Design and Experiment of Lightweight Dual-Mode Automatic Variable-Rate Fertilization Device and Control System

Abstract

China’s agricultural facilities are developing rapidly and are mainly operated through household contracting. Due to a lack of suitable variable-rate fertilization devices, manual and blind fertilization still widely exists, resulting in fertilizer waste and environmental pollution. Meanwhile, existing fertilization devices cannot simultaneously meet the needs of different fertilization methods for crop cultivation, increasing the cost of mechanized fertilization. This study developed a lightweight dual-mode automatic variable-rate fertilization device and control system for strip fertilization and spreading fertilization. The least squares method was used to analyze the amount of fertilizer discharged per second at different volumes and rotational speeds of the fertilization device. The quadratic polynomial model fits well, with determination coefficients greater than 0.99. The automatic variable strip fertilization and spreading fertilization control models were established. Experiments with strip fertilization and spreading fertilization were carried out. The results of strip fertilization experiments show that the maximum relative error (Re) for granular nitrogen fertilizer (NF) was 6.81%, compound fertilizer (CF) was 6.2%, organic compound fertilizer (OCF) was 6.83%, and the maximum coefficient of variation (Cv) of uniformity was 8.91%. The results of spreading fertilization experiments show that the maximum Re of granular NF was 7.31%, granular CF was 6.76%, granular OCF was 7.43%, the Cv of lateral uniformity was 9.88%, and the Cv of total uniformity was 14.17%. The developed fertilization device and control system can meet the needs of different fertilization amounts, types, and methods for facility crop cultivation at different stages. This study’s results can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for designing and optimizing multifunctional precision variable-rate fertilization devices and control systems.