Introduction to Mechanization

Question 1

Production system

Answer 1

plants+Natural resources+animals+work
___________________________
=product
Work= Any activity of man-tool or machine systems

Question 2

Systems and strategies

Answer 2

• Conventional farming
• Integrated management
• Ecological or organic farming
• Pression farming

Question 3

Management Goals

Answer 3

• High productivity
• High quality
• Low environmental loads
• Sufficient economy

Question 4

Purposes of Mechanization

Answer 4

• Increase land productivity (higher yields, minimize losses, increase quality)
• Increase labor productivity (Working hours per ha)
• **Decrease production costs (Euro per ha)
• Preserve natural resources**
• Improve working conditions (Automation + information technology)

Question 5

Productivity Grain Harvesting

Answer 5

Grain mass (t/worker)
high to low
- Plant protection (1950)
- Mechanization: linear growth from 1950-today
–> Breeding –> Fertilization, Soil science, Crop management)

Question 6

Difference between Mechanization and automation

Answer 6

• Mechanization: Increases productivity of human labour

= Automation: Substitutes human labour

Question 7

Growth period

Answer 7

Spring crop:
- Tillage (April)
- Sowing (April)
- Harvesting (September)

Winter crop:
- Tillage and sowing (Oktober)
- Harvesting (August)

Question 8

tasks of cultivation

Answer 8

1. Seedbed preparation
   (Ploughing, chisel plough) or (non-Inverting tillage)
2. Sowing (Grain Drills, Precision Seeder/Spacing drill, centrifugal disc spreader, pneumatic spreader) (Tractor Power take up=Zapfwellenantrieb)
3. Application of fertilizer (liquid, yard manure spreader,Slurry Band application)

Question 9

What is a pest?

Answer 9

• A pest is considered anything that impedes or competes with crop plants (weeds, insects & rodents, fungi, diseases)
• Common control techniques (Chemical, mechanical, thermal and combinations)
• IMP (= Integrated pest management) or precision farming (Biological, chemical, thermal. Considered to be environmentally friendly)

Question 10

Weeding

Answer 10

• Spraying of pesticides
• Harrowing
• Intra-Row Weeding

Question 11

Irrigation systems

Answer 11

• irrigation hose reel
• wheel line irrigation
• 4 wheel chassis boom
• sprinkler and drip irrigation

Question 12

Digital farming- Definitions of terms

Answer 12

Precision Farming:
- Site-specific treatment, variable dose rates with sensors & application technology
- Automation: autosteering, section control, complex machine functions and logistics

Smart farming:
- Real time systems
- fusion & analysis of information
- decision support

Digital farming & farming 4.0:
- Internet of things (IoT), machine to machine communication
- cloud computing
- big data

Question 13

targeted inputs of different systems

Answer 13

conventional or traditional farming: uniform dose rate per field

Precision farming: Map&soil based, site specific & offline, variable dose rate

Smart farming: Sensor& crop based, site specific & real time, variable dose rate

Digital farming: Multi parameters, single plant, variable & individual dose rate

Question 14

Outlook- Conditions of agri productions

Answer 14

1. Production for the world market, low intensities, Low land prices, high automation of subsystems
2. appropriate tech, medium and high intensities, low labor costs
3. High product qualities, high safety and environmental concerns, high labor costs, investments and intensities