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Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.,19(3): (641-648) 2006

Energetics of Groundnut Production in Red Soil Under Bullock Farms inRaichur Region

VIJAY KUMAR, M. ANANTACHAR, T. GURUSWAMY AND N. KAWALE

Department of Farm Power and MachineryCollege of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur- 584 102

(Received: October, 2005)

Abstract: Groundnut is an important oilseed crop in India and is regarded as king of oilseeds.Presently there is no database available on energy requirements for groundnut production under

bullock farms in Raichur region. Hence, a study was undertaken to work out energetics of traditionalimplement package commonly used by the farmers as well as improved implement package forgroundnut production using energy equivalents with a view to identify the energy efficient implementpackage so that the farmers can grow this cash crop more economically. The results indicated thata total input energy of 10605.87 MJ/ha was required by the indigenous implement package commonlyused by the farmers whereas the improved implement package required a total input energy of9178.90 MJ/ha for groundnut production. Major energy consuming operations for groundnutproduction under bullock farms were seedbed preparation, irrigation and intercultivation. The useof improved implements package consisting of mould board plough + blade harrow combination forseedbed preparation, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University groundnut planter for sowing, universalhoe for intercultivation, groundnut digger for harvesting and power operated thresher for threshingof groundnut resulted in higher energy ratio of 4.18 and lower specific energy requirement of 9.27MJ/Kg compared to traditional implement package consisting of desi plough + blade harrow, sowingbehind desi plough, manually by khurpi, hand uprooting and hand picking respectively which resulted

in lower energy ratio of 2.88 and higher specific energy reuirement of 13.46 MJ/Kg.

Introduction

Energy is one of the basic inputs for

national development process and provides the

major vital services that improve human condition

such as fuel for cooking, light for living, motive

power for transport and electricity for modern

communication. In agriculture sector, the energy

is used in the form of inputs like seed, fertilizers,

agro-chemicals for plant protection, machinery

for various operations, housing, transport and

processing. Among all the non-conventionalsources of energy, draft animal power (DAP) is

one of the promising energy. In India, the energy

for ploughing two thirds of the area cultivated

comes from draft animals. As a cheap source of

renewable energy, DAP is very important in

present operated farms of developing countries.

In spite of the advantage of DAP, it continuous to

be most. neglected sector in the rural economy

of developing countries (Prabhakaran and Selva

kumar ;1992). About 80 million draft animals

contribute about 33 per cent of the total power

availabIe for crop production under Indian context.

It is estimated that the draft animal power available

in the country, contribute about 26 per cent of

total available farm power and about 32 per cent

of energy used in the rural sector for crop

production. It is complementary to mechanical

system, i.e., tractors for ploughing and trucks

and vans for transportation. While the ultimate

goal should, of course, be one of mechanization

and automation, we may, unfortunately have todepend on DAP for fifty more years to come. Here

lies the need for upgrading the DAP system in

order to increase the productivity through Science

and Technology and Organization and

Management of inputs (Ramaswamy, 1985).

Groundnut is an important oilseed crop

in India and is regarded as the king of oilseeds.

India stands first in the production of groundnut


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with 40.6 percent of area under groundnut and 30percent of groundnut production in the world. The

average production of groudnut is around 7.58

million tonnes with an average productivity of

about 1155 Kg/ha (Anon.,1999). Karnataka ranks

fifth in (groundnut production (0.82 million tonnes)

third in the area (1.19 million ha) with an average

productivity of only 603 Kg/ha (Patil et al., 1997)

Raichur region falls in North Karnataka which is

predominantly a dry region with an annual rainfall

ranging from 633.2 to 806.6 mm. Groundnut and

sunflower are major oilseed crops grown in this

region. The small and marginal farmers cultivateoilseed crops in nearly 60 per cent of the total

cultivated area. Draught animals are the major

sources of power available in the farm this is

followed by woman labour, which account for many

of the agricultural operations in raising the crop.

In this region, use of agricultural machinery and

implements is one of the most neglected sector

of agricultural input. Improved agricultural

implements not only save energy and cost but

also help to improve soil manipulation resulting

in less intensity of weeds, better germination and

root growth, higher yield and profitability and also

ensures timeliness in completion of critical

operations with reduced drudgery (Gangil and

Mathanker, 1996). Energy requirements for various

farm operations have been recognized as an

essential data to correctly match the agricultural

implements and the power sources. The database

on bullock drawn implement packages for various

crop production systems have been worked out

for various regions. Presently there is no database

available on energy requirements for groundnut

production in Raichur region. Lack of such

information inhibits systematic evaluation of

implement package used for groundnut prodution.

Mittal (1984) reported that the total

energy requirement for groundnut production was

6345 MJ/ha on bullock farms. Surendra Singh et

al.(1995) reported that the total energy input for

raising wheat, mustard potato and rabi fodder were

15941,7700, 42824 and 32299 MJ/ha -1

respectively. Naravan et aI.,(1998) reported that

the total energy requirement for groundnutproduction in red soil was maximum (15341 MJ/

ha) with the implement package consisting of

country plough and straight blade hoe while it

was minimum (13230 MJ/ha) with the implement

package involving mould board plough, blade

harrow, mechanical seed drill and universal hoe.

Keeping the above points in view, the present

study was undertaken to work out energetics of

implement package used by the farmers as well

as improved implement package for groundnut

production with a view to identify the energy

efficient implement package so that the farmerscan grow this cash crop more economically.

Material and Methods

Field experiment was conducted at

Regional Agricultural Research Station, Raichur

and location was situated in the North eastern

dry zone (zone-2) of Kamataka between 1615'

N latitude and 7720' E longitude at an altitude of

389 m above sea level. The groundnut (Arachis

hypogeaLinn.) of S-206 variety was grown as

test crop in red soil in an area of 0.19 ha underbullock farming system to identify the energy

efficient implement package for groundnut

production. The experiment was laid out as RBD

by considering the bullock drawn indigenous

implement package and also the improved

implement package with five treatments and four

replications as given below.

T1= Desi plough (2) + Blade harrow (2) + Sowing

behind country plough (single row) + Manual

weeding (3) (control)

T2= Balaram plough (2) + Blade harrow (2) +Local seed drill (4 rows) with draw tubes +

Manual weeding (3)

T3= K.M. Plough (1) + Blade harrow (2) + Two

row seed drill + Manual weeding (3)

T4= M.B. Plough (1) + Blade harrow (1) + TNAU

planter + Universal hoe (2) and

T5= Tiller (2) + Blade harrow (2) + Three row

seed drill + Universal hoe (2)

Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences : 19 (3), 2006


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1,2 and 3 indicates number of times the operationcarried out.

The sequence of different field operations

carried out at various stages of experiment under

different treatment combinations are presented

in table 1. During field experiments the different

parameters were measured/recorded and

determined as explained below. A digital stop

watch with an accuracy of 10 th second was used

to record the operating time for different

operations. The effective field capacity was

calculated by using the formula;

A

S=

Tp+ T1

------- (1)

Where, S= effective field capacity, ha/hr,

Tp= productive time, hr and

A= area covered, ha

T1= non- productive time,hr.

Electric motor was used as a prime mover

for pumping irrigation water and for threshing' crop.

The power consumed was measured in terms ofkWh using an energy meter. After threshing and

uniform drying of crop, the weights of cleaned

pods and haulm were recorded using platform

balance.

The energy used for a particular field

operation was calculated as the sum of human,

bullock and mechanical and/or electrical energy

consumed. The energy expended for each

individual farm operation was calculated as

suggested by Anon. (1992).

Effective field capacity of the machine = Ce,ha/hr

No. of hours required to cover one ha t = 1/Ce

hr

No. of male labours required = N1

No. ofemale labours required = N2

Total human-hrs required t1= N

1Xt + N

2Xt

No. of animal pairs required = N3

No. of animal pair-hrs required = t2= N

3Xt

No. of farm machines used = N4

Total machine-hrs required t3= N

4Xt

Total human energy spent E1=N1 Xt X 1.96 + N2Xt X 1.57,

MJ/ha

Total animal energy spent E2= N

3X t X 10.10 MJ/ ha

Let, the weight of the farm machine = W,kg

Annual use of farm machine = X, hrs

Total life in years =Y

Total life in hours = XXY

W

Weight of the machine W1= ....... (2)

per unit hour of operation XXY

Total machine energy spent E3= W

1Xt X62.7, MJ/ha

Total energy used for the particular operation, E = E1 + E2 +

E3, MJ/ha

Source-wise energy use was calculated

based on the energy spent by different direct and

indirect sources using energy coefficients given

in table 2. The total input energy was calculated

by adding the direct and indirect energy. The

output energy was calculated for both pod and

haulm using the energy coefficients (Table 2). The

energy ratio for both pod and haulm was

calculated by dividing the output energy obtained

from pod and haulm by total input energy

respectively. Specific energy requirement was

calculated by dividing the total input energy for

groundnut production (MJ/ha) by the pod yield

kg/ha).

The implement package that resulted in

highest output-input energy ratio and requires

lowest specific energy (MJ/Kg) was identified as

energy efficient implement package for groundnut

production. The data recorded was analyzed

statistically for energy requirement and yield asdescribed by Gomez and Gomez (1984).

Results and Discussion

The energy spent for different farm

operations viz., seedbed preparation, sowing,

fertilizer application, irrigation, intercultivation/

weeding, harvesting and threshing in different

treatments are presented in table 3.

Energetics of Groundnut . . . .. . . . . . .


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Table 1. Details of implements/machinery used for farm operations in different treatments

Farm Treatments

operation T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Seedbed Desi plough (2) Balram plough (2 K.M. plough (1), M.B. plough (1) Tiller (1)

preparation Blade harrow(2) Blade harrow (2) Blade harrow(2) Blade harrow(1) Blade harrow(1)

Sowing Behind country Local seed drill Two row seed TNAU Planter Three row seed

plough with draw tubes drill drill

(4 rows)

Fertilizer Broadcasting Broadcasting Broadcasting Broadcasting Broadcasting

application

Irrigation Surface method Surface method Surface method Surface method Surface method

Intercultivation Manually by Manually by Manually by Universal hoe(2) Universal hoe(2)

/ Weeding Khurpi (3) Khurpi (3) Khurpi (3)Harvesting Manually (Hand: Manually (Hand Manually (Hand Groundnut Groundnut

uprooting) uprooting) uprooting) digger digger

Threshing Manually Manually Manually Power operated Pedal operated

(Hand picking) (Hand picking) (Hand picking) thresher thresher

Table 2. Energy coefficients for different direct and indirect sources of energy

Particulars Unit Equivalent energy, MJ Remarks

A. Inputs

1. Human labour

a) Adult man Man-hr 1.96 1 Adult Man = 0.8

b) Adult woman W oman-hr 1.57 Adult Woman

2. Bullocks Pair-hr 10.10 Body weight

Medium 350-450 Kg

3. Electricity kWh 11.93

4. Machinery Distribute the weight of

a) Electric motor Kg 64.80 the machinery equally

b) Farm machinery Kg 62.70 over the total life span

5. Fertilizers of the machinery

a) Nitrogen (N) kg 60.60 Estimate the quantity

b) Phosphorous (P) Kg 11.10 of the Nitrogen, P2O

5,

c) Potash (K) Kg 6.70 K2O in the chemical

fertilizer

6. Seed kg 14.7

B. Outputs

1. Pod Kg 25.0

2. Haulm kg 12.5

(Source: Mittal and Dhawan, 1988

The maximum energy of 945.08 MJ/ha

was used in T1and a minimum of 402.05 MJ/ha

of energy was used in T5for seedbed preparation.

For sowing operation, the maximum energy was

spent in ill T1(428.19 MJ/ha) and a minimum

energy of 96.51 MJ/ha in T4

which resulted in a

saving of 77 per cent of energy. The energy spent

for fertilizer application and pumping irrigation

water was 42.86 MJ/ha and 2441.11 MJ/ha

respectively for all the treatments as these

operations were common for all the treatments.

Intercultivation operation consumed a maximum

energy of 1334.97 MJ/ha in T1and a minimum of

789.74 MJ/ha in T4. A maximum energy of 46.18

MJ/ha was consumed by T2

and a minimum

of275.78 MJ/ha by T4

for harvesting the crop.



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Threshing of groundnut required a maximum of372.30 MJ/ha of energy in T

4and a minimum of

226.86 MJ/ha in T5. It was observed that the major

energy consuming operations for groundnut

production our bullock farms are seedbed

preparation, irrigation and intercultivation. These

results are in agreement with the findings of Mittal

(1984).

Energy supplied through different direct

and indirect energy sources viz., human, animal

electricity, seed, fertilizer and machiner for raising

groundnut in different treatments are presentedin table 4. A maximum of 2389.51 MJ/ha of energy

was spent through labour in T1and a minimum of

636.50 MJ/ha in T4

These variations are due to

the variations in the human-hrs used for different

operations in different treatments. The energy

spent by animal was maximum (1154.53 MJ/ha)

in T5

and minimum (541.56 MJ/ha) in T3

for

groundnut production. These variations in the

animal energy are due to the variations in the

use of animal pair-hrs. A maximum of 2547.41

MJ/ha of electrical energy was consumed in

treatment T4 as the electricity was used for bothpumping irrigation water and threshing operation.

The electrical energy used in all other treatments

except T4was 2327.30 MJ/ha as it was used for

only pumping irrigation water.

The energy supplied through seed in all

the treatment was same (2205 MJ/ha) as the

uniform seed rate was maintained in all the

treatments. The energy supplied through

fertilizers in the treatments was also same

(2545.60 MJ/ha) as the same dose of fertilizers

was applied in all the treatments. The maximumenergy of 226.31 MJ/ha was supplied through

machinery in T4and a minimum of 56.93 MJ/ha

in treatment T3

These variations are due to the

different sizes of the implements used in the

experiment.

The total energy spent for field

operations, energy supplied through seed and

fertilizers are presented in table 5. Also the pod

and haulm yield, output energy, energy ratio andspecific energy in different"treatments arepresented in table 5. The maximum energy of5856.94 MJ/ha was used for field operation intreatment T

1and a minimum of 4428.30 MJ/ha in

treatment T4. These results are in close

agreement with the findings of Mittal (1984). Itwas observed that the total input energy forgroundnut production was maximum (10605.87MJ/ha) in T

1and a minimum of 9178.90 MJ/ha in

T4. The maximum pod yield of 990 kg/ha was

recorded in treatment T4 and a minimum of 788

kg/ha in treatment T1. The haulm yield ofgroundnut crop was maximum (1089 kg/ha) in T4

and a minimum of 866 kg/ha in treatment T1.

The maximum output energy of 24750and 13612.5 MJ/ha was obtained from pod andhaulm respectively in treatment T

4while they were

minimum (19700 and 10825 MJ/ha respectively)in treatment T

1. The total output energy obtained

from both pod and haulm was maximum (38362.5MJ/ha) in treatment T

4and a minimum of30525

MJ/ha in treatment T1. The maximum energy ratio

of 2.7 was recorded from pod in treatment T4and

a minimum of 1.86 in treatment T1 whereas amaximum energy ratio of 1.48 and a minimum of1.02 was observed from haulm in treatments T

4

and T1respectively. The total output-input energy

ratio was maximum (4.18) in treatment T4which

used improved implement package. These resultsare in close agreement with the findings ofNaravani et aI. (1998) who reported that themaximum energy ratio of 4.80 was recorded withthe improved implement package for groundnutproduction in red soil. The specific energy requiredfor groundnut production was maximum (13.46MJ/kg) in treatment T

1

and a minimum of 9.27MJ/Kg in treatment T

4. The effect of different

treatments on total input energy and yield ofgroundnut are presented in table 6.

It was observed that the total input energyfor groundnut production was maximum 10.605GJ/ha in treatment T

1and a minimum of 9178.90

MJ/ha in treatment T4. The differences in the total

input energy for the treatments T4and T

5are not

varied much, whereas the total input energy in



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Table 5. Input energy, yield, output energy, energy ratio and specific energy requirement among differenttreatments for raising groundnut

Parameters Treatments

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Input energy, MJ/ha

Field operation 5856.94 5478.10 5059.84 4428.30 4484.90

Seed 2205.00 2205.00 2205.00 2205.00 2205.00

Fertilizers 2545.60 2545.60 2545.60 2545.60 2545.60

Total input energy, MJ/ha 10605.87 10228.70 9810.70 9178.90 9235.36

Yield, Kglha

Pod yield 788 867 833 990 948

Haulm yield 866 953 916 1089 1042Output energy, MJ/ha

Pod 19700.00 21675.00 20825.00 24750.00 23700.00

Haulm 10825.00 11912.50 11450.00 13612.50 13025.00

Total output energy, MJ/ha 30525.00 33587.50 32275.00 38362.50 36725.00

Energy - ratio

Pod 1.86 2.12 2.13 2.70 2.57

Haulm 1.02 1.16 1.17 1.48 1.41

Total energy-ratio 2.88 3.28 3.30 4.18 3.98

Specific energy, MJ/Kg 13.46 11.79 11.78 9.27 9.74

treatments T2

to T5

are significantly lower thanthat of treatment T

1(10.605 GJ/ha). It was

observed that the highest yield of 0.990 t/ha wasrecorded in the treatment T

4which was

significantly higher than that of all othertreatments, except T

5. The treatments T

4and T

5

are on par with each other in terms of yield. Thelowest yield of 0.788 t/ha was recorded intreatment T

1. The yield recorded in treatments T

4

and T5

are significantly higher than all othertreatments whereas the treatments T

1, T

2and T

3

are on par with each other in terms of yield. The

lowest yield of 0.788 t/ha was recorded intreatment T

1. The yield recorded in treatments T

4

and T5

are significnatly higher than all othertreatments whereas the treatments T

1, T

2and T

3

are on par with each other in terms of yield.

It may be concluded that the major

energy consuming operations for ground nut

production under bullock farms are seedbed

preparation, irrigation and intercultivation.

Irrigation and intercultivation operations

accounted for 42 to 55 and 17 to 24 per cent per

cent of total operational energy respectively. The

improved implements package consisting of

mould board plough + blade harrow combination

for seedbed preparation, Tamil Nadu Agricultural

University groundnut planter for sowing, universal

hoe for intercultivation, groundnut digger for

harvesting and power operated thresher for

threshing of groundnut was identified as energy

efficient implement package for groundnut

production in red soil under bullock farms in

Raichur region which resulted in higher energy

ratio of 4.18 and lower specific energy requirement

of 9.27 MJ/Kg as compared to traditional

implement package consisting of desi plough +

blade harrow, sowing behind desi plough,

manually by khurpi, hand uprooting and hand

picking respectively which resulted in lower

energy ratio of 2.88 and higher specific energy

requirement of 13.46 MJ/Kg.



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Table 6. Effect of different treatments on total input energy and yield of groundnut.

Treatments Total input energy (GJ/tha) Yield (t/ha)

T1

10.605 0.789

T2

10.228 0.867

T3

9.810 0.833

T4

9.178 0.990

T5

9.235 0.948

Sem 0.037 0.034

CD (0.05) 0.114 0.104

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5Mean input energy, GJ/ha 10.605 10.288 9.810 9.178 9.235

T4

T5

T2

T3

T1

Mean yield t/ha 0.990 0.948 0.867 0.833 0.789

References

ANONYMOUS, 1992, Research on Mechanization of Dry

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College of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur,

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MITTAL, J.P. AND DHAWAN, K.C., 1988, Research Manual

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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, pp.159.

MITTAL, V.K., 1984, All India Co-ordinated Research Project

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PATIL, S.M., KUNNAL, L.B. AND GADDI, G.M. 1997,

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PRABHAKARAN, R. AND SELVAKUMAR,K.N., 1992,

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