Performance of a Metering Unit Equipped with a Fluted Roll for Seeding Coriander Seeds (Coriandrum sativum L.)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find out the performance of a seeding unit metering coriander seeds (Coriandrum sativum L.) with a fluted roll. As a first step for the determination of the performance of the metering unit, flow rate measurements were achieved at a combination of five roll lengths and ten different rpm values with three replications. The coefficient of variation (CV, %) was calculated and each CV value was used to characterize the flow evenness. The seed distributions were obtained at three seeding rates (15, 20 and 25 kg ha-1) and three forward speeds (1.0, 1.5 and 2 ms-1). The data obtained from the sticky belt test stand experiments; the seed distribution uniformity was evaluated based on two performance criterion. One of them was the variation factor (Vƒ) and the other one was the goodness criterion (λ). The CV (%) values of flow evenness were found to vary between 0.28 and 1.05%. On the other hand, the variation factor (Vƒ) values were found to range from 0.65 to 0.83 and these values indicated that the seeding can be characterized as precision seeding at all combinations of three seeding rate and three forward speeds. The goodness criterion (λ) values varied between 69 % and 77.3%. Based on the evaluation range of the goodness criterion (λ), the seeding at a seeding rate of 15 kg ha-1 and forward speed of 1.0 ms-1 along with the seeding rate of 20 and 25 kg ha-1 at a forward speed of 1.0 and 1.5 ms-1 was classified as very good. The rest of the four seeding rates and forward speeds combinations, the goodness criterion (λ) was evaluated to be good quality.