Machinery & Equipment

Brawijaya lecturer Dr Rita Parmawati with the organic mulch tape from banana waste, water hyacinth and paitan leaf. (Image source: ANTARA/HO-Universitas Brawijaya)

An organic mulch tape developed by Dr Rita Parmawati, a lecturer from the Faculty of Agriculture of Brawijaya University has helped suppress weed growth, while also reducing soil surface evaporation rate

The mulch tape is made from banana waste, water hyacinth and paitan leaves. According to Dr Parmawati, the new technology will be applied at the start of the second planting season in Malaka District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), where an abundance of banana waste can be found. Mulch tape offers a myriad of benefits which include suppressing weed growth and reducing surface evaporation by up to 40%. Moreover, sun exposure enables the organic mulch to decompose into fertiliser. 

The mulch tape application process is currently being carried out on a laboratory scale and is at the socialisation stage with the Regent of Malaka Regency, several farmer groups, and heads of departments in Malaka District. According to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Malaka District experiences low agricultural growth, with rice productivity in the area decreasing from 2020-2022 due to issues in the supply of rice seeds as well as other problems involving weeds, evaporation, soil temperature, and irrigation systems.

Dr Parmawati explained why organic mulch tape is an efficient substitute for plastic mulch which is considered environmentally unfriendly due to its inability to decompose. "The disadvantages of using plastic mulch are reduced plant growth and yields, increased pest attacks, greater microplastic contamination, waterlogging, loss of soil structure, and reduced activity of soil microorganisms," Parmawati said.

She further highlighted that they would be going to the district at the end of July where they would be working with the PT Widjaya Teknik Indonesia (Witech) factory to make mulch tape for 10 hectares of land. Moreover, they would also be lending a hand to the local community with organic mulch tape preparation, starting with the introduction of materials, chopping, making tape pulp, drying, and pressing.

Both the Solitair and the Zirkon rotary harrow will be available in series production from 2025. (Image source: LEMKEN)

The new mounted LEMKEN Solitair having a working width of 3-4 m, when mounted on the roller of the new generation of LEMKEN Zirkon MR rotary harrows, results in a powerful duo

The LEMKEN Solitair MR series features a 1,500 litre tank, which is suitable for fertiliser even in its basic configuration. The tank is optionally available with a 2,000-litre capacity, which can be split 60:40 on request for simultaneous application of several components. When the 200-litre MultiHub  is added to the tank, the Solitair takes efficacy and flexibility to new heights. This allows mixed crop sysems to be cultivated in a single pass. 

Seeds from the MultiHub are placed through the existing seed lines or through a baffle plate in front of or behind the harrows. The MultiHub offers the same number of width sections as the seed drill. Moreover, the MultiHub control is fully integrated into the user interface of the ISOBUS terminal as an additional seed line, making it very user-friendly. 

The Solitair MR is equipped with the maintenance-free OptiDisc coulter bar with row spacings of 12.5 or 15 cm and features parallelogram-guided double disc coulters and trailing depth control rollers for absolutely uniform field emergence. To achieve this, the coulter system is available in a hydraulic version (up to 70 kg coulter pressure) and a mechanical version (up to 45 kg coulter pressure). Both coulter pressure and seed depth can be adjusted independently of each other and do not affect each other. This is particularly useful in the increasingly popular cultivation of mixed crops. The correct placement depth for the different crops can be set by applying a separate drilling depth setting to each second row. Seeds are always placed at exactly the same depth, even at high forward speeds and in changing soils. The depth control roller then presses the seeds down to ensure rapid and even emergence.

The distributor heads ensure excellent transverse distribution. These are positioned directly above the coulter bar and do not require a seed return function. The new Solitair is equipped with two metering systems, with each of these supplying one distributor with seeds, so that even the basic configuration offers width section or half-width control. A hydraulic tramline mechanism can be added as an option. The LEMKEN iQblue Drill software supports the work in the field, for example by checking if tramline control is possible.

If customers choose the single or double shot version, the LEMKEN Solitair MR comes with four metering units for two width sections each. To ensure that drilling is sucessful and produces high yields, the seedbed must be prepared carefully and adapted to the individual conditions of the farm. In this case, a combination with a rotary harrow is often the best solution.

Following numerous field trials and measurements, the new LEMKEN Zirkon MR is now approved for tractors up to 240 hp, depending on the working width. Moreover, it can also be used in even more versatile applications. When mounted on the new LEMKEN Solitair, it results in a powerful duo. 

By ensuring that the working depth of the rotary harrow and the sowing depth pf the seed drill are not influenced by each other, the new mounting system makes it easier for customers to set up the machine to suit their needs. Moreover, the Zirkon also offers greater convenience with hydraulic adjustment of the levelling bar and working depth.

Both the Solitair and the Zirkon rotary harrow are available in limited quantities and will be available in series production from 2025.

During the critical peak demand months of July, August, and September, usage soars due to grape irrigation, harvesting, and storage. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Electricity has played a pivotal role in advancing agricultural practices, catalysing both growth and innovation in the region's grape cultivation

In response to the escalating power needs of fruit farmers, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power's service team in Yuyao has substantially improved the performance of the local grid, including an upgrade of 30 km of power lines and the addition of 22,000 kva to the substation capacity. This robust enhancement of the power infrastructure has not only fattened the wallets of local grape growers but also contributed to the rise of 'Linshan Grapes' as a celebrated local brand and a testament to the region's commitment to agricultural excellence and innovation.

In Linshanzhen, a meticulous focus on maintaining the electrical infrastructure is central to supporting its burgeoning grape industry from irrigation through to harvest. The town's dedicated service team regularly inspects electrical equipment at the growing sites as well as the lines connecting the equipment to the grid, ensuring growers have an uninterrupted power supply. With increasing grape acreage, the team has quickly adapted, installing single-phase irrigation meters for smaller growers and three-phase meters for larger operations to meet their specific energy demands effectively.

Expected battery cycles required per machine lifetime. (Image source: IDTechEx)

IDTechEx’s new report, ‘Battery Markets in Construction, Agriculture and Mining Machines 2024-2034’, showed that CAM machines require a diverse range of battery solutions to cater to their individual needs.

It has taken around 15 years to convince car owners that battery power is a viable alternative to their fossil fuel comfort blanket. In the construction, agriculture, and mining (CAM) industries, electrification is an even steeper uphill battle. In these industries, if a machine runs out of battery, the operators will soon start losing money. Moreover, these industries have a broad spectrum of machines, each with unique use cases. In case of agriculture machines such as tractors, electrification presents some unique challenges.

Energy consumption

The first challenge is that the use case of tractors is incredibly energy-intensive. For the most part, the purpose of a tractor is to drag machinery through a field. Sometimes, this work is low intensity, such as mowing grass in large fields. Here, the mower attachment isn’t too heavy and creates little resistance with the ground. On the other hand, plowing a field creates lots of resistance and, therefore, uses lots of energy. Additionally, if a field has soft mud, the tractor will lose energy due to the tires slipping. When we compare a tractor and an excavator for example, although both machines have hard and similar workloads, the excavator is at its peak load only momentarily as it breaks through the ground while a tractor works at a constant near-peak capacity. From a battery standpoint, this means that the tractor needs substantially more storage to give the same run time.

Chassis size

While large construction machines have large chassis to incorporate the battery, tractor chassis are a little more compact. Additionally, large excavators can handle the weight of the battery, with many already having concrete ballasts for balance. Excessive weight however, could be an issue for tractors, especially when operating in wet mud. Tractors are also more sensitive to the location of the weight, preferring an even weight distribution across the wheels for the best stability in the mud. So, not only do tractors need more battery power per hour than other similarly sized CAM machines, but they also have tighter constraints on where that battery can go.

Uptime

Construction and mining machines tend to be in almost constant use, but many tractors have very seasonal work. They could sit dormant for large portions of the year, but come harvesting time on a large farm, they could be running 24/7 for days at a time. High uptime in peak season means that the battery needs to be capable of rapid charging to minimise downtime. This is typically tough on batteries, as regular fast charging can degrade their cycle life. However, on the positive side, sporadic usage means fewer cycles are needed over a vehicle’s lifetime. Many tractors have life expectancies of around 2,000-5,000 hours, whereas large excavators might operate more than 10,000 hours over their life span. A shorter life expectancy, with fewer cycles required, opens up battery options to more cutting-edge and emerging technologies.

Battery technologies

Today’s dominant battery technologies are Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), used almost ubiquitously throughout the automotive industry. NMC offers good energy density but typically recharges slower compared to LFP. LFP has compromised energy density but is cheaper and can be recharged more quickly. Both have plenty of cycle life for agricultural applications, but IDTechEx suggests that other emerging options with higher energy density could offer a better fit.

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) and silicon anode batteries are two emerging technologies that might work well in tractors. Both offer improvements in energy density when compared to NMC and LFP, making it easier to put more kWh of battery capacity onto the tractor. Both offer good to high recharging performance, minimising downtime. Finally, both offer the equivalent or higher safety than LFP and NMC. Unfortunately, both technologies are also very new, still in the early stages of commercialisation, and therefore are very expensive. Solid-state batteries and silicon anode batteries make a good fit for agricultural machines from an engineering perspective, but unfortunately, they don’t quite make the business case, for now.

IDTechEx’s report considers a total of 15 machine types across construction, agriculture, and mining, evaluating the needs of each and matching them up against ten existing and emerging battery technologies. The report forecasts that forecasts that SSB and silicon anode will have a small market share of battery demand for agricultural vehicles once they are more mature, but demand will still be dominated by NMC and LFP, even in 2034.