Field Evaluation of Tractor Mounted Soil Sensor for Measurement of Electrical Conductivity and Soil Insertion / Compaction Force

Soil properties like electrical conductivity and soil compaction due to its correlation with other soil properties like soil texture, water content, cat ion exchange capacity (CEC), drainage conditions, organic-matter level, depth to clay pans, salinity, and subsoil characteristics that affect crop growth and its productivity were found to be important properties of soil. To observe the effect of electrical conductivity and insertion force, a tractor operated soil sensor (Make Veris Technology, USA) was used for measurement of electrical conductivity and insertion force (compaction) of soil in the field. Tractor mounted soil sensor probe was having a soil EC contacts and a load cell to measure the electrical conductivity and insertion force, respectively by pushing the probe into the soil. Experiments were conducted at two fields of departmental research farm of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. In field no. 1, the average electrical conductivity measured by tractor mounted soil sensor varied from 8.5 to 9.6 mS·m -1 having coefficient of variance 26.8% at soil moisture content of 26% (wb). In field no.2, the average electrical conductivity measured by tractor mounted soil sensor varied from 15.75 to 23.28 mS·m -1 with CV 12.1%. For Lab measurement of soil EC, coefficient of variance (CV) was found to be 10.9 % with average EC value of 20.62 mS·m -1 . Overall insertion force for field no 1 was 1953.44 kPa at 0.2 m depth which suddenly increased up to 2864.06 kPa when depth was increased to 0.4 m which is 46% more than at 0.2 m depth. Corresponding author. E-mail: karunluckysharma@gmail.com Singh, H., et al.: Poljska ocena traktorskog senzora za . . . / Polj. Tehn. (2015/3), 33-42 34 Overall insertion force for field no 2 was 8085.71 kPa observed at 0.2 m depth which increased up to 9704.96 kPa when depth was increased to 0.6 m which was 20% more as compared to insertion force at 0.2 m soil depth.