International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Determining the sustainability of agricultural production are agro-technical activities, as the main units in any technology. A study has been carried out to evaluate the impact of crop treatment systems, mineral fertilization and integrated weed control on soil and climatic conditions in the Sofia region.
It has been found that less intensive weeding with annual and perennial weeds is observed when using a more intensive treatment system compared to the reduced treatment option. The number of weeds per unit area is increasing in the non-fertilizing variants, but their mass is lower than the fertilizers. Deeper soil tillage contributes to maintaining the values of the physical parameters (humidity, bulk density and soil hardness) in a more favorable range. Fertilization has the most significant effect on yields during the three years of the experiment.

The working members of the batch-combined machine for minimum tillage and crop tending are combined into two separate batches. By means of the first batch, there are performed simultaneously tilling and sowing operations, but the second is intended for surface tillage and crop tending. During just one field day, the machine is capable of performing 8…10 agricultural operations, and its working members can work in three modes: 1. Soil loosening without furrow slice overturning, when the main tillage unit (wedge) is in its working condition together with lateral knives (for the eroded soils); 2. Clod furrow slice pulverization and mixing, when the main tillage unit (wedge), lateral knives and rotary tiller are in their working conditions (for the non-eroded soils); 3.Cultivation of humid soils with a partial overturning of furrow slice, when the main tillage unit (wedge), lateral knives and rotary plough (instead of tiller) are in their working conditions. The cost of oil and lubricants and operating time are reduced by 2…2,5 times, and besides, the agrotechnical terms reduce considerably. The design formula for tillage output envisages both broken and unbroken soil strips. This formula can be also used for calculation of the machine output during cultivation, sowing, cutting the irrigation channels and so on. The proposed batch-combined machine can be also considered as energy-saving, resource-saving, environmental and advanced technology.

Organic agriculture finally renounces the use of herbicides. Taking into account the positive qualities of weeds, the aim is not to their complete elimination, but to reduce the available quantity, which is not harmful to yields. With these prerequisites weed control on the non-chemical way is becoming more important as a major place occupied the variety of crop rotation and other indirect ways to control the weeds. For their regulation by a non-chemical route in practice farmers use appropriate machines and devices and therefore pay particular attention to the mechanical implements, automatic systems and thermal control of weeds. In organic farms for vegetables use also cultivators with automatic diverting knives and cultivators with automatic rotating knives, controlled by video cameras and sensors. Robotic machines for weed control have also been developed in recent years, controlled by GPS agricultural navigation.

The working members of the batch-combined machine for minimum tillage and crop tending are combined into two separate batches. By means of the first batch, there are performed simultaneously tilling and sowing operations, but the second is intended for surface tillage and crop tending. During just one field day, the machine is capable of performing 8…10 agricultural operations, and its working members can work in three modes: 1. Soil loosening without furrow slice overturning, when the main tillage unit (wedge) is in its working condition together with lateral knives (for the eroded soils); 2. Clod furrow slice pulverization and mixing, when the main tillage unit (wedge), lateral knives and rotary tiller are in their working conditions (for the non-eroded soils); 3. Cultivation of humid soils with a partial overturning of furrow slice, when the main tillage unit (wedge), lateral knives and rotary plough (instead of tiller) are in their working conditions. The cost of oil and lubricants and operating time are reduced by 2…2,5 times, and besides, the agrotechnical terms reduce considerably. The design formula for tillage output envisages both broken and unbroken soil strips. This formula can be also used for calculation of the machine output during cultivation, sowing, cutting the irrigation channels and so on. The proposed batch-combined machine can be also considered as energy-saving, resource-saving, environmental and advanced technology.