Livestock products are the most important component of the actual total volume of farm produce. A reliable fodder base is required to increase their quantity and quality. The most part of the natural forage lands of the Republic of Kazakhstan is located in areas with insufficient water availability and low soil productivity. When they are used intensively, they are thinned and degraded. Their restoration and improving is possible if effective technologies and technical means are effected. However, the existing methods for improving and restoring forage lands and the technical means for their implementation are not adapted to the natural­climatic and agrobiological features of the zone of Central and Northern Kazakhstan, which feature insufficient moisture supply and low productivity.The main indicator of the effectiveness of the use of fodder crop seeds is their uniform distribution in the soil. However, most of them, due to their poor flowability, form dome structures of different sizes in front of seeding openings, which hinder the seeding process. To increase the flowability of such seeds, they are mixed with sand, sawdust, fertilizer and other materials. However, during the operation of seeders, the mixture is stratified according to its specific gravity. (The research purpose) is to develop a lobe­type agitator, which prevents the formation of a dome over seed holes. (Materials and methods) Theoretical studies have been carried out using the methods of classical and applied mechanics, as well as special sections of higher mathematics. (Results and discussion) The authors have experimentally confirmed the main parameters of the agitator and its resistance to movement in a seed medium. Experimental studies have been carried out on the basis of GOST 31345­2007. The studies have confirmed that a four­lobe agitator with an external radius of 0.06 m and an inclination angle to the plane of rotation 20°, mounted on the fertilizer drill SZS­2.0, has shown a total resistance of 3,042 kg with a design value of 2.925 kg. (Conclusions) The obtained results can be offered to the designers and developers of machines of the considered type when calculating and designing their working elements.

Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM conducts research and development work on the determination of parameters, technical characteristics of machines and operating modes of magnetic pulse treatment (MPT) of plant material in field conditions. (Research purpose) To analyze systems of adaptation of the working elements of an automated unit in field conditions during the technological operation of magnetic pulse treatment of strawberry. (Materials and methods) To ensure the quality of the technological operation of irradiating plants with a low­frequency magnetic field, as well as to maintain the required value of magnetic induction in the working area, an automated system of adaptation of the working elements of the unit has been developed. The experiment has been carried out for three times on the plot of garden strawberry with a length of 140 m using an automatic system of adaptation of the working elements of the unit and without its use. To control the travel speed use has been made of an electronic GPS speedometer. Operating modes of pulse magnetic treatment (frequency, duty factor, exposure time) have been selected for the ВИМ­МИО device and the БСА­01 automated control unit. To control the distance between the object of magnetic pulse treatment and the working element, use has been made of a measuring tape, a laser rangefinder (Amtast AMF106) and a laser sensor (Laser sensor VL53L0X) mounted on the magnetic inductor of the automated unit. For monitoring and keeping the obtained experimental data, the authors have used the program Advanced Serial Port Monitor 4.4.9 (Results and discussion) As a result of the experiment, the authors have determined the dependence of the deviation of the working surface position of magnetic inductors from the required distance. The maximum and minimum values of distances between the plant and the working element of an automated mounted unit during the technological operation of magnetic pulse treatment have been found. (Conclusions) The analysis of the experimental data calculation results has shown that the variation scope of the data obtained by using an automated adaptation system of the working elements is 2.1 times less than in case with a disabled system. The coefficient of variation of the obtained values (a measure of deviation from the standard value) when using the adaptation system of the working elements is 2.35 times less than in case with a disabled system. The developed system of automated adaptation of the working elements provides a distance of 0.18­0.25 m between the working elements of the unit and plant objects, which allows to maintain the required value of magnetic induction of 5 MT in the treatment zone. The authors have established parameters of the working elements necessary for magnetic pulse treatment of garden strawberry in the field conditions: 48 turns of a cable of 1x2.5 mm with an outer diameter of 400 mm, an inner diameter of 30 mm, and an inductance of 373 µH.

A horizontal impact crusher provides for high­quality grinding of grain materials and getting the finished product equalized by particle size distribution to 98 percent. The effectiveness of the crusher is determined by the following parameters: rotor speed, operating clearance, intensity and full filling of the crushing chamber, the duration of impact on the original product, the design features of the working bodies and the geometric design of their corrugated surfaces. (Research purpose) To determine the design parameters of a horizontal rotary crusher for feed grains. (Materials and methods) The influence of the stator flute number on the quality of the crushed product has been studied by three indicators: the grinding degree, the grinding module, the actual effectiveness of the grinding process. It has been found that as the flute number increases, the grinding module and the degree of grinding change insignificantly, and the actual effectiveness of grinding decreases. In this case, the finished product corresponds to coarse grinding. A comparative experiment has been conducted with two design variants of the working surfaces with one stator contradiction to check the effectiveness of changing the shape of the rotor and stator flutes. (Results and discussion) It has been determined that the geometrical parameters of flute working elements of a horizontal rotary crusher can be calculated using the proposed model of theoretical calculation based on the type of material crushed and zootechnic requirements. An angular shape of the rotor grooves also has a positive effect on the overall performance of the grinding process. (Conclusions) The authors present theoretical substantiation of the design features of cutting flute working surfaces of a horizontal rotary crusher and the calculation of the rotor diameter. They have proposed a model for calculating these parameters basing on the type of crushed grain crops. They have experimentally compared various design forms and the number of stator contradictions with respect to the quality of the products obtained. The main manufacturing parameters of rotor grooves have been calculated for the most common grain crops (wheat, barley, oats, and corn) and their optimal values have been theoretically substantiated.

A potato digger equipped with a four­bladed beater operating in connection with rotary separating surface has low material and energy consumption, higher separating efficiency, as well as lower degree of tuber damaging. The potato digger design should include a four­bladed intake­and­feed beater to prevent potato heap transportation faults in front of the first section. (Research purpose) Increasing the technological and economic efficiency of a potato digging­and­ separating unit through the determination of the optimum values of the design parameters and operating process of the intake­and­feed beater. (Materials and methods) the authors have made an overview of general principles of ensuring the stability of the potato heap movement provided by the four­bladed intake­and­feed beater. The dependency of the minimum beater speed on the operating speed of the potato digger has been found to exclude a probability of its overloading. The methodology of calculating the potato heap velocity and the cutoff angle between the material and the beater blades has been worked out by analyzing potato heap lifting to the upper points of the working units of the rotary separator’s first section. Operating speed of the beater has been determined through the differential equation for the speed of a potato heap moving along the blade surface. (Results and discussion) Preliminary potato heap speed and cutoff angle have been found through the equation of dynamics describing the projectile motion of an object thrown at an angle. The operating values of the angles are dependent on the potato digger working speed and can be selected from the triangle of speeds. The authors have determined the dependence of the optimal beater speed on the working speed of a potato digger. Its value should exceed the minimum speed of the beater. (Conclusions) Theoretical results allow proposing the best design features and optimum working process parameters of a four­bladed beater receiving a potato heap, transporting it and lifting on the rotary separating surface.

One of the most important aspects in terms of increasing the efficiency of agricultural production is the improvement of the methods and tools of determining the main operating indicators of tractors as they influence the productivity, efficiency and ecological safety of machine­tractor units. (Research purpose) To develop a method for obtaining traction characteristics of a tractor, which make it possible to reduce the time needed for measurements under operating conditions, and to design an instrument for economical obtaining of tractors’ traction characteristics under specific farm conditions. (Materials and methods) the authors have chosen a method for determining the energy performance of tractors under operating conditions in a transient mode. They have conducted traction tests of tractors for various modes and soil backgrounds to evaluate its traction­dynamic and fuel­economic indicators. The traction characteristic of a tractor is the dependence of the tractor performance (traction power, speed, hourly and specific fuel consumption, and slipping) on the load at various speeds against a given soil background. However, traction tests require expensive equipment, as well as significant costs and time to prepare and conduct, which leads to their implementation only in the conditions of machine testing stations. (Results and discussion) The authors have developed a method for obtaining traction characteristics of a tractor under operating conditions. Instantly increasing the fuel supply to the maximum, during the tractor acceleration, the engine crankshaft speed and track­measuring wheel were measured at a given speed and against the corresponding soil background ­ with load and without load. It has been revealed that the fuel and economic indicators can be determined using cyclical fuel supply by the fuel pump at the maximum mode on the bench for checking and adjusting the fuel equipment. The authors have developed and assembled a measuring and computing installation that allows processing arrays of data from two inductive sensors. (Conclusions) The proposed method for determining the traction­dynamic and fuel­economic indicators of tractors and the measuring­computing installation that implements it allow obtaining a traction characteristic (speed, slipping, traction power, hourly and specific fuel consumption depending on the load at various speeds against a given soil background) in operating conditions, thus reducing the time and cost of operation.

Agricultural boom sprayers are equipped with injection sprayers of mainly foreign origin. The main parameters of the injection sprayers shown in the catalogs display the consumption characteristics in cer­tain ranges without taking into account the design parameters. (Research purpose) Determination of the design and technological parameters of an injection sprayer for the introduction of pesticides. (Materials and methods) The injection sprayer belongs to the class of two­phase liquid­gas isothermal jet devices with the formation of an air­gas mixture at the outlet. It has been established that the design model of the working process of an injection sprayer is based both on the laws of the conservation of mass, energy, momentum, as well as theoretical relation­ships in the form of equations describing two­phase jet devices, and empirical relationships characterizing flow parameters, geometric transverse and longitudinal dimensions of the spray channels. (Results and discussion) The following analytical relationships have been obtained: the relative pressure difference generated by an injec­tion sprayer and the volume injection coefficient for different surface area ratios of the working nozzle to the flow section of the sprayer; the ratio between the cross­sectional area of the mixing chamber to the area of the working nozzle outlet and the injection ratio; relative pressure difference and the injection ratio; the ratio be­tween the cross­sectional area of the mixing chamber and the working nozzle and the relative pressure difference. The authors have determined a set of dimensionless pressure characteristics of the injection sprayer for different ratios between the cross­sectional areas of the working nozzle and the mixing chamber. It has been established that the ratio between the cross sections of the mixing chamber area and the working nozzle area increases as the injection ratio increases. It has been shown that for each injection coefficient, there is an achievable relative pressure difference in the injection sprayer. (Conclusions) The authors have proposed the design equations that determine the characteristics of an injection sprayer and its main design parameters – the diameters of nozzle and mixing chambers. They have calculated the main dimensions of the sprayer for aerial top­dressing by introducing working solutions of pesticides.

Infrared drying (IR) has found wide application mainly in the food industry. Seeds of cereal crops are dried mainly by a convection method using shaft, column and bunker dryers. Such drying methods are ineffective, they are characterized by low productivity and high specific heat costs. The author has studied some methods of drying ensuring high intensity of the process with the maximum preservation of the quality of seeds. One of them is combined infrared drying. Combined modes of IR drying have a number of advantages over convection drying - quick heating of the particles ensures shortened process time, and the combination of diffusion and thermal diffusion processes facilitates the transfer of moisture from the grain mass center to the periphery, which reduces the specific heat consumption of a drying process. The author has considered a combined method with the use of a fluidized bed with a low intensity of the IR flow, with an additional supply of heat by the heated external air. (Research purpose) To develop a mathematical model of convective radiation IR drying of seeds, to calculate the surface temperature, the power of an IR-emitter, and the parameters of air heating. (Materials and methods) The parameters of combined IR drying have been determined using the regularities characteristic for convective drying, but with an equivalent heat transfer coefficient. The temperature and power of the IR energy source have been determined on the basis of permissible heat supply. The author has experimentally evaluated the efficiency of IR drying with blowing by external and heated air with convection drying. (Results and discussion) The surface temperature and the power of an IR emitter depend on the thickness of the layer, physical- and mechanical and radiological properties of seeds, permissible heat content and heat spent on the evaporation of moisture. It has been established that the exposure of combined drying is 12 percent lower than that of convective drying due to the process intensification with full preservation of the quality parameters of seeds. (Conclusions) The surface temperature and power of an IR emitter have been calculated as a function of the layer height, physical-and-mechanical and radiological properties of seeds, permissible heat content and heat spent on the evaporation of moisture. The degree of air heating with combined IR drying is proportional to the power deficit of an IR emitter and is inversely proportional to the equivalent heat transfer coefficient.

Drying of seed material plays an important part in the system of post-harvest processing and greatly affects the yield quality of the seed material. (Research purpose) Determination of the performance of two modules of a new dryer, taking into account the statistical characteristics of humidity, impurity content and the intensity of submitting the grain heap of various crops to post-harvest processing. (Materials and methods) The research group has tested a mini-module of a new universal dryer developed in the laboratory workshops of Yaroslavl State Agricultural Academy, in the Bolshoye Selo district of the Yaroslavl region. The calculation has been based on the data of the average regional farm. (Results and discussion) It has been determined that the average statistical percentage of moisture removal from the original grain heap was 10.52 percent; gross grain harvest per year – 1,500 tons; the estimated capacity by the dried seed material of the base module is 5 tons per hour, that of the mini module - 0.35 tons per hour. Due to the contribution of Yaroslavl State Agricultural Academy, fully mechanized receiving chambers with air chutes accommodating 300 or 600 cubic meters of heap coming from combines have been introduced into the production lines of post-harvest processing of the crop material. The efficiency calculation of the mini-module has been caused by the need to use it on the farms for the independent supply of high-quality seed material. (Conclusions) The experiment results have confirmed the validity of the calculations and the effectiveness of the new method of drying. In unfavorable weather, grain crops were harvested by a forage harvester and then dried in a mini-module. After processing, high-quality seeds were obtained, the germination rate of which accounted 98-99 percent.