The underlying mechanism of variety–water–nitrogen–stubble damage interactions on yield formation in ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting

Agronomic measures are the key to promote the sustainable development of ratoon rice by reducing the damage from mechanical crushing to the residual stubble of the main crop, thereby mitigating the impact on axillary bud sprouting and yield formation in ratoon rice. This study used widely recommended conventional rice Jiafuzhan and hybrid rice Yongyou 2640 as the test materials to conduct a four-factor block design field experiment in a greenhouse of the experimental farm of Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, China from 2018 to 2019.The treatments included fertilization and no fertilization, alternate wetting and drying irrigation and continuous water flooding irrigation, and plots with and without artificial crushing damage on the rice stubble. At the same time, a 13C stable isotope in-situ detection technology was used to fertilize the pot experiment. The results showed significant interactions among varieties, water management, nitrogen application and stubble status.Relative to the long-term water flooding treatment, the treatment with sequential application of nitrogen fertilizer coupled with moderate field drought for root-vigor and tiller promotion before and after harvesting of the main crop, significantly improved the effective tillers from low position nodes. This in turn increased the effective panicles per plant and grains per panicle by reducing the influence of artificial crushing damage on rice stubble and achieving a high yield of the regenerated rice. Furthermore, the partitioning of 13C assimilates to the residual stubble and its axillary buds were significantly improved at the mature stage of the main crop, while the translocation rate to roots and rhizosphere soil was reduced at the later growth stage of ratooning season rice. This was triggered by the metabolism of hormones and polyamines at the stem base regulated by the interaction of water and fertilizer at this time. We therefore suggest that to achieve a high yield of ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting, the timely application of nitrogen fertilizer is fundamental,coupled with moderate field drying for root-vigor preservation and tiller promotion before and after the mechanical harvesting of the main crop.

Design and experiment of anti-adhesion rototiller based on staggered double-roller scraping

In order to solve the serious problem of soil adhering blade roller in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River,the anti-adhesion rototiller based on staggered double-roller scraping(ARSDS)was designed by mechanical scraping methods.The volume equation for scraping the soil adhesion part with staggered rotary blades was constructed.The mechanical conditions for separation of soil adhesion part from blade roller were clarified,and the contact time between rotary blade and soil during rotary tillage was analyzed.By this way,the key parameters affecting soil adhering on and separating from the blade roller were determined,which were rotational speed,cutting pitch and tillage depth.The spatial and temporal trajectory changes for the sidelong section edge of staggered rotary blades were analyzed,so that the rotary blade arrangement was obtained.Combining the discrete element method,selecting the soil adhesion mass on the staggered blade rollers as the response value established prediction model by Box-Behnken design test.For example,taking the tillage depth of 14 cm for wheat cultivation in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River,the optimal combination of parameters was determined to be 230 r/min and 10 cm for rotational speed and cutting pitch,respectively.At this time,the soil adhesion mass was 4566.67 g.In the meantime,the process of soil particles adhering staggered blade rollers and rotary blades scraping off the adhering soil were clarified.Field experiments have shown that the operation quality of ARSDS met the requirements of rototiller performance indexes.In the rice stubble field of high water moisture,the soil adhesion mass was 13.455 kg and 38.215 kg for ARSDS and conventional rototiller,respectively,which indicated that ARSDS effectively reducing soil adhesion mass.The research results can provide technical support for the design of rototiller reducing soil adhesion in the agricultural areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Operation analysis and parameter optimization of the conveying device for uniform crushed straw throwing and seed-sowing machines

Uniform crushed straw throwing and seed-sowing machines can achieve the processes of straw chopping,straw transport,sowing,fertilization,and straw mulching at the same time,which is widely used in many areas of China.Conveying device is one of the important components used to convey,elevate and throw straw.However,the problems of high power consumption and congestion affect the promotion of the machine.Therefore,the conveying device of uniform crushed straw throwing and seed-sowing machine was analyzed in order to determine its device operation mechanism.Kinematic and dynamic analyses of particles of crushed rice straw during lifting and dispersion are used to develop a flexible-body model of rod-shaped and agglomerate-shaped crushed straw and a coupling model including the mechanical structure of the device.By integrating computational fluid dynamics and the discrete element method,the gas-solid coupling theory in numerical simulations and motion analysis of crushed straw particles is used to determine how the flow field and motion characteristics affect the conveying performance.Besides,regression equations to describe the relationships between the factors and each assessment index were established by using the regression analysis and response surface analysis with the software Design-Expert.The effect of throwing blade speed X_(1),conveying volume of crushed straw X_(2),and pipeline diameter X_(3) on the throwing speed of crushed straw Y_(1) and specific power consumption Y2 were investigated.The highest throwing speed of crushed straw and lowest specific power consumption are the optimization goal.The results of optimization showed that the predict the best optimal parameters were 2000 r/min throwing blade rotational speed,1.4 kg/s conveying volume,and 220 mm pipeline diameter,the planter achieved a throwing speed of 12.2 m/s and specific power consumption of 9179 m^(2)/s^(2).And then a field test verification was conducted.The planter achieved a throwing speed 12.4 m/s and specific power consumption 9070 m^(2)/s^(2) while selecting the best optimal parameters.Thus,the optimal parameters can provide a high-performance operation and satisfy the actual operation requirements The results provide a theoretical basis and data support for seeding technology innovation and equipment optimization to ensure uniform crushed straw throwing in dense rice stubble fields.