EFFECTS OF MOISTURE CONTENT, BULK DENSITY AND TRACTOR FORWARD SPEEDS ON ENERGY REQUIREMENT OF DISC PLOUGH

Energy requirement in tillage operations plays a vital role in agricultural mechanization. This hardly comes by since much drudgery is still applied in farming operation in respect to mechanization. This research was conducted at National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Experimental Farm, Umudike Umuahia, Abia State of Nigeria. Three different tractor forward speeds of 1.94 m/s, 2.22 m/s and 2.5 m/s were employed to determine the needed energy requirements in the ploughing operations. It was observed that total energy expended on ploughing were 36,722.34 KJ, 55,173.61 KJ and 69,464.82 KJ respectively. The results indicated that energy decreased with increase in moisture content level db% and increased with increase in bulk density at various forward speeds. This follows the sloping and rising up of the graphs as the moisture content levels (db %) and bulk density (g/cm3) increased, with highest coefficient of determination R2 = 0.698 at tractor forward speed of 1.94 m/s. The result revealed that energy increased as the tractor forward speeds increased with mean energy values of 1,836.12 KJ, 2,758.58 KJ and 3,637.13 KJ. The highest energy was expended at tractor forward speed of 2.5 m/s. It was clear that the ploughing at tractor forward speed of 1.94 m/s requires less energy. Therefore, 1.94 m/s tractor forward speed is preferred to ploughing operation