Fuel Consumption Evaluation of Some Commonly Used Farm Tractors for Ploughing Operations on the Sandy-loam soil of Oyo State, Nigeria

Farm Tractors acquired in Oyo State-Nigeria are primarily utilized for ploughing operations which represents the most costly single item in the budget of an arable farmer. Tractor fuel consumption constitutes a significant parameter that affects ploughing operations performances. Ploughing operations, using ASABE standard D 497.5 were carried out using Massey Ferguson(MF 435, 100 hp), Fiat(F130D, 100 hp) and Steyr (CVT170, 100 hp) tractors that were purchased in 2009. Field experiments were conducted at 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5 km/h ploughing speeds for ploughing depths of 20, 25 and 30 cm. Mean fuel consumption for Fiat, MF and Steyr models were 23.35, 23.58 and 24.55 l/ha while average of 16.78, 22.02 and 32.67 l/ha of diesel were used to plough 20, 25 and 30 cm depths, respectively. Fuel consumption increased by 31% when ploughing depth increased from 20 to 25 cm and 48% when increased from 25 to 30 cm. Mean fuel consumption at 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5 km/h ploughing speeds were 20.0, 24.25 and 27.23 l/ha, respectively. Fuel consumption varies significantly with ploughing depth and speed (p<0.05, 0.87≤r2≤0.99). Fuel consumption values increases with ploughing dept and speed significantly, the depth of crop roots should determine the appropriate ploughing depth in order to minimize expenses on fuel.