Roaf Ahmad Parray

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Scientist at Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Rice straw residue management has become more challenging with intensive agricultural operations in our country. There are many scientific bioprocessing methods available for transforming of rice straw from agricultural waste into value-added products. However, the disposal of rice stubbles and straw post-harvest remains a substantial challenge acr...

Field experiment on nutrient dynamics was conducted in the year 2022-23 and 2023-24 at the research farm of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi. Maize seed dimensions varied significantly across varieties, with mean length ranging from 8.24 mm (Kaveri Hybrid 25K55) to 12.42 mm (P...

Efficient nitrogen (N) management plays a critical role in optimizing rice yield and ensuring economic sustainability. This study evaluates the impact of variable nitrogen levels on the yield dynamics and economic viability of transplanted rice (TPR) and direct seeded rice (DSR). Field experiments were conducted in research farm of ICAR-IARI, New D...

Traditional methods of extracting oil with organic solvents raise issues related to health, safety, and the environment. Microwave-assisted enzymatic green solvent extraction (MAEGSE) technology is environment friendly because it involves less hazardous chemical synthesis, utilizes renewable feedstock, and decreases the chemical load and emissions...

A novel self-propelled smart herbicide applicator (1600mm × 500mm × 1100mm) was developed using machine vision to target weeds and apply herbicides variably in wide row-spaced crops. The applicator integrated a weed detection system, smart sprayer, mechanical components, and power transmission system. The weed detection system used a webcam based i...

The study involves the development of a mobile precision weed management system (MPWMS) based on machine vision of a dimension length of 1.12 m, width of 0.710 m and height of 0.715 m. It discriminately targets the weeds and applies the recommended herbicide according to the density of the weed. The MPWMS consists of the weed detection system, smar...

This study presents the development and evaluation of machine learning models for detecting leaf spot disease in brinjal crops using spectral sensor data. The spectral reflectance of diseased and healthy tissues was recorded across nine wavelength bands (F1: 415 nm, F2: 445 nm, F3: 480 nm, F4: 515 nm, F5: 555 nm, F6: 590 nm, F7: 630 nm, F8: 680 nm,...

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an innovative approach that promotes sustainable farming while enhancing soil health. However, residue management challenges often hinder its adoption, causing farmers to burn crop leftovers in fields. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of various furrow openers under simulated soil bin conditions. Three...

The esteemed Alphonso mango, cherished in India for its taste, saffron color, texture, and extended shelf life, holds global commercial appeal. Unfortunately, the prevalent spongy tissue disorder in Alphonso mangoes results in a soft and corky texture, with up to 30% of mangoes within a single batch affected. This issue leads to outright rejection...

Precise application of nitrogenous fertilizers mainly urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) and granular urea (both pure and neem-coated) in aqueous form, is critically important for basal and foliar applications. The physicochemical properties of aqueous solution of these nitrogenous fertilizers plays important role in design of any liquid fertilizer applic...

Precise application of nitrogenous fertilizers mainly urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) and granular urea (both pure and neem-coated) in aqueous form, is critically important for basal and foliar applications. The physicochemical properties of aqueous solution of these nitrogenous fertilizers plays important role in design of any liquid fertilizer applic...

Alphonso, a renowned mango variety cultivated in India, is commercially valuable for its delightful taste, vibrant saffron color, texture, and prolonged shelf life, attracts global attention. Spongy Tissue (ST) disorder is prevalent in mangoes, especially in the Alphonso variety, leading to spongy and corky texture in the fruit’s pulp. This issue h...

A machine learning-based approach was utilized to develop a device for groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) disease severity detection and estimation in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The study involved inoculating tomato plants with GBNV, monitoring changes in morphological and spectral characteristics, evaluating machine learning algorit...

The renowned Alphonso mango, celebrated in India for its exquisite taste, saffron hue, pleasing texture, and prolonged shelf life, holds significant global commercial appeal. Unfortunately, the widespread issue of spongy tissue (ST) disorder in Alphonso mangoes results in a soft, corky texture, affecting up to 30% of mangoes in a single batch. This...

A desiccant-assisted automated hybrid solar dryer was developed for vegetable seeds. The dryer consisting two sections, one for drying the air and the other for the regeneration of desiccant. The collector area of the dryer is 1.3 sq.m and three trays of 0.18 m 2 of area each in the drying chamber. The dryer consists of a real-time data acquisition...

This research explored a novel multimodal approach for disease management in cauliflower crops. With the rising challenges in sustainable agriculture, the research focused on a patch spraying method to control disease and reduce crop losses and environmental impact. For non-destructive disease assessment, a spectral sensor was used to collect spect...

The globally renowned Alphonso mango is esteemed for its exceptional flavor, fragrance, texture, and extended shelf life. However, it faces a substantial challenge with spongy tissue (ST) disorder, affecting up to 30% of a single lot. This issue leads to the rejection of entire batches during export due to delayed detection, causing significant pro...

A study was conducted in the Jalna district of Maharashtra to assess the adoption pattern of spray technology, and safety awareness among grape growers. The respondents were selected through random sampling and data was collected through a structured interview. The study revealed that among marginal landholders (< 1 ha) back-pack type sprayer was m...

Nitrogen (N) is the key macronutrient for sustainable growth and higher productivity of crops. Optimized nitrogen-use-efficiency (NUE) enhances productivity and reduces the environmental impacts as well as input cost of production. NUE can be improved by the site-specific application of nitrogen fertilizer. Variable rate nitrogenous fertilizer can...

Urea, a nitrogenous fertilizer which plays an important role in enhancing yield, but has a drawback of low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Use of urea super granule (USG) and coated urea have advantages over prilled urea in terms of higher NUE and eventually improved yield. Depth of placement (DOP) of USG plays a major role in achieving higher NUE a...

In maize cultivation, the labour-intensive, time-consuming, and costly nature of manual planting necessitates the exploration of mechanized solutions. This study presents a comprehensive economic evaluation of an embedded system-controlled seed cum fertilizer applicator as a potential answer to these challenges. Precise planting methods offer a mul...

A study was undertaken to design and develop a precision planter for direct seeding of paddy to overcome the problems faced in direct seeding with respect to seed rate and spacing. Physical and engineering properties of paddy seeds of three varieties (PUSA1121, PUSA-44 and BPT-5204) representing long, medium, and small-sized paddy seed were used fo...

Considering the need for threshing, the current energy crisis, the power potential of solar energy, especially, many stand-alone solar installations in rural areas, and their use, a study was undertaken to develop and evaluate a solar-powered multi-crop thresher on soybean. The study was conducted in IARI-Pusa Campus, New Delhi, India aiming to ass...

Management of crop residues has remained a major challenge due to lack of easily adaptable and affordable interventions at farmer’s field. Cellulolytic bacteria and fungi have been recommended for recycling lignocellulosic-rich organic matter and to convert it into nutrient rich compost. However, these inoculants need to be generated on commercial...

Nitrogen responses vary under diverse agronomic management practices, influencing vegetation indices (VIs) and productivity across different ecological conditions. However, the proper quantification of these responses under various crop establishment methods with varied nitrogen levels is rarely studied. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted...

This study focuses on the application of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict key quality parameters in Alphonso mangoes, namely Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Titratable Acidity (TA), pulp firmness, and carotenoid content. Alphonso mangoes, known as the "king of fruits," are a significant tropical fruit, with India being the leading global pr...

This study addresses the challenges associated with assessing mango ripeness, particularly in the Dashehari cultivar, a popular mid-season mango in northern India. Farmers faced many problems during harvesting season. Traditional ripeness assessment methods are deemed inaccurate and time-consuming, necessitating the development of non-destructive t...

This research paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the presence and levels of Carbendazim residues in post-harvest treated Red Delicious apples in two condition i.e. ambient stored condition and cold stored condition. Carbendazim, a benzimidazole fungicide, has gained prominence as an effective means of controlling fungal diseases in a...

In maize cultivation, the labour-intensive, time-consuming, and costly nature of manual planting necessitates the exploration of mechanized solutions. This study presents a comprehensive economic evaluation of an embedded system-controlled seed cum fertilizer applicator as a potential answer to these challenges. Precise planting methods offer a mul...

The agriculture sector in India has witnessed a considerable decline in the use of animal and human power in agriculture related activities. The trend has paved a way for a range of agricultural tools and increased the level of mechanization on Indian farms. However, this increase in mechanization has been skewed towards some states and reg...

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an innovative approach that promotes sustainable farming while enhancing soil health. However, residue management challenges often hinder its adoption, causing farmers to burn crop leftovers in fields. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of various furrow openers under simulated soil bin conditions. Three...

The reduction of chemical wastage and environmental degradation has been a major challenge with traditional techniques of spraying application in agricultural or horticultural crops. Conventional sprayers have limited options for adjustments for varying the rate of chemical application based on requirements. The sensor-based sprayers with capabilit...

Application of pesticide in recommended dose not only reduces the input cost of chemical but also reduces the ill effects due to excess application of pesticide on crop and environment. A tractor operated swinging lance sprayer was developed for the effective application of chemicals. To standardize optimum operational parameters, the effect of var...

Application of pesticide in recommended dose not only reduces the input cost of chemical but also reduces the ill effects due to excess application of pesticide on crop and environment. A tractor operated swinging lance sprayer was developed for the effective application of chemicals. To standardize optimum operational parameters, the effect of var...

A study was conducted to design a sensor-based control volume sprayer for vineyard cultivation. The study aimed to develop cluster-specific pesticide and growth regulator application systems with improved penetration and minimum off-target losses, thus saving chemicals and overall cost. For the determination of design values of the control volume u...

This study was carried out to design and develop a tractor operated liquid fertilizer applicator, which could place liquid fertilizer inside soil simultaneously with seed. The liquid fertilizer selected was Urea Ammonium Nitrate. A liquid fertilizer metering system was developed that comprised a piston pump, control valve, distributor and conduit p...

Background: Pulses are a kind of legume crops which can be utilised for both food and animal feed. Pulses are also termed a “poor man’s meat” because of high protein content. The physical properties of pulses are useful to design the processing equipment. The moisture content of agricultural materials greatly affects various physical properties. Ni...

A device was developed for on‐field cutting energy measurement of cereal crops. Physical, engineering, and anatomical properties of prominent rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars of India were studied at different stem positions using a factorial CRD design. The effects of changes in different operational parameters, including blade bevel angle (15°, 2...

A study was conducted in ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India to investigate the input energy use and cost economics for rice-wheat and maize-wheat cropping system during rabi and kharif season of 2021-22. Input energy use and cost for different operations such as; seed bed preparation , seed sowing or transplanting,...

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) residues on Indian farms have remained a major challenge due to its voluminous and unmanageable quantity and short window for sowing successive crops. A study was carried out at research farm of the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during 2019–21, to develop a microbial inoculum spraying system for effic...

A study was conducted with the goal of developing an algorithm for use in sensors to monitor available soil N. For this purpose, three different soils were selected. The soils were studied for electrical conductivity (EC) at four different moisture levels and four levels of N. The selection of moisture levels was based on optimum moisture levels be...

India loses 2–6% of total produce due to lack of improper farm storage facilities. A potential novel method of incorporating the bioinsecticide (azadirachtin 0.15%) into the storage bag was evaluated for its effectiveness in insect control for safe pulse storage at Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, N...

The determination of grains engineering properties serves an important base to design appropriate agricultural machines. Sixteen properties were determined using the standard methods in laboratory at moisture content of 11.1% to 28.2% on dry basis. The geometric mean diameter ranged from 3.62 to 4.8 with the sphericity ranges from 0.69 to 0.84. The...

A study was conducted to evaluate ethyl acetate, soy biodiesel, and 1-octanol as surfactants for stabilization of ethanol–diesel fuel blends. The evaluation was based on the temperature stability and engine performance of ethanol–diesel fuel blends stabilized by selected surfactants. Among the three selected surfactants, 1-octanol was most effectiv...

Spraying is one of the critical operations in agriculture. The importance of the use of chemical pesticides was well recognized in agriculture. Consumption of pesticides was increasing year by year, on the other hand, wastage of chemical pesticides also alarming. Droplet size and droplet densities are critical parameters to identify the effectivene...

Cereals are generally harvested at 20-23% moisture content to avoid shattering losses therefore it is necessary to dry the paddy to lower moisture contents (13-14% wb) for safe storage and further processing.A solar-powered air-inflated grain dryer was designed, fabricated and tested for drying of paddy. Different combinations obtained from two dif...

Indian farming is fraught with small land holdings, and farm mechanization's economic viability has remained a debatable issue at the core of Indian agriculture's technology growth. The authors attempted to determine the socio-agro-economic impact of seed cum fertiliser drill and zero tillage through Difference In Difference(DID) method with ex-ant...

About development of electronic metering planter

Spraying is one of the critical operations in agriculture. The importance of the use of chemical pesticides was well recognized in agriculture. Consumption of pesticides was increasing year by year, on the other hand, wastage of chemical pesticides also alarming due to excess application of pesticides. The quality spraying affects several operation...

A study was undertaken to design and develop a precision planter for direct seeding of paddy to overcome the problems faced in direct seeding with respect to seed rate and spacing. Physical and engineering properties of paddy seeds of three varieties (PUSA1121, PUSA-44 and BPT-5204) representing long, medium, and small-sized paddy seed were used fo...

Tillage enhances soil physical condition which favors root growth and crop productivity. Though, continuous rotary tillage at same depth leads to the formation of plough pan which slowdown crop productivity. Some serious speculations have been made about rotary tillage that in long run it induces subsoil compaction. This study was conducted at farm...

A pressurized fertilizer metering system was developed for Tractor drawn Liquid Fertilizer Applicator. The liquid fertilizer metering system constituted a pump, control valve and a distributor unit. A circular distributer with an inner and outer diameter of 52 mm and 72 mm, respectively and a thickness of 10 mm was fabricated. Nine holes, each of 8...

A hybrid solar dryer was developed consisting of three shelves of 0.55 m2 area each in the drying chamber. This dryer works on the principal of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic system. The performance evaluation was done with rose and marigold flowers. It was found that both flowers when dried at 45°C were significantly (P <0.05) better in ter...

Corrosion rate helps in understanding the vulnerability of metals to corrosion. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of liquid fertilizer (Urea Ammonium Nitrate) with different dissolution ratio with water on the corrosion rate of different metals. Three dissolution ratios of UAN and water viz. 1:0, 1: 5 and 1:10 were used for corr...

The importance of organic manure as soil amendment is increasing day by day especially for the improvement of soil health. Flower waste has a high moisture content and easily degradable carbon content. A long duration leachate and odour problem arises during accumulation of flowers. The study aimed on changes in the physico-chemical parameters duri...

Planting is one of the critical farm operations affecting production and productivity of crops. Check row planting involving equal row to row and plant to plant spacing allows bidirectional weeding, better aeration and sunlight to plants and thus increased crop yield. A sensor based seed metering mechanism was developed for check row planting in wh...

SYNOPSIS Mechanising lentil cultivation is one of the important aspects to enhance the production, productivity and area under this crop. The traditional methods of cultivation mainly depend on the human and animal energy; poor water management and post-harvest operations and storage methods which increase the cost of production and storage lose. O...

A fleet size selection model based on time window availability for different operations of paddy-wheat cropping system was developed for proper selection of machinery with optimum use hours.The developed fleet size selection model suggested a fleet of 3 cultivators, 3 harrows, 3 rotavator, 3 wheat seed drill, 2 combine harvesters, 1 straw combine,...

The study was under taken to design and develop a mechanical and electronic precision planter for paddy direct seeding and compared for optimum seed rate, germination, seed placement index and spacing. The comparison o of two methods was done in terms of seed rate, spacing and seed placement index The observe seed rate, spacing and seed placement i...

A study was conducted in 12 blocks selected from three districts, viz. Aligarh, Hathras and Etah of Aligarh Division in order to assess the farm power machinery demand-supply gap and hence the future scope for custom hiring of farm machinery. It was found that the threshold level of land ownership for purchasing tractor-implement system in all the...

Software programs on programme evaluation and review techniques (PERT) and critical path method (CPM) techniques have been developed to analyze the major overhauling of modern bulldozers. The knowledge of time and cost involved in a particular repair activity is essential to decide whether to continue the interrupted work and to assess whether or n...

Physical properties viz., length, width, thickness, equivalent diameter, sphericity, seed weight, bulk density, true density, angle of repose, coefficient of restitution and crushing resistance of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus) corm were evaluated as design parameters for a gladiolus planter. Results revealed that average length, width and thic...

The conventional methods of maize shelling are very laborious and time consuming. A low cost and highly efficient foot operated maize sheller was designed, developed and evaluated for its performance and techno-economic feasibility in comparison to three existing methods of shelling. Average output of 24.27 kg/h and shelling efficiency of 97.32 % w...