Background of the Study

Food production has been one of the top priorities being given attention in every
country around the world. This drives the industry to develop new ways to produce
crops efficiently, minimizing manual labor.
Philippines, being one of the countries inclined in agriculture, has different
varieties of crops being produced in its different regions. One of the prior commodities in
Philippine agriculture is root crop production.
Root crops or simply root vegetables are classified as species of plants where
nutrients gathered by the plants are stored inside its roots, thus having a unique
biological structure compared to other plants.

Statement of the Problem

Because of the increasing demand for rice throughout the country, the
Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI) emphasizes the
production of root crops to become a priority in food production. Using roots crops as an
alternative source of food, it may reduce the demand for rice and accordingly adding
alternatives for food that are consumed on a daily basis.
However, the development for technologies in root crop production has declined
for the past few years, thereby being stagnated to the reliance to manual labor.
It is hoped that developing a device, which has the functions of the machineries
used in agriculture, may help in the maximization of root crop production.

Theoretical Background
Ideally, machineries such as tractors are equipped with farming tools that serve
as the primary equipment for a mechanized operation. They are further classified in the
process that they can operate such as in soil cultivation, planting, fertilization, pest
control and harvesting.
Machineries involved in soil cultivation are equipped with farming tools necessary
for soil cultivating. Known types of cultivators are the toothed type which are similar to
chisel plows. Frames attached with numerous teeth or blades are designed to puncture
deep into the ground, therefore pulverizing the soil in the process. Loose soil produced
in cultivation provides a desirable environment for seeds to grow. Cultivation may be
associated to pest control. Weeds or undesirable plant growth (such as grass and
moss) are killed in the process, sparing only the crop plants.
Prior to soil cultivation, seeding or planting the crops will be the carried out with
the use of seeders or automated planting machines. The method of planting of
machineries differ based on the type of plant selected for farming. As for root crops,
which are planted using the transplanting method. Transplanting is a method of planting
in which pre-grown seedlings of crops are used which were raised temporarily outside
of the field. The actual field planting may be accomplished either manually or by
mechanical means.
There are different types of planters available with the main difference being
mechanical driven versus hydraulic/electrical driven. In a mechanical drive system the
unit works by a small suspended tire being driven by another which is in contact with the
ground (driven) tire. As the operator lowers the planter the two tires make contact and
the planter is engaged. When the driven wheel begins to turn it then turns a series of
gears that determine the population of the seedlings produced. The gears can be
changed by the operator in order to change the planting population. A hydraulic driven
system came about to correct the shortfalls of the ground driven system. Hydraulic
driven systems allow the operator to change population on the go, as well as allowing

the computer controller to follow a prepared prescription for an individual field. The
system also allowed for plant populations to be infinite in that mechanical gears systems
are limited to set number of population settings and gears available from manufactures.
In 2014 John Deere introduced the ExactEmerge row unit which introduced high-speed
planting. Precision Planting (later purchased by John Deere from Monsanto) followed
suit and released the vDrive system. These system were unique, not that they electrical,
but that they allowed an operator to double their speed when planting. Other
manufactures had already developed an electrical planter, but lacked these additional
improvements. Traditionally, an operator would plant at about 4.5-5.5 mph for optimal
performance, however, with the advent of these systems electrical motors match the
speed of the tractor and "dead-drop" the seed in the trench using either a belt or brushbelt which cause the forward momentum of the planter to be offset by the rearward
momentum of the seed. Older systems would instead drop the seed through a tube after
the meter rather than place is in the seed trench directly.*
Harvesting using machines are subdivided into types depending on the type of
crops in concern. As for root crops, machineries uses tractors that dig deep into the
ground, which will be carried using a flat metal plate attached at the front of tractors.
The harvested crop are moved towards the back of the harvester on to a separation unit
and then (on manned machines) to a picking table where people pick out the stones,
clods, and haulms by hand. The crops then go on to a side elevator and into a trailer or
a large vessel.

Hypothesis
The automated root crop seeder and harvester can produce crops faster and
more efficient than using other counterpart agricultural equipment combined.

Objectives
The research aims to show the performance of the device in the actual field:

To produce root crops faster and more efficient than the conventional methods.
To provide a new concept for root crop farming with the use of combined
equipment.

Scope and Limitations

The study was conducted to produce root crops with faster operation and
efficient work. This study also includes the development of a device that serves multiple
functions that is normally carried out by numerous agricultural machineries.
The study is only limited to root crop farming in the Philippines and other related
technologies required for this study to progress.

Significance of Research
Using the device proposed in the country provides a substantial opportunity for
root crops to prosper and therefore will serve as an alternative food source.
The project shall generate information valuable to Mechanical Engineering, both
as a discipline and a professional practice.