Can combine headers and travel speeds affect the quality of soybean harvesting operations?

ABSTRACT Assuring the quality of mechanical soybean harvesting is crucial to ensure that investment in other stages of crop production is converted into profit for the farmer. Because the quality of this operation is related to decreased losses, which may be affected by the combine header used and by the harvesting speed, the aim of the present study was to assess the quality of mechanical soybean harvesting in the Southern Cone of Rondônia, using harvesters with different combine headers and travel speeds via statistical process control. The experiment was performed during the 2015/16 harvest in an agricultural area of the municipality of Cabixi, RO, located at the geographical coordinates 13° 27’ S and 60° 41’ W. The study was designed based on the premises of the statistical process control, sampling 80 points 100 m apart. Combine header, internal, total, and cutting height losses were assessed. Quality of the harvesting process was assessed using the draper header. Travel speed had little effect on process quality. Crop losses were higher than the acceptable limit, indicating the need to improve the process.

摘要 保障大豆机械化收获质量，是确保作物生产各前置环节的投入能够转化为农户收益的关键所在。由于该作业质量与收获损失降低直接相关，而作业损失可能受所用联合收割机割台（combine header）及收获行进速度的影响，本研究旨在借助统计过程控制方法，评估巴西朗多尼亚州（RO）南部区域内，配置不同割台与行进速度的联合收割机的大豆机械化收获质量。本试验于2015/2016收获季在巴西朗多尼亚州（RO）卡比克西县的农田开展，试验地点地理坐标为南纬13°27′、西经60°41′。本研究基于统计过程控制的原理开展试验设计，按每100米1个采样点的间距采集了80个样本点。本次试验测定了联合收割机割台损失、籽粒内部损失、总损失及割茬高度损失。本研究采用拨禾带式割台（draper header）开展收获作业质量评估，结果显示行进速度对收获作业质量的影响相对有限。本次试验的作物损失超出可接受阈值，表明亟需优化该收获作业流程。