Farm mechanization planning

and machinery selection for

conservation practices

Ajay Kumar Roul

Scientist, AMD, CIAE

What is Mechanization?
Mechanization is augmenting human capacity with
machine to enhance:
Production
Processing
Transportation, and
Marketing of agricultural products

Why Mechanization Planning?

Two reasons:
1 Machinery design/modification
To design (or modify existing) machines to suit our
conditions
2.

Machinery Management
To properly manage farm equipment

Farm Machinery for conservation

practices
Include equipment for:

Tillage (zero/minimum)

Planting

Weeding

Fertilizer application

Pesticide application

Harvesting

The basics of crop production in

conservation agriculture

Timing of operations

Seed placement and seed-soil contact

Appropriate levels of fertilizer

Weed control

Good rotation.

Considerations for buying/modifying

CA machinery

Soil condition
Expected stubble loads
Expected weed spectrum
Crop types and rotations
Area to be sown annually
Type of operation (e.g. mixed farming vs
continuous cropping).

Disc planter vs tyne planter

Disc planters provide a number of advantages
over tyne seeders:

Stubble handling
Higher operation speeds
Lower draft.

Disadvantage of disc planter:

Lack of penetration in hard soils.

Tyne planter

Tyne spacing

Tyne breakout pressure

Tyne shape

Point type

Press wheel

Machinery Management
This refers to efficient:
1.

Selection

2.

Operation

3.

Repair and maintenance, and

4.

Replacement of machinery

Machinery Selection
This involves:
1.

Selection of optimum number/size of equipment

2.

Consideration of acquisition option

Selection of Number and Size

This involves:
Capacity selection
Matching machine size to allotted working days and hours

Power selection
Matching new/existing tractors with new/existing equipment

Least cost selection

Machine which results in lowest annual unit cost considering
timeliness

Factors That Affect the Size of

Machinery Needed

Number of Crop Acres

Labour Supply

Tillage Practices

Crop Mix

Weather

Risk Management

Planting and Harvesting Dates

Hours of Use
How

many hours will this piece of equipment

be needed per year?

Historical data
In absence of historical data, calculate the
following for reasonable estimates:
Machinery

rated in hectare per hour

Size - Field Capacity:

How many acres can this piece of equipment cover in an hour?

Field Capacity:
Fist step in machinery selection is to determine field capacity in acres
per hour for each size available

Field capacity=Widthspeedfielde fficiency conversion factor

Field capacity needed

Area to cover
Days available hours of field time per day

minimum implement width then can be found by inverting the formula

for field capacity

Matching Tractor Power and Implement

Size

PPTO

D W S

3.6 conversion factor

Ownership Costs - Fixed

Costs associated with owning a fixed input or

resource

Ownership costs begin with the purchase of a piece

of equipment and continue for as long as the piece
of equipment is owned

Cannot be avoided, until machine is sold

These costs are incurred even if the input is not used

Costs include Depreciation, Interest, Taxes,

Insurance, Housing, and Leasing

Leasing
Some

machinery is not owned, but under

long-term lease agreements
This lease payment should be included as an
ownership cost

Operating Costs - Variable

Operating costs are directly related to use

Costs in which management has control at a given
point in time
Can be increased or decreased at managers discretion

Will be increased as production increases

If machine is not used, operating costs are zero, but

they increase directly with amount of annual use
Costs include; Repairs, Fuel & Lubrication, Labor,
Custom Hire or Rent, and Other

Timeliness Costs

Hidden
Related

cost
with planting and harvesting dates

Total Machinery Costs

Custom Hire
Usually

fixed rate per acre, hour, or kg yield

Usually, cheaper to use custom hire if used
only for low levels of use
More expensive if custom hire used for high
levels of use

Break Even

Break Even point is point where it is indifferent to own or

custom hire
B.E.

F
(S V )

B. E. is the break-even units, acre;

F is the annual fixed costs, `;
V is the variable costs per unit of operation, `/acre;
S is the custom hiring charge per unit, `/acre

Example:

If ownership costs of machine is `16,820/yr, and

variable costs are ` 50/acre, and it costs ` 250/acre
to have the operation custom hire, break even point
would be:
16820
84.1
250 50

If machine were used for less than 84 acres, it is

cheaper to custom hire
If the machine were used for more than 84 acre, It is
cheaper to own the equipment

Machinery Replacement
An equipment may be replaced due to:
Machine aging

1.

a.

Obsolescence
New models with greater capacity and/or efficiency exist

b.

Reliability
Machine no longer dependable

c.

Wear-out
No longer performs its job even when it is repaired

2.
3.

Farm size or crop changes

Economic or least cost point

Acquisition Option
Acquisition options may include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Cash purchase
Finance purchase
Lease
Rent
Custom hire
Sharing or pooling

END
Thank you