This work reviews the current state of the art for pineapple production in Malaysia from the perspective of mechanization and automation. It examines the issues and challenges facing this industry. The review has led us to the conclusion that pineapple production still relies heavily on manual labour. The problems facing this industry is no different than other food crops in that low yield labour and high cost are the primary issues that need to be tackled. Although numerous engineering research work to overcome production issues has been done for crops such as rice and maize, engineering research for pineapples has been scarce. The lack of engineering research literature on this crop presents an opportunity for the scientific community to invest effort in this relatively untapped industry. This work further proposes areas where the use of Industry 4.0 technologies can be exploited in order to increase productivity and reduce input costs. Cyber-physical systems that could address issues in planting, crop maintenance and harvesting are put forth as a possible solution.
Pineapple transplanting is very laborious work. This process requires 15 workers to plant one hectare of pineapple, which requires 43,500 suckers. The objective of this study was to develop an improved mechanical transplanter for transplanting pineapple suckers. Physical parameters of pineapple suckers, such as weight (g), length (cm), diameter (cm) and canopy (cm) were measured for two varieties, MD2 and N36. A preliminary experiment based on the gripper-type mechanical transplanter was also done. The experiment proved that this transplanter had potential for transplanting pineapple suckers, as it was able to transplant the suckers with the targeted planting distance of 30 cm. However, components such as the roller chain system, the grippers and furrow opener required design improvements. The roller chain system should use 12.5 mm (0.5 in) chain for the whole chain-sprocket system. The gripper should be lengthened to 30 cm to accommodate the uniform pineapple sucker length. The gripper slot should also be widened to about 6 cm. The furrow opener needs to be widened from 8.9 cm to 10.2 cm to accommodate the biggest diameter of pineapple suckers. It is hoped that these design improvements can improve the workability of the mechanical transplanter for transplantation of pineapple suckers
After the pineapple crop is 15 months old, the pineapple will be harvested and pruning process will be done before fertilization work begin. Normally in conventional method, farmers will use a sharp machete or sickle to pruning the leave since pineapple leaves and cob have a high fibers content causing the leaves and cob break easily. The convention method requires a lot of time as well as the need for a large labor force, and the cost of production would also increase in this regard. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance and effectiveness pruning using a mechanization approach compare to the conventional method in pruning the pineapple crop. In 11th Malaysia plan (RMK-11) a new concept and prototype were developed with 2 blade disc type, powered by gearbox 1:3 ratio and adjustable height for peat soil condition. Using of 38hp of tractor high clearance rubber trek with powered by PTO (Power take off) speed 540 and rpm 1500.The height of the cutter blade can be adjustable according to the height of the crop needed to be pruned. The machine capable working rate is 0.86 ha/hour, speed tractor is 2.03km/hour and the machine efficiency are 92 %. Machined time operation is up to 1.2 hour/ha and operating for 8.4 ha/per-day. As a result, the machine seems have a clean-cut result on pineapple leaves and cob without breaking the pineapple crop.
Rainfed planting season is traditional planting method to cultivated crops. Prediction from rainfall pattern and grow crop without installation of irrigation system, the potential of grain corn yield under small experimental plot exceeds 6 t/ha. High intensity of rainfall during the monsoon season is advantages for cultivation grain corn without irrigation system in Malaysia. Good cultural practice and with properly design of water management system allow grain yield to the potential level.
Currently, the average grain corn yield in farmer field is 3-4 t/ha and sometimes as low as 1 to 2 t/ha. Whereas large scale planting in research station, the harvested average yield can reach up to 5 to 6 t/ha and CCT yield of 8-9 t/ha and the operation cost is more than RM5,000.00/ha. Planting spacing study is one of the mechanisms for lowering the cost of grain corn cultivation. It’s also plays an important role in the growth of corn crops. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of planting spacing on the yield of grain corn. The evaluation has been conducted at MARDI Seberang Perai, Pulau Pinang. A 90hp tractor attached with pneumatic row planting machine used for the cultivation operation. Five planting spacing (13, 16, 19, 22, and 25 cm) was evaluated. Study showed no significant differences on growth performance and cob corn. For the yield, the results showed significant differences at p <0.05. The highest yield at planting spacing at 13 cm is 10.78 tan/ha
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