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Aims: To study the soil and crop parameters of coconut orchard for the design of tractor operated coconut basin lister cum fertilizer applicator. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Instructional Farm, KCAET in the Year 2021. Methodology: Soil parameters such as moisture content, bulk density, cone index and shear strength; crop parameters such as trunk diameter and root zone depth of coconut palm were studied using standard procedures to design tractor operated coconut basin lister cum fertilizer applicator. Results: The soil moisture content varied from 13.2 to 15.6% with mean of 14.66%. The soil bulk density ranged from 1615 to 1865 kg m-3 with mean of 1696.6 kg m-3. The soil cone index varied from 0.428 to 1.506 N mm-2 with mean of 1.041 N mm-2. The soil shear strength varied from 1.47×10-3 to 3.13×10-3 N mm-2 with mean of 2.31×10-3 N mm-2. The trunk diameter of coconut palm varied from 32.3 to 38.1 cm with mean of 34.74 cm. The root zone depth of coconut palm varied from 13.4 to 15.2 cm with mean of 14.3 cm. Conclusion: Soil moisture content, bulk density, cone index and shear strength helped in the design of power requirement, rotor shaft, cutting blades, main shaft etc. of the machine. The trunk diameter of the coconut palm aided in deciding the working width of the machine while the root zone depth assisted in finalizing the operational depth of the machine.

Aims: This paper aims to explore the soil parameters and pulling force requirement of tapioca root for the design and development of tractor operated tapioca harvester. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted to investigate the soil parameters and pulling force requirement of tapioca roots at farmer’s field in the year 2021-22. Methodology: The soil parameters viz. moisture content, bulk density, cone index and shear strength and pulling force requirement of tapioca root were studied using standard test procedure that plays an important role in design of soil engaging components and conveying unit of the tuber harvester. Results: The results showed that soil moisture content varied from 13.11 to 16.08 per cent, whereas bulk density ranged from 1483.07 to 1729.56 kg m-3. The cone index varied from 0.33 to 0.98 N mm-2 with an average value of 0.637 N mm-2 and shear strength ranged from 1.34 × 10-3 to 3.48 × 10-3 N mm-2 with the mean value of 2.46 × 10-3 N mm-2. The average value of pulling force requirement for tapioca roots was 103.4 kgf. The root depth and root yield per plant of tapioca roots has an average value of 250.30 mm and 7.82 kg. Conclusion: The study shows that bulk density of soil increased with increase in soil moisture content and had a linear relationship. The coefficient of determination (R2) for the regression model was 93.20 per cent by revealing the linear relationship between shear strength and cone index. Thus shear strength and cone index are related with each other and have an indefinite effect on the design parameters of soil engaging components of tuber harvester.