ABE 22

Problem Set 4: Calibration of Planters

Instructions: Solve the following problems. Provide the given, required, solution and the final
answer.

1. The fertility of a field is such that maximum corn yields are obtained with a population of
40,000 plants per hectare. The rows are 3 ft apart and an average emergence of 80 percent
is expected. How many seeds per hill should be planted if the hills are 2 ft apart?

2. A 10-hectare farm is to be planted with peanuts at a rate of 21 kg/hectare. The hill and row
spacing is 35 cm x 45 cm, respectively. Determine the number of hills. How many kilos of
peanuts are to be planted per hill? Also, determine the number of peanut seeds per hill
assuming the weight of the seed is equal to 0.1 g.

3. A farmer will use an 8-row grain drill for planting paddy. Its groundwheel is one meter in
diameter designed for slip operation. Row spacing is adjustable. He will follow a 100-kg/ha
seeding rate recommendation. If the row spacing is 25 cm, how much paddy (in grams)
must the drill deliver for one revolution?

4. How many grams of cotton seeds are required per hill for a hectare of farm, assuming a
seeder is to be used in planting the seeds at 0.20-m row spacing and 0.50-m plant spacing?
The seeding rate is 10 kg/ha.

5. A 4 m sugar planter is used to transplant sugar cane to a 200-hectare farm. The plant
spacing is 50 cm while the row spacing is 100 cm. Compute the number of hills the machine
can plant for the entire area. What is the rate of planting in hills per hectare if the machine
travels at a speed of 4 kph? Estimate the number of tractors and planter units required to
finish the entire area in 15 days with 8 hours/day operation. Assume a planting efficiency
of 85%.

6. Determine the amount of seeds (in kg) needed to be sown to a hectare of land given the
following data:
The size of the grain drill is 6-60cm
The diameter of the wheel is 15 cm
The seeding rate per drill is 1 kg/250 revolutions of the ground wheel

7. Calculate the seed rate in kg/ha of a 7 x 17 cm seed drill whose ground wheel diameter is
124 cm and total weight of grain collected in 20 revolutions is 0.423 kg.
 8. The following results were obtained while calibrating a seed drill. Calculate the seed rate
in kg per hectare.
a. No. of furrows = 10
b. Spacing between furrows = 20 cm
c. Diameter of ground wheel = 1.5 meter
d. Revolutions of ground wheel rotated for seed delivery = 500
For 9-12. The calibration of the 9X7 (9 rows X 7 inches row spacing) grain drill is shown
below. Row spacing is to be adjusted to 14 inches. Ground wheel diameter is 1.22 m.

9. What is the seeding rate at ¼ open seeding adjustment in kg/ha?

10. What is the seeding rate at ½ open seeding adjustment in kg/ha?
11. What is the seeding rate at ¾ open seeding adjustment in kg/ha?
12. What is the seeding rate at full open seeding adjustment in kg/ha?
For 13-15. Using the specifications of the transmission system of the metering device of
the two-row corn planter:
Given: Seeds per hill = 2 No. of cells of seed plate (SP) = 20
No. of rows = 2 Ground wheel (GW) diameter = 0.60 m

No. of teeth Speed ratio (GW/SP)

T=8 5/1
T = 10 4/1
T = 12 3/1
13. Determine the hill spacings. If the row spacing is 0.75 m, average seeds per hill is two
and emergence is 90 percent, what are the expected plant populations per hectare
given that the groundwheel shaft has 8 teeth? Round off to two decimal places
14. Determine the hill spacings. If the row spacing is 0.75 m, average seeds per hill is two
and emergence is 90 percent, what are the expected plant populations per hectare
given that the groundwheel shaft has 10 teeth? Round off to two decimal places
15. Determine the hill spacings. If the row spacing is 0.75 m, average seeds per hill is two
and emergence is 90 percent, what are the expected plant populations per hectare
given that the groundwheel shaft has 12 teeth? Round off to two decimal places