1. Introduction Sugar cane is the main raw material for sugar industry in China. Its planting areas are mainly distributed in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Yunnan and other provinces. China is the world’s largest producer of sugar cane. In 2000, it planted 1.46 million hectares. As the region with the most superior natural conditions for the development of sucrose industry, the sucrose industry has developed rapidly and has formed a pillar industry of Guangxi's economy. Sugar output has accounted for more than half of the national output. The sucrose industry is the most important source of economic income for farmers in Guangxi, and it is also an important source of fiscal revenue in many localities. The development of the sugar industry directly affects the livelihoods and social stability of more than 16 million sugarcane farmers in Guangxi.
China has joined the WTO, and it is facing a fierce market competition for the impact of sugar import quotas and tariff changes on the sugar industry. As far as Guangxi is concerned, the current cost of sucrose production is too high and sugar prices have no advantage in the international market. In response to this grim situation, in order to make Guangxi sugar industry bigger and stronger, according to the division of labor of “the sugar factory is the main body of construction, farmers are the main body of cultivation, and the government is the main body of serviceâ€, various levels of government departments have formulated many supports for the development of the sugar industry. The favorable policies have guided enterprises to reorganize their assets, use large-scale backbone enterprises as their leader, and develop large-scale integrated sugar industry groups integrating industry and trade. They have optimized the structure and rational distribution of the sugar industry, focusing on supporting the development of the sugarcane region. . Sugar-making enterprises have deepened their management methods, improved sugar-making technology, and conducted comprehensive utilization of sugar cane products. Cane farmers widely adopt good methods of good seed and implement scientific farming management techniques. Through these measures, Guangxi's sugar industry has achieved certain results, but raw sugar cane production technology, which accounts for more than 70% of sucrose production costs, still lags behind. Therefore, improving the sugar cane production technology level is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. The key to this problem is to popularize improved varieties and adopt advanced farming management techniques. An important aspect of the realization of advanced farming management techniques is the realization of full mechanization of sugarcane production, and the mature sugar cane harvesting machinery technology has not been resolved and has become a bottleneck restricting the full mechanization of sugar cane production.
2. Status of Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Technology
2.1 The status of foreign sugar cane harvesting machinery technology There are two main types of foreign sugarcane harvesting machinery: one is a segmented sugarcane combine harvester, and the other is a whole-stem sugarcane harvester (supporting leaf-stripping machine).
2.1.1 Sliced ​​Sugarcane Combine The world's most advanced sugar-producing countries, due to their abundant land resources, have a large area of ​​planted sugarcane and a compact garden, facilitating mechanization. At the same time, the sugar plant sugar process accepts cut-type raw sugar cane, and they attach great importance to the development of mechanized production. As a result, the sugarcane harvesting mechanization level is high, and the large-section sugarcane combine harvester has been widely used, such as 80% in Brazil. The sugarcane production achieved mechanized harvesting, and Cuba also reached 72%. At present, in the sugar-producing countries of Brazil, Australia, and Cuba, large-sized segmented sugarcane combine harvesters are the main direction for the development of sugarcane harvesting machinery technology.
These large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters have the characteristics of large power, high working efficiency, complete functions, high degree of automation, and low impurity rate, and are mature and stable harvesting equipment in the entire mechanized production. It can be completed in one operation: feeding, cutting, harvesting, cutting, cleaning, loading, sugarcane leaf cutting and returning to land. Together with the transport vehicles, fuel trucks, and maintenance vehicles that are used in conjunction with the harvester operations, the full mechanization of the sugar cane harvesting process has been realized.
The representative manufacturers and models of large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters are: British Serrana, Brazilian SAHTAL, Australian TOFT, etc. The 24-hour productivity of these models has reached 400 to 900 tons.
Small-scale sugar cane combine harvesters are represented by the UT-70K type produced by the Japanese Kubota Corporation and the MCH-15 type produced by Matsumoto Kogyo Corporation. The power of these models is small, with a productivity of 3 tons per hour.
2.1.2 Whole-barrel sugarcane harvester This type of harvester only implements processes such as cutting and laying of sugarcane, and then uses the corresponding leaf-spreading machine to perform cutting and stripping of leaves, manual stacking, mechanical loading, and transportation. The car is transported to the sugar factory. Therefore, it is also called a segmented sugarcane harvesting machine. This type of machine is suitable for the operation of small plots in the sugarcane field in the hilly region and is currently used in Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
This kind of model is smaller, the harvesting method is the entire pole blue mining type. Its structural characteristics are: the power of the walking tractor chassis and the walking device, equipped with a ground profiling device, the header is highly adjustable. Representative models include the NB-11 type manufactured by the Japan Civilization Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. and the NB-11K type produced by the Kubota Corporation, and the BMC-250 leaf-splitting machine manufactured by the Kubota Company. After nearly 30 years of improvement and development in Japan, this type of aircraft is relatively mature and perfect in technology. In general, the scope of application of such models in the world's major sugar producing countries is not very extensive.
2.2 Current Status of Domestic Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Technology China began to develop sugarcane harvesting machinery in the 1970s. The developed models are also mainly divided into two types: segmented sugarcane harvesters and whole-barrel sugarcane harvesters.
2.2.1 Segmented Sugarcane Combine This type of model is modeled after a large-scale foreign sugarcane combine harvester. By modifying the wheel train of the middle-horsepower wheeled tractor, the ground clearance of the tractor was raised to adapt to the ridging of sugarcane and the transfer of raw cane. The header is hung on the rear of the tractor. The direction of the tractor's retreat is the direction of advancement of the harvester. It can be completed in one operation: cutting, tipping, cutting, feeding, cutting, conveying, cleaning, and loading.
The representative of this type of model is the 4GZ-140 self-propelled segmented sugarcane harvester developed by Guangxi Agricultural Machinery Research Institute. Since the cut raw sugar cane is not welcomed by sugar mills, this type of model has not been popularized and applied.
2.2.2 Whole-barrel type sugar cane harvester The whole-barrel type sugar cane harvester harvests the entire pole in full-green style. There are two main types: one for harvesting and debarking, and the other for harvesting and debarking. Segmented.
The combined type complete sugar cane harvester can be completed in one time: cutting tip, supporting, cutting, conveying, cleaning, stripping and other processes. This type of representative model is the KALTOR-80 type sugar cane combine harvester developed by the Guangxi Agricultural Machinery Research Institute and using a horsepower wheeled tractor as a chassis.
Stage-type whole-rod harvester can complete lifting, cutting, conveying, laying (or bundling) and other processes in one go. With the de-leafing machine and transporter, the segmented mechanization of sugarcane harvesting can be realized. Such models include self-propelled undercarriage, side-mounted medium- and large-horsepower wheeled tractors and the use of hand-held tractor chassis types. The models are 4GZ-35 side-mounted sugarcane harvesters developed by the Guangdong Agricultural Machinery Institute, South China. The side-mounted sugarcane harvesters and self-propelled chassis type sugarcane harvesters developed by Nongda University, the 4GZ-12 type sugarcane harvesters (similar to the NB-11K produced in Japan) and the hand-pulled trailers developed by Xianyou Agricultural Machinery Factory, and Nanning City 100 The mechanical sugarcane harvester, which is developed by Le Machinery and Electric Corporation, is a matching tillage machine.
The leaf stripping machines matched with the sectional harvesters are all artificially fed and piled, and the processes of cutting tipping and stripping can be completed at one time. The main models are Model 4ZB-6A from Guangxi University, Model 4ZB-12 from Guangxi Agricultural Machinery, and Model BL02A from Baile Electromechanical Company in Nanning.
Some of the above models have been discontinued; some tests have shown that the technical route is correct, and adaptability and reliability need to be improved, and trial development is under development. Due to technical factors, there is currently no significant promotion.
3. Problems existing in domestic sugar cane harvesting machinery technology Although many models have been developed in the country, the current research and development heat is also rising. However, the mature and stable models suitable for practical production are basically not available. Existing models mainly have the following problems.
3.1 Problems with the segmented combine harvester
3.1.1 The harvested cut cane does not meet the sugar factory requirements. Since the cane must be squeezed within 16 hours after the sugarcane is cut into sections, the sugarcane will change, causing the sugar content to drop, affecting the sugar yield, and the current production mode of the sugar factory cannot guarantee that the pressing will be carried out within this time.
3.1.2 The overall machine structure is poorly adaptable to harvesting. First of all, due to the use of wheeled tractors as the chassis, the amount of modifications needed to the tractors is excessive. Secondly, the model is large and the turning radius is also large. At present, the reserved space in the sugarcane area cannot meet the operational requirements. In addition, the sugarcane fields are uneven, and the header is poor in adjustability, which results in uneven cutting and high breakage rates. In addition, cutting tip devices are inconvenient to adjust, and it is difficult to control the length of reasonable tip length for the highly variable sugar cane; The reliability of components needs to be improved.
3.2 The problems of the whole cane harvester
3.2.1 The poor performance of the integrated whole-rod harvester The raw sugar cane harvested by the combined harvester meets the requirements of the sugar mill, but according to several field tests, the cutting station has poor adjustability, resulting in uneven cutting. The high breakage rate has affected the sprouting and growth of ratoon cane; the net stripping rate is low, the impurity rate is high, the loss rate is still too large, and the conveying device is not perfect. These problems still need to be improved.
With regard to the future direction of development, the combined harvester with a complete lever and blue harvest is still the ideal harvesting machine that is most suitable for the current sugar production process.
3.2.2 Segmented Whole Cane Harvester
3.2.2.1 The structure performance of the complete machine is still unsatisfactory The wheeled tractor is used as the harvester for the chassis and the self-propelled chassis. The overall size of the machine is large and the turning radius is too large. The scheduling of the header is poor, there is no imitation mechanism, and adjustments cannot be made with the terrain. This affects the quality of the cutting, which is mainly reflected in the uneven cutting and high breakage rate. The models with high-powered tractors have a single row (ridge) for harvesting width, poor productivity and power compatibility, and low economic efficiency. With the models suspended in the mid-trailer, the overall machine quality is not evenly distributed, and additional counterweights are required, which will affect harvesting speed and cause certain damage to the sugarcane fields.
3.2.2.2 Productivity is low, and the labor intensity is still high. Because there are few processes completed in one type of operation of this type of machine, although there is a matching operation of the leaf stripper, it still requires more auxiliary workers. Feeding, collecting, bundling, stacking, etc. cannot be mechanically operated, making the labor intensity still high.
3.2.2.3 The structural reliability and manufacturing quality of the overall machine with low reliability are still unstable, and the reliability of use is low. Further tests, improvements, and improvements are needed.
3.2.2.4 The performance of the leaf stripper is still immature The service life of the leaf stripping element is low, which increases the use cost and the maintenance workload; the improvement of the stripping ratio of the whole structure still needs to be improved; the stripping element still exists to damage the sugar cane Phenomenon affects the quality of sugar cane.
4. Strategies for the development of sugarcane harvest mechanization
4.1 Enlarging Policy Support and Increasing Inputs for R&D of Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Looking at the world's advanced sugar producing countries, the mechanization of sugarcane production has developed so rapidly. The key to this is that the key is to obtain great policy support. Although many research institutions, enterprises, and individuals in China have carried out R&D of harvesting machinery, the investment is still insufficient. First of all, the research and development of sugar cane harvesting machinery is an important component of the entire sugar cane industrialization. Second, R&D is difficult and requires a lot of manpower and material resources. Therefore, all levels of government departments should pay sufficient attention to the research and development of sugarcane harvesting machinery, introduce more preferential policies, increase financial investment, and encourage the research and development and promotion of the use of sugarcane harvesting machinery.
The sugar industry is the main body of construction and is the industrialization leader. It not only needs to work hard on the production and sale of sucrose, but also lays stress on the production of sugarcane mechanization because the low-cost raw material cane can reduce the cost of sugar production. At the same time, the sugar companies are involved in the research and development of harvesting machinery, and they are even more capable of diversifying their industries.
Although it is difficult to develop sugar cane harvesting machinery, the market is very broad. Once the technological bottleneck is broken, it will be rewarded. Therefore, R&D institutions, companies, and individuals should seize the favorable opportunity to increase the intensity of development in order to be able to drink the head soup of the sugarcane harvesting machinery market.
4.2 Prior to the efforts to create basic conditions for mechanized operations, the sugarcane harvesting machinery products developed in China could not be promoted and used, and were mainly constrained by the farming systems and agronomics of sugar cane production. Similarly, the introduction of foreign large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters after production trials have also been constrained by China's sugar cane production methods. Since agronomic and mechanization are mutually compatible and promoted, we must change the current sugar cane production method in our district.
At present, China's sugar cane production mode is still relatively backward, and no regional planting, large-scale and specialized production has been formed. Sugarcane fields undulating, hilly topography; planting ridge spacing specifications mixed; seedlings varieties are not good enough, contiguous maturity is inconsistent; mechanization of farming is not high, the types of equipment used are miscellaneous; field management is not scientific enough, uneven growth of sugarcane, etc. . Therefore, we must change this situation and create good basic conditions for mechanized production.
Since sugarcane is a kind of crop that grows for many years in a year, in the conditional sugarcane production area, using the leading role of the sugar factory and supporting policies of various levels of departments, a large amount of sugar cane field construction funds are invested to implement unified planning for the sugarcane area and the pastoral The construction of irrigation facilities, the construction of irrigation facilities, the promotion of good varieties, the implementation of scientific farming management, the establishment of a more modern mode of sugar cane production. In terms of mechanization of production, peasant households alone are still weak. We should explore the experience of foreign advanced sugar cane mechanization in the sugar industry, agricultural service organizations, and agricultural machinery, and establish a comprehensive mechanized management system. Provide comprehensive guidance and services for the whole process of sugar cane production, and strive to produce specialization, standardization, scale, and scientific.
4.3 Strengthening the construction of sugarcane production mechanization service organization The promotion of the construction of sugarcane production mechanization is not only the research and development unit, because mechanization is an important part of the entire sugar cane industry, and it needs the close cooperation of growers, sugar producers and service organizations. Only by implementing large-scale operation of agricultural machinery services, can the mechanization of sugar cane production benefit all parties. Therefore, we must strengthen the cultivation of sugarcane production mechanization service organizations, foster leading service organizations, encourage sugar factories to establish mechanized bases, take the lead, realize industrialized operations, and provide a good operating mechanism for sugarcane harvesting machinery products to enter the market.
4.4 Ideas and Countermeasures for Sugarcane Harvester Technology R&D
4.4.1 The introduction of foreign advanced technology to speed up the process of research and development Whether it is a segmented mechanical harvesting technique or a complete rod type mechanical harvesting technique, it is relatively mature abroad. In order to speed up the research and development process, where conditions permit, we can consider import testing, digestion and absorption, combine Chinese characteristics, conduct localization research, and strive for early application. Now the domestic department has introduced a full-arm type sugarcane harvester with a Japanese hand-picked tow, and is undergoing research and development. This is a good and effective way.
4.4.2 Strengthen the close combination of agricultural machinery and agronomy As the agricultural machinery technology and agronomic technology belong to different departments, previous research and development institutions for harvesting machinery have not conducted thorough research on agronomic techniques, and have developed certain blindness. In particular, they have not established research with sugar cane production units. The interactive system that is tightly integrated with the entire production process leads to the development of prototypes that are subject to production conditions during field trials. With the seasonality of sugar cane production and insufficient time for performance verification, the development process is lengthy and cannot be timely. Make technical improvements. Therefore, it is recommended that R&D institutions should unite with the sugar cane production units to study the standardization of sugarcane production, establish experimental demonstration and extension bases for the research and development of sugar cane mechanization, carry out field trials that are not subject to seasonal restrictions, and strive to optimize the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and accelerate mechanical technology. progress. At the same time, R&D institutions not only research the machinery technology of the harvesting process, but also research the mechanical technology of the whole process of sugar cane production in order to achieve the scale, standardization, specialization, and systemization of the operating machinery. Such as Nanning Baile Electromechanical Co., Ltd., not only established its own test base, but also developed a series of special machinery for sugarcane production such as cultivation, planting, plant protection, and harvesting for sugarcane production, so that the product variety has reached specialization, complete and diverse Achieved better results.
4.4.3 Preliminary research on development machinery technology research and development countermeasures At present, the research direction of domestic harvesting machinery technology is mainly cut-section type and the whole pole type.
The segmented harvesting machinery technology is the dominant direction for the mechanization of harvesting in the world's advanced sugar producing countries, and is proven to be a more advanced and mature model. It will also be the main method for the development of mechanization of sugarcane harvest in China in the future. Although this method is now constrained by sugar technology, it cannot be negated because it is still lagging behind the advanced level in the world. With the sugar market competition in the world, China's sugar industry will accelerate technological progress, through the introduction of foreign advanced sugar technology, combined with China's actual, improve the level of sugar technology. At that time, it will provide a huge market space for segmented harvesting machinery technology. Therefore, the research and development of the segmented harvesting machinery technology cannot be stopped. The relevant R&D institutions should work with the sugar industry to analyze the gap between national conditions and international standards, identify the key factors that affect technological progress, and study the use of segmented harvesting machinery technology. The optimal combination method of sugar production technology breaks through the bottleneck of technological constraints, and focuses on improving the adaptability and reliability of the segmented sugarcane combine harvester, solving its problems, and catching up with the advanced level of international technology.
The research and development of the whole-stem sugarcane harvester is currently the mainstream of domestic research and development. For the whole-stem sugarcane combine harvester, it should be developed in the direction of specialization, intelligence, and automation. New technologies, new processes, and new materials should be used in order to improve the level of technical performance and manufacturing quality of the whole machine and achieve practical production and application. Adaptability, reliability. The study of key components, such as headers, should have a copying mechanism based on topographic changes to improve its degree of adjustment; various parameters affecting cutting quality should be optimized for selection in a large number of field tests and simulation tests. The conveying device shall solve the problems of smooth conveyance, non-clogging, no damage to cane, and connection with the leaf feeder, etc. The leaf stripping device shall study the rationality of the leaf stripping mechanism, the service life of the leaf stripping elements and the degree of damage to the cane, and improve the sugarcane Stripping rate. Improve the flexibility of cut-tip components to accommodate changes in the height of sugar cane. Lifting device should enhance the supporting effect. At the same time, due to the specialization of production, self-propelled undercarriage harvesters can be developed, which does not necessarily require modification of wheeled tractors; the matching power and production efficiency can be designed according to national conditions, and high-power engines are not always used. Increase the organization of sugarcane leaf shredding, raw material collection and loading, and achieve highly automated harvesting.
For segmented whole-barrel sugar cane harvesting machinery, due to fewer completed processes and technical breakthroughs, the contradiction between the matching chassis and the harvesting mechanism should be stepped up to solve the technical problems existing in existing models and improve their adaptability. ,reliability. Study the performance improvement plan of the header to reduce the phenomenon of uneven cutting and high breakage. The way of laying should focus on research. The quality of the laying method and quality will directly affect the number of continuous operations and the number of auxiliary workers. Due to staged harvesting, the productivity ratio is not comparable to that of the joint type. Therefore, the operational flexibility, maintenance convenience, and manufacturing cost of the entire machine should be studied in order to achieve superior economic performance. For the leaf stripping machines, the performance of the leaf stripping elements is also considered. The mutual cooperation of the harvesting machinery system consisting of a harvester, a leaf stripper (preferably a sugarcane leaf shredding and returning plant), a baler, a loader, etc. is all considered, and the labor productivity is improved and the labor intensity is reduced.
Since sugarcane is a perennial crop, special attention should be paid to the destructive impact of mechanized operations on sugarcane fields and the impact of the ecological environment.
5. Concluding remarks The sucrose industry will create a new leap in the new century. The mechanization of sugarcane will be rapidly developed. It will be both an opportunity and a challenge for the majority of agricultural machinery workers. In general, the prospect of sugarcane harvest mechanization in our country is broad and bright. As long as we seize the opportunity and overcome the technical bottleneck, we will usher in the spring of vigorous development of mechanization of sugar cane production.
About the author: Chen Qihai, an engineer born in September 1968, graduated from Beijing Agricultural Engineering University in July 1991. He is mainly engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and promotion of agricultural machinery and food machinery.
China has joined the WTO, and it is facing a fierce market competition for the impact of sugar import quotas and tariff changes on the sugar industry. As far as Guangxi is concerned, the current cost of sucrose production is too high and sugar prices have no advantage in the international market. In response to this grim situation, in order to make Guangxi sugar industry bigger and stronger, according to the division of labor of “the sugar factory is the main body of construction, farmers are the main body of cultivation, and the government is the main body of serviceâ€, various levels of government departments have formulated many supports for the development of the sugar industry. The favorable policies have guided enterprises to reorganize their assets, use large-scale backbone enterprises as their leader, and develop large-scale integrated sugar industry groups integrating industry and trade. They have optimized the structure and rational distribution of the sugar industry, focusing on supporting the development of the sugarcane region. . Sugar-making enterprises have deepened their management methods, improved sugar-making technology, and conducted comprehensive utilization of sugar cane products. Cane farmers widely adopt good methods of good seed and implement scientific farming management techniques. Through these measures, Guangxi's sugar industry has achieved certain results, but raw sugar cane production technology, which accounts for more than 70% of sucrose production costs, still lags behind. Therefore, improving the sugar cane production technology level is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. The key to this problem is to popularize improved varieties and adopt advanced farming management techniques. An important aspect of the realization of advanced farming management techniques is the realization of full mechanization of sugarcane production, and the mature sugar cane harvesting machinery technology has not been resolved and has become a bottleneck restricting the full mechanization of sugar cane production.
2. Status of Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Technology
2.1 The status of foreign sugar cane harvesting machinery technology There are two main types of foreign sugarcane harvesting machinery: one is a segmented sugarcane combine harvester, and the other is a whole-stem sugarcane harvester (supporting leaf-stripping machine).
2.1.1 Sliced ​​Sugarcane Combine The world's most advanced sugar-producing countries, due to their abundant land resources, have a large area of ​​planted sugarcane and a compact garden, facilitating mechanization. At the same time, the sugar plant sugar process accepts cut-type raw sugar cane, and they attach great importance to the development of mechanized production. As a result, the sugarcane harvesting mechanization level is high, and the large-section sugarcane combine harvester has been widely used, such as 80% in Brazil. The sugarcane production achieved mechanized harvesting, and Cuba also reached 72%. At present, in the sugar-producing countries of Brazil, Australia, and Cuba, large-sized segmented sugarcane combine harvesters are the main direction for the development of sugarcane harvesting machinery technology.
These large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters have the characteristics of large power, high working efficiency, complete functions, high degree of automation, and low impurity rate, and are mature and stable harvesting equipment in the entire mechanized production. It can be completed in one operation: feeding, cutting, harvesting, cutting, cleaning, loading, sugarcane leaf cutting and returning to land. Together with the transport vehicles, fuel trucks, and maintenance vehicles that are used in conjunction with the harvester operations, the full mechanization of the sugar cane harvesting process has been realized.
The representative manufacturers and models of large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters are: British Serrana, Brazilian SAHTAL, Australian TOFT, etc. The 24-hour productivity of these models has reached 400 to 900 tons.
Small-scale sugar cane combine harvesters are represented by the UT-70K type produced by the Japanese Kubota Corporation and the MCH-15 type produced by Matsumoto Kogyo Corporation. The power of these models is small, with a productivity of 3 tons per hour.
2.1.2 Whole-barrel sugarcane harvester This type of harvester only implements processes such as cutting and laying of sugarcane, and then uses the corresponding leaf-spreading machine to perform cutting and stripping of leaves, manual stacking, mechanical loading, and transportation. The car is transported to the sugar factory. Therefore, it is also called a segmented sugarcane harvesting machine. This type of machine is suitable for the operation of small plots in the sugarcane field in the hilly region and is currently used in Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
This kind of model is smaller, the harvesting method is the entire pole blue mining type. Its structural characteristics are: the power of the walking tractor chassis and the walking device, equipped with a ground profiling device, the header is highly adjustable. Representative models include the NB-11 type manufactured by the Japan Civilization Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. and the NB-11K type produced by the Kubota Corporation, and the BMC-250 leaf-splitting machine manufactured by the Kubota Company. After nearly 30 years of improvement and development in Japan, this type of aircraft is relatively mature and perfect in technology. In general, the scope of application of such models in the world's major sugar producing countries is not very extensive.
2.2 Current Status of Domestic Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Technology China began to develop sugarcane harvesting machinery in the 1970s. The developed models are also mainly divided into two types: segmented sugarcane harvesters and whole-barrel sugarcane harvesters.
2.2.1 Segmented Sugarcane Combine This type of model is modeled after a large-scale foreign sugarcane combine harvester. By modifying the wheel train of the middle-horsepower wheeled tractor, the ground clearance of the tractor was raised to adapt to the ridging of sugarcane and the transfer of raw cane. The header is hung on the rear of the tractor. The direction of the tractor's retreat is the direction of advancement of the harvester. It can be completed in one operation: cutting, tipping, cutting, feeding, cutting, conveying, cleaning, and loading.
The representative of this type of model is the 4GZ-140 self-propelled segmented sugarcane harvester developed by Guangxi Agricultural Machinery Research Institute. Since the cut raw sugar cane is not welcomed by sugar mills, this type of model has not been popularized and applied.
2.2.2 Whole-barrel type sugar cane harvester The whole-barrel type sugar cane harvester harvests the entire pole in full-green style. There are two main types: one for harvesting and debarking, and the other for harvesting and debarking. Segmented.
The combined type complete sugar cane harvester can be completed in one time: cutting tip, supporting, cutting, conveying, cleaning, stripping and other processes. This type of representative model is the KALTOR-80 type sugar cane combine harvester developed by the Guangxi Agricultural Machinery Research Institute and using a horsepower wheeled tractor as a chassis.
Stage-type whole-rod harvester can complete lifting, cutting, conveying, laying (or bundling) and other processes in one go. With the de-leafing machine and transporter, the segmented mechanization of sugarcane harvesting can be realized. Such models include self-propelled undercarriage, side-mounted medium- and large-horsepower wheeled tractors and the use of hand-held tractor chassis types. The models are 4GZ-35 side-mounted sugarcane harvesters developed by the Guangdong Agricultural Machinery Institute, South China. The side-mounted sugarcane harvesters and self-propelled chassis type sugarcane harvesters developed by Nongda University, the 4GZ-12 type sugarcane harvesters (similar to the NB-11K produced in Japan) and the hand-pulled trailers developed by Xianyou Agricultural Machinery Factory, and Nanning City 100 The mechanical sugarcane harvester, which is developed by Le Machinery and Electric Corporation, is a matching tillage machine.
The leaf stripping machines matched with the sectional harvesters are all artificially fed and piled, and the processes of cutting tipping and stripping can be completed at one time. The main models are Model 4ZB-6A from Guangxi University, Model 4ZB-12 from Guangxi Agricultural Machinery, and Model BL02A from Baile Electromechanical Company in Nanning.
Some of the above models have been discontinued; some tests have shown that the technical route is correct, and adaptability and reliability need to be improved, and trial development is under development. Due to technical factors, there is currently no significant promotion.
3. Problems existing in domestic sugar cane harvesting machinery technology Although many models have been developed in the country, the current research and development heat is also rising. However, the mature and stable models suitable for practical production are basically not available. Existing models mainly have the following problems.
3.1 Problems with the segmented combine harvester
3.1.1 The harvested cut cane does not meet the sugar factory requirements. Since the cane must be squeezed within 16 hours after the sugarcane is cut into sections, the sugarcane will change, causing the sugar content to drop, affecting the sugar yield, and the current production mode of the sugar factory cannot guarantee that the pressing will be carried out within this time.
3.1.2 The overall machine structure is poorly adaptable to harvesting. First of all, due to the use of wheeled tractors as the chassis, the amount of modifications needed to the tractors is excessive. Secondly, the model is large and the turning radius is also large. At present, the reserved space in the sugarcane area cannot meet the operational requirements. In addition, the sugarcane fields are uneven, and the header is poor in adjustability, which results in uneven cutting and high breakage rates. In addition, cutting tip devices are inconvenient to adjust, and it is difficult to control the length of reasonable tip length for the highly variable sugar cane; The reliability of components needs to be improved.
3.2 The problems of the whole cane harvester
3.2.1 The poor performance of the integrated whole-rod harvester The raw sugar cane harvested by the combined harvester meets the requirements of the sugar mill, but according to several field tests, the cutting station has poor adjustability, resulting in uneven cutting. The high breakage rate has affected the sprouting and growth of ratoon cane; the net stripping rate is low, the impurity rate is high, the loss rate is still too large, and the conveying device is not perfect. These problems still need to be improved.
With regard to the future direction of development, the combined harvester with a complete lever and blue harvest is still the ideal harvesting machine that is most suitable for the current sugar production process.
3.2.2 Segmented Whole Cane Harvester
3.2.2.1 The structure performance of the complete machine is still unsatisfactory The wheeled tractor is used as the harvester for the chassis and the self-propelled chassis. The overall size of the machine is large and the turning radius is too large. The scheduling of the header is poor, there is no imitation mechanism, and adjustments cannot be made with the terrain. This affects the quality of the cutting, which is mainly reflected in the uneven cutting and high breakage rate. The models with high-powered tractors have a single row (ridge) for harvesting width, poor productivity and power compatibility, and low economic efficiency. With the models suspended in the mid-trailer, the overall machine quality is not evenly distributed, and additional counterweights are required, which will affect harvesting speed and cause certain damage to the sugarcane fields.
3.2.2.2 Productivity is low, and the labor intensity is still high. Because there are few processes completed in one type of operation of this type of machine, although there is a matching operation of the leaf stripper, it still requires more auxiliary workers. Feeding, collecting, bundling, stacking, etc. cannot be mechanically operated, making the labor intensity still high.
3.2.2.3 The structural reliability and manufacturing quality of the overall machine with low reliability are still unstable, and the reliability of use is low. Further tests, improvements, and improvements are needed.
3.2.2.4 The performance of the leaf stripper is still immature The service life of the leaf stripping element is low, which increases the use cost and the maintenance workload; the improvement of the stripping ratio of the whole structure still needs to be improved; the stripping element still exists to damage the sugar cane Phenomenon affects the quality of sugar cane.
4. Strategies for the development of sugarcane harvest mechanization
4.1 Enlarging Policy Support and Increasing Inputs for R&D of Sugarcane Harvesting Machinery Looking at the world's advanced sugar producing countries, the mechanization of sugarcane production has developed so rapidly. The key to this is that the key is to obtain great policy support. Although many research institutions, enterprises, and individuals in China have carried out R&D of harvesting machinery, the investment is still insufficient. First of all, the research and development of sugar cane harvesting machinery is an important component of the entire sugar cane industrialization. Second, R&D is difficult and requires a lot of manpower and material resources. Therefore, all levels of government departments should pay sufficient attention to the research and development of sugarcane harvesting machinery, introduce more preferential policies, increase financial investment, and encourage the research and development and promotion of the use of sugarcane harvesting machinery.
The sugar industry is the main body of construction and is the industrialization leader. It not only needs to work hard on the production and sale of sucrose, but also lays stress on the production of sugarcane mechanization because the low-cost raw material cane can reduce the cost of sugar production. At the same time, the sugar companies are involved in the research and development of harvesting machinery, and they are even more capable of diversifying their industries.
Although it is difficult to develop sugar cane harvesting machinery, the market is very broad. Once the technological bottleneck is broken, it will be rewarded. Therefore, R&D institutions, companies, and individuals should seize the favorable opportunity to increase the intensity of development in order to be able to drink the head soup of the sugarcane harvesting machinery market.
4.2 Prior to the efforts to create basic conditions for mechanized operations, the sugarcane harvesting machinery products developed in China could not be promoted and used, and were mainly constrained by the farming systems and agronomics of sugar cane production. Similarly, the introduction of foreign large-scale sugarcane combine harvesters after production trials have also been constrained by China's sugar cane production methods. Since agronomic and mechanization are mutually compatible and promoted, we must change the current sugar cane production method in our district.
At present, China's sugar cane production mode is still relatively backward, and no regional planting, large-scale and specialized production has been formed. Sugarcane fields undulating, hilly topography; planting ridge spacing specifications mixed; seedlings varieties are not good enough, contiguous maturity is inconsistent; mechanization of farming is not high, the types of equipment used are miscellaneous; field management is not scientific enough, uneven growth of sugarcane, etc. . Therefore, we must change this situation and create good basic conditions for mechanized production.
Since sugarcane is a kind of crop that grows for many years in a year, in the conditional sugarcane production area, using the leading role of the sugar factory and supporting policies of various levels of departments, a large amount of sugar cane field construction funds are invested to implement unified planning for the sugarcane area and the pastoral The construction of irrigation facilities, the construction of irrigation facilities, the promotion of good varieties, the implementation of scientific farming management, the establishment of a more modern mode of sugar cane production. In terms of mechanization of production, peasant households alone are still weak. We should explore the experience of foreign advanced sugar cane mechanization in the sugar industry, agricultural service organizations, and agricultural machinery, and establish a comprehensive mechanized management system. Provide comprehensive guidance and services for the whole process of sugar cane production, and strive to produce specialization, standardization, scale, and scientific.
4.3 Strengthening the construction of sugarcane production mechanization service organization The promotion of the construction of sugarcane production mechanization is not only the research and development unit, because mechanization is an important part of the entire sugar cane industry, and it needs the close cooperation of growers, sugar producers and service organizations. Only by implementing large-scale operation of agricultural machinery services, can the mechanization of sugar cane production benefit all parties. Therefore, we must strengthen the cultivation of sugarcane production mechanization service organizations, foster leading service organizations, encourage sugar factories to establish mechanized bases, take the lead, realize industrialized operations, and provide a good operating mechanism for sugarcane harvesting machinery products to enter the market.
4.4 Ideas and Countermeasures for Sugarcane Harvester Technology R&D
4.4.1 The introduction of foreign advanced technology to speed up the process of research and development Whether it is a segmented mechanical harvesting technique or a complete rod type mechanical harvesting technique, it is relatively mature abroad. In order to speed up the research and development process, where conditions permit, we can consider import testing, digestion and absorption, combine Chinese characteristics, conduct localization research, and strive for early application. Now the domestic department has introduced a full-arm type sugarcane harvester with a Japanese hand-picked tow, and is undergoing research and development. This is a good and effective way.
4.4.2 Strengthen the close combination of agricultural machinery and agronomy As the agricultural machinery technology and agronomic technology belong to different departments, previous research and development institutions for harvesting machinery have not conducted thorough research on agronomic techniques, and have developed certain blindness. In particular, they have not established research with sugar cane production units. The interactive system that is tightly integrated with the entire production process leads to the development of prototypes that are subject to production conditions during field trials. With the seasonality of sugar cane production and insufficient time for performance verification, the development process is lengthy and cannot be timely. Make technical improvements. Therefore, it is recommended that R&D institutions should unite with the sugar cane production units to study the standardization of sugarcane production, establish experimental demonstration and extension bases for the research and development of sugar cane mechanization, carry out field trials that are not subject to seasonal restrictions, and strive to optimize the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and accelerate mechanical technology. progress. At the same time, R&D institutions not only research the machinery technology of the harvesting process, but also research the mechanical technology of the whole process of sugar cane production in order to achieve the scale, standardization, specialization, and systemization of the operating machinery. Such as Nanning Baile Electromechanical Co., Ltd., not only established its own test base, but also developed a series of special machinery for sugarcane production such as cultivation, planting, plant protection, and harvesting for sugarcane production, so that the product variety has reached specialization, complete and diverse Achieved better results.
4.4.3 Preliminary research on development machinery technology research and development countermeasures At present, the research direction of domestic harvesting machinery technology is mainly cut-section type and the whole pole type.
The segmented harvesting machinery technology is the dominant direction for the mechanization of harvesting in the world's advanced sugar producing countries, and is proven to be a more advanced and mature model. It will also be the main method for the development of mechanization of sugarcane harvest in China in the future. Although this method is now constrained by sugar technology, it cannot be negated because it is still lagging behind the advanced level in the world. With the sugar market competition in the world, China's sugar industry will accelerate technological progress, through the introduction of foreign advanced sugar technology, combined with China's actual, improve the level of sugar technology. At that time, it will provide a huge market space for segmented harvesting machinery technology. Therefore, the research and development of the segmented harvesting machinery technology cannot be stopped. The relevant R&D institutions should work with the sugar industry to analyze the gap between national conditions and international standards, identify the key factors that affect technological progress, and study the use of segmented harvesting machinery technology. The optimal combination method of sugar production technology breaks through the bottleneck of technological constraints, and focuses on improving the adaptability and reliability of the segmented sugarcane combine harvester, solving its problems, and catching up with the advanced level of international technology.
The research and development of the whole-stem sugarcane harvester is currently the mainstream of domestic research and development. For the whole-stem sugarcane combine harvester, it should be developed in the direction of specialization, intelligence, and automation. New technologies, new processes, and new materials should be used in order to improve the level of technical performance and manufacturing quality of the whole machine and achieve practical production and application. Adaptability, reliability. The study of key components, such as headers, should have a copying mechanism based on topographic changes to improve its degree of adjustment; various parameters affecting cutting quality should be optimized for selection in a large number of field tests and simulation tests. The conveying device shall solve the problems of smooth conveyance, non-clogging, no damage to cane, and connection with the leaf feeder, etc. The leaf stripping device shall study the rationality of the leaf stripping mechanism, the service life of the leaf stripping elements and the degree of damage to the cane, and improve the sugarcane Stripping rate. Improve the flexibility of cut-tip components to accommodate changes in the height of sugar cane. Lifting device should enhance the supporting effect. At the same time, due to the specialization of production, self-propelled undercarriage harvesters can be developed, which does not necessarily require modification of wheeled tractors; the matching power and production efficiency can be designed according to national conditions, and high-power engines are not always used. Increase the organization of sugarcane leaf shredding, raw material collection and loading, and achieve highly automated harvesting.
For segmented whole-barrel sugar cane harvesting machinery, due to fewer completed processes and technical breakthroughs, the contradiction between the matching chassis and the harvesting mechanism should be stepped up to solve the technical problems existing in existing models and improve their adaptability. ,reliability. Study the performance improvement plan of the header to reduce the phenomenon of uneven cutting and high breakage. The way of laying should focus on research. The quality of the laying method and quality will directly affect the number of continuous operations and the number of auxiliary workers. Due to staged harvesting, the productivity ratio is not comparable to that of the joint type. Therefore, the operational flexibility, maintenance convenience, and manufacturing cost of the entire machine should be studied in order to achieve superior economic performance. For the leaf stripping machines, the performance of the leaf stripping elements is also considered. The mutual cooperation of the harvesting machinery system consisting of a harvester, a leaf stripper (preferably a sugarcane leaf shredding and returning plant), a baler, a loader, etc. is all considered, and the labor productivity is improved and the labor intensity is reduced.
Since sugarcane is a perennial crop, special attention should be paid to the destructive impact of mechanized operations on sugarcane fields and the impact of the ecological environment.
5. Concluding remarks The sucrose industry will create a new leap in the new century. The mechanization of sugarcane will be rapidly developed. It will be both an opportunity and a challenge for the majority of agricultural machinery workers. In general, the prospect of sugarcane harvest mechanization in our country is broad and bright. As long as we seize the opportunity and overcome the technical bottleneck, we will usher in the spring of vigorous development of mechanization of sugar cane production.
About the author: Chen Qihai, an engineer born in September 1968, graduated from Beijing Agricultural Engineering University in July 1991. He is mainly engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and promotion of agricultural machinery and food machinery.
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