, 300 Watt)

Robotic Precision Planter

A robotic precision planter was developed at the Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. A computer program written in C++ was created to ensure precise planting. The planter underwent testing in the laboratory and field, evaluating its performance at different speeds and crop geometries using maize as the test crop. The planter successfully planted seeds with various crop geometries at different speeds. The best results, with minimal variation from the intended seed placement, were achieved at a medium speed of 200 mm/s, particularly with a 20cm×20cm crop geometry. Increasing the speed to high levels and altering crop geometries led to increased planting variations. The field exhibited 0-5.71% missing seed delivery and 5-9% multiple seed delivery.

A new 8-row tractor-drawn planter has been developed specifically for the system of wheat intensification (SWI), to plant wheat seeds in hills. The planter offers adjustable row-row distances of 20 cm and 25 cm. It is equipped with features such as furrow opening, seed placement at a depth of 5 cm and a distance of 22 cm, and soil compaction for firm covering of the seeds. Field evaluations were conducted to compare the performance and crop uniformity of the tractor-drawn SWI planter with a traditional tractor-drawn seed drill. The planter was tested at two different speeds (1.5 km/h and 2.1 km/h) using soaked and normal seeds. The draft requirement of the planter was measured at 200kgf. The results showed that the machine-sown plots using the SWI planter exhibited significantly better seed germination and grain yield compared to conventional or manually-sown SWI plots

Seed cum UAN Applicator: 

Description

UAN cum Seed Applicator is a tractor drawn equipment designed for simultaneous UAN fertilizer application and seeding in cereal crops. The developed UAN applicator consists of precise UAN metering system, optimally designed furrow opener for precise placement of seed and UAN, seed box, UAN storage tanks and power transmission system. Pressurized 

UAN metering system consists of PTO operated piston pump and rotary distributor. A specially designed silt-type furrow Opener to deliver the fertilizer vertically below the seed and also maintain distance between fertilizer and seed is present in the developed UAN cum seed applicator. The silt-type furrow opener results in seed placement at a depth of 2.5-3 cm from the surface with UAN placed at about 4.5-5 cm from seed. The applicator can be operated by a commonly available 40-45 hp tractor and has an average field capacity of 0.23 ha/h.

Direct Paddy Seeder

Description

The precision direct paddy seeder is a useful technology for direct seeding of paddy crops avoiding the need for raising nurseries. This results in saving of seed, labour, fertilizer and water compared to transplanting. The developed seeder precisely plants long-grain basmati paddy seeds in rows. Inclined plates with cells along with modular hoppers are used for the metering of paddy seeds. On average, a saving of 12 %, in seed rate was observed with this technology.

Pusa Aqua-ferti Seed Drill

Description

Application of aqueous fertilizer alongside the seed which helps in better germination and initial development of crop specially in rain fed conditions. It can be operated with 45 hp tractor and can cover an area of 0.25 ha/h. It has fluted roller seed metering mechanism, two liquid fertilizer storage tank with constant head central tank along with rotary pump connecting discharge nozzles.

Salient Feature

It makes possible sowing of Rabi crops in dry land areas. Also suitable for pulses. A 53% increase in germination and 35% increase in yield in wheat crop

Tractor-Drawn Raised Bed Pulse Planter for precision sowing

A tractor-operated raised bed pulse planter was developed for the planting of pigeon pea seeds. The major components of the planter were the main frame, bed former, three-point hitching, hopper with metering plates, furrow opener, furrow closure, and ground wheel. The developed planter made a raised bed of 330 mm top width and 255 mm deep with 380 mm wide furrows. The planter made two beds to plant pigeon pea seeds on a raised bed in a single pass. Row spacing in the beds was 250 mm. Seeds were placed in twin rows and single rows per bed. Field performance evaluation of the planter revealed that the average field capacity of the planter was 0.25 ha/h for continuous operation at an average speed of 2.2 km/h. The field efficiency of the planter was observed to be 73%. The average depth of placement of seeds was 50-70 mm. The average plant population was observed to be 18 per meter square.

The draft of the developed pulse planter was measured with a 3-point dynamometer as 480±75 kgf.

Pusa Carrot Planter: Useful for the commercial production of carrots through precise planting on raised beds. It can be operated with a 45hp Tractor. The field capacity is 0.5 ha per hour. It has an inclined plate seed metering mechanism, raised bed formers, furrow openers, covering and compaction device. Carrot seed can be sown on two beds each with 4 – rows with adjustable row-to-row spacing. Saves water and other inputs. A higher plant population leads to higher productivity and is suitable for mechanical harvesting.

Multi-crop Ridger Planter

Ridge planting in some crops is a necessity. Ridge planting is preferred over flatbed planting due to enhanced water use efficiency and proper drainage in case of excess 

rainfall. Crop-specific planters are not popular due to fewer working hours annually. With minimum intervention, if the planter can be used for multi-crop, it has wider acceptability. Making ridges and planting seeds in one pass saves operation time and cost in the case of a ridger planter. 

The planting and ridge-making operation is done in one pass. It maintains the row and plant distance

Pusa Hydrogel Applicator

Description

Precise and Mechanical application of hydrogel at the rate of 3kg/ha along with seed . It can be retrofitted with existing sowing system.It has helical fluted roller metering mechanism.

Salient Feature

Hydrogel absorbs water 350 times of its dry weight and slowly made available to plants roots during stress condition. The applicator is an attachment to the seed cum ferti seed drill or aqua ferti. seed drill

Pusa Hydrogel Applicator: Precise and Mechanical application of hydrogel at the rate of 3kg/ha along with seed. It can be retrofitted with the existing sowing system. It has a helical fluted roller metering mechanism. Hydrogel absorbs water 350 times its dry weight and is slowly made available to plant roots during stress conditions. The applicator is an attachment to the seed cum ferti-seed drill or aqua ferti seed drill

Manual Multicrop planter for vegetable seeds:

Description

Technology Brief

The multi-crop planter is useful for sowing different types of vegetable seeds by changing the vertical roller. This is a manual seeding machine operated by a single person. The field capacity of the planter is 0.03 ha.h-1. Precision planting of vegetable seeds in small plots, yields 15% saving in seed with 85-90% singulation. The depth of the sowing is adjustable up to 8 cm. A long handle is provided with height adjustment. 

Salient Feature

The hopper can store 2-3 kg of seeds.

1-2 persons required to operate.

The depth of planting can be adjusted up to 8 cm.

Number of seed metering discs are provided for different types of crop seed.

Knockout system for clogged seed inside the seed metering unit.

The manual multi-crop seeder

Pre- Germinated Paddy Seeder

Description

Pre-germinated paddy seeder facilitates the sowing of pre-germinated paddy seed in a puddled field maintaining proper row-to-row spacing. It can be operated by 2-3 persons, covering 0.2-0.4 ha/day. It reduces the cost of transplanting and also helps in the subsequent operation of weeding and inter-cultivation

Salient Feature

It is made of two wheels and an indented roller metering mechanism made up of Nylon rollers.

Pusa Pre-germinated Paddy Seeder is available in two forms – three and six rows with per day field capacity of 0.2 ha and 0.4 ha, respectively.

In mechanized farms, a bund is prepared by a bund former either operated by a tractor or animals for irrigation purposes and also to demarcate the fields. Tractor operated bund formers are normally either disc -or mould board or farming board type. If bund is formed with the help of traditional bund former, however, shaping and packing of bunds is done manually using spade and feet. This activity is time consuming and labour intensive. To overcome the drudgery involved in these operations, a tractor operated bund former-cum-packer has been designed and developed. An attempt is made for enabling the combined operations of bund forming and packing in a single pass that can save fuel, time and other resources further. The bund former-cum-packer consisted of commercially available disc type bund former, rectangular tool bar frame, and packing unit (concentric cylindrical roller, drive shaft, conical discs, compressive shanks etc).

Wheel hand hoe: The Pusa Wheel Hoe is a very simple and useful implement for weeding in between lines of standing crops by which very efficient and effective weeding is possible. This equipment is foldable which enables ease while transporting. It is an improved manual tool used for weeding and inter-culture in row crops. It can cover an area of 200 sq m in an hour. It comprises a wheel, an adjustable handle and a soil-working tool.

 Advantages:

• Useful for weeding and intercultural operations in row crops.

• Angle of operation could be adjusted according to the need.

Pusa Battery Operated Variable Height Platform

Description

Working above head height and front horizontal distances increases physiological and postural stresses resulting in reduced efficiency. Greenhouse operations like pruning and harvesting are done at overhead height by the use of the existing system, which results in greater muscle loading, increased level of discomfort, reduced performance due to restrictions on posture, difficulty in moving the system forward and backwards, no height adjustment and unsafe. The developed platform can be used in greenhouse pruning and harvesting operations. The developed equipment is battery operated with a facility of work height adjustment with a hydraulic power pack with a provision of forward and reverse movement. The telescopic steering also facilitates easy turning and control.

Pusa Carrot Harvester

Useful for raised bed carrot harvesting, two beds get harvested simultaneously. The width of coverage of the carrot harvester is 1.3 m. Operated by a 45 hp tractor having a field capacity of 0.5 ha/h.

Salient Feature

Uses single cutting blades (angle 15 degrees) consisting of equally spaced three V-type cutting edges. Blades cut the root of the carrot and loosen the soil of the beds simultaneously.

Pusa Garlic Harvester

It is useful for harvesting garlic and is operated by a 45 hp tractor, having a field capacity of 0.24 ha/h.

For harvesting of garlic, use a digging blade of size 600 mm x 300 mm with a rake angle of 15 degree.

Manual Paddy thresher: A Manual Paddy Thresher is a simple, human-powered agricultural tool used for separating paddy grains from their stalks. It is especially useful for small-scale farmers in rural areas especially for hilly regions where access to mechanized equipment is limited. The device is economical, easy to operate, and requires minimal maintenance.

Power Operated Okra Thresher

Suitable for threshing okra pods, separate husk and other impurities from seed. Powered by a 2 hp electric motor, capacity 70 kg/h. Threshing time is reduced by 30 %, which results in a reduction in operational cost by 70 percent.

Power winnower: Cleaning of the produce is one of the important steps in grain processing and value addition. The Power Operated Winnower has been developed for this purpose. Advantages: High-quality cleaning enhances the quality of produce. Exhaust air blows off the dust and unwanted particles and the final product is collected clean.  All types of grains can be cleaned by using this equipment.  Two or more mixed grains can be separated by using this machine.  Saves money and time. Useful machine for cleaning/separation of chaff, and dust from food grains, powered by 1 hp Single-phase motor, capacity 300-600 kg/h. Overall dimensions (l x w x h) : 1400 x 800 x 1610 mm

Capacity: 300-600 kg/h. Power source: 1 hp electric motor.  Blower speed: 1440 rpm. Size of grain hopper: 300 x 300 mm. Weight: 40 kg. 

Pusa Onion Seed Extractor

Developed for extraction of good quality seed from onion umbel using spike tooth extraction mechanism, powered by 1 hp Single-phase motor; capacity 25 kg (onion umbel) /h.

Salient Feature

It saves extraction costs and avoids arduous and drudgery manual extraction of onion seed. It is very useful for small-scale onion seed growers.

Vegetable Seed Extractor:

Suitable for extraction of seeds of tomato, brinjal, bottle gourd, powered by 2 hp single phase electric motor, capacity of 500 kg/h (Brinjal), 450 kg/h (Bottle gourd) and 200 kg/h (Ash gourd).

Pusa Battery Operated Turmeric/Ginger Washer

Pusa battery-operated turmeric/ginger washer is a continuous rotary drum-type battery operated washer developed exclusively for washing raw turmeric and ginger. Continuous washers come in contact with muddy water; hence, materials having adequate resistance towards muddy water were used in the fabrication of the main drum and its components. The main frame and other components were fabricated using mild steel for better strength and stability. The drum size was chosen to have a maximum capacity of 150-200 kg/h so that it could be affordable to small farmers. The highest 92.48% washing efficiency, 93.18% microbial efficiency and 4.54% bruise index were found in the experiment. Compared to manual washing, a developed washer saves more than 60% time and operation costs besides saving 65% water requirement.

Salient Feature

It has a solar power-operated evaporative cooling system. Provided with an effective and uniform evaporative cooling arrangement with forced air circulation by DC fans and lighting facility through DC LED light powered by Solar PhotoVoltaic (SPV) Panel of 100 Wp.

Equipped with a portable energy bank of 7Ah with the SPV through a charge controller and protection devices to meet the energy requirement of any additional low power rating domestic gadgets.

It is also provided with a fine misting system to maintain humidity inside the chamber which will keep the produce fresh.

It is capable of reducing the temperature of the storage chamber by 5-8°C and increasing relative humidity by 15 to 30 per cent points. This enhances the storage life of fresh fruits

Pusa Portable Hybrid Dryer

Description

Pusa Portable Hybrid Dryer is a solar-cum-biomass fired dryer that facilitates agricultural produce drying. It can be used as a solar dryer or a biomass-fired hot air mechanical dryer. It is a battery-operated dryer and can be easily dismantled, assembled and carried by a single person. The overall dimensions and weight of the dryer are 24×18×2 inch and 30 kg, respectively. Operated by a 12V battery, the dryer is fitted with a 12 W DC motor-driven blower (203×77 mm) for air circulation and a heat exchanger for air heating. It has 12 perforated drying trays arranged vertically with a tray-to-tray spacing of 60 mm. Preliminary temperature profiling of the dryer showed that, on a low solar intensity partly cloudy day, a temperature difference of about 10°C was observed between ambient air and the drying chamber within 30 min of operation. 

Head harness for manual load carrying

The prevailing practice of manual load carrying on the head on Indian farms is responsible for degenerative changes in the cervical region, which hampers the productivity of the worker and causes trauma over a long period. The load carrying on head involves minimum physiological cost due to central loading of the spinal musculoskeletal system, so it is the preferred mode of load carrying among the farming community. A harness was designed which facilitated the transfer of load from head to shoulder without introducing any element of eccentricity.

The harness had a platform fixed on the helmet mounted on “C spring” and adjustable guide which facilitated precise control of load distribution on head and shoulder. In this approach, the load on the cervical spine could be limited to 10 kg and the rest of the load was transferred to the shoulder with proper stability.

Device for real-time disease severity estimation of Groundnut Bud Necrosis Virus in Tomato

Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) disease has emerged as a major threat worldwide with a significant impact on tomato crop production. A machine learning-based approach was followed for the development of a device for GBNV disease severity estimation in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.). For virus inoculation, 7–8 days old healthy tomato plant leaves were inoculated to receive the infection and spectral changes were monitored in different wavelength bands in the range of 350–1000 nm. The images of the leaves were analyzed for the proportion of disease regions using Matlab software. With the Gini index as the best criteria parameter, the best-fitting model achieved a maximum training accuracy of 95.01% 

when applied to the test sets (n = 1,000). The overall accuracy of the developed decision tree model for disease severity classification in tomato plants performed well with an accuracy of 93.65%. The developed device can categorize disease severity into five major classes i.e. 0%, (1-10) %, (11-25) %, (26-50) % and >50%. The quantitative assessment of plant disease severity using spectral sensor based offers a decision-making strategy for precise input application for the effective control of diseases.