THE PROTOTYPE OF MULTI FUNCTION IMPLEMENT
FOR MAINTAINING RATOON CANE

Tata Darmawan
Pusat Penelitian Perkebunan Gula Indonesia
Indonesian Sugar Research Institute
E-mail: isri@telkom.net

ABSTRACT

In general, the yield of ratoon cane is lower than that of plant cane. However, total cane production is influenced significantly by ratoon cane because ratoon cane area is three times more than the plant cane area. It can be explained that ratoon cane yield is low because of shallow root zone from the previous plant cane as well as poor cane cultivation maintenance. Shallow root zone in cane area is a result of formation of hardpan under top soil layer. On the other hand, standard maintenance of ratoon cane is conducted only 13% - 68%, due to limited of man power, as well as tractor and implements owned by sugar factory. The objective of this research is to design Multi Function Implement (MFI) to overcome the above mentioned problems. The MFI components consist of coulter, stubble shaver, subtiller, fertilizer applicator and covering device. The MFI is able to perform five kinds of activity at once. The research was conducted within 2 years (2005-2006). The result showed that MFI was well performed through adjusting both width and depth of its operation. Through these adjustments the coulter reached 20-30 cm of soil depth, while subtiller reached 25-40 cm. Cane stubble was unbroken until 0-7 cm of soil depth. The lowest dosage of fertilizer application was of 2.9-3.9 q/ha., while its maximum dosage could be applied through adjusting its sprocket. Maximum fertilizer dosage could reach until 2.3 times of its lowest dosage. Covering device could be adjusted on its height-basis for covering fertilizer strip carried out by the fertilizer applicator, as welll as for cane pre- earthing up. Moreover, the average working capacity of the MFI was 3.65-4.10 hrs/ha.

Key words : cane, ratoon maintenance, Multi Function Implement