The results of studies of specific energy intensity of the basin formation process of the onion harvester

Abstract

Abstract Crop farming is believed to be the most energy intensive sector of the agricultural industry. The sector accounts for 70% of all the expenses including more than 40% harvesting-related expenses. Conservation culture cultivation technologies are being actively introduced. These are based on the reduction of the number of production process operations and the replacement of moldboard soil cultivation with nonmouldboard processes, direct seeding of crops and application of herbicides at all stages of plant farming, harvesting of crops with the use of multi-function harvesters that perform a number of process operations during a singe pass: moving of tops, lifting and extraction of the tuber root-bearing layer, separation of commercial products from soil-and-vegetable impurities, and loading onto a vehicle with subsequent transportation for post-harvest processing and storage. A crucial problem implementation of any technology is aimed at solving is the decrease of labor and energy, and resource conservation, as well as increasing of the yield of cultivated crops and thus the reduction of prime cost of products. This aim is impossible to achieve without first determining the energy costs of agricultural product production process operations. Despite the substantial number of scientific studies dedicated to the problem of energy and resource preservation in the cultivation and harvesting of agricultural crops, and the development of engineering tools that ensure high quality of process operations, some issues remain unresolved to this day.