Systems for harvesting and handling cotton plant residue
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
In the warmer regions of the United States, cotton plant residue must be buried to prevent it from serving as an overwintering site for insect pests such as the pink bollworm. Most of the field operations used to bury the residue are high energy consumers and tend to degrade soil structure, thereby increasing the potential for erosion. The residue is of little value as a soil amendment and consequently is considered a negative value biomass. A commercial system to harvest cotton plant residue would be of both economic and environmental benefit to cotton producers. Research has been underway at the University of Arizona since the spring of 1991 to develop a commercially viable system for harvesting cotton plant residue. Equipment durability, degree of densification, energy required, cleanliness of the harvested material, and ease of product handling and transport are some of the performance variables which have been measured. Two systems have proven superior. In both, the plants are pulled from the ground using an implement developed specifically for the purpose. In one system, the stalks are baled using a large round baler, while in the other the stalks are chopped with a forage harvester, and then made into packages using a cotton module maker. Field capacities, energy requirements, package density and durability, and ease of handling with commercially available equipment have been measured for both systems. Selection of an optimum system for a specific operation depends upon end use of the product, and upon equipment availability.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 140284
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-200-5768-Vol.1; CONF-9308106-Vol.1; ON: DE93010050; TRN: 93:003926-0015
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1. biomass conference of the Americas: energy, environment, agriculture, and industry, Burlington, VT (United States), 30 Aug - 2 Sep 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]; Related Information: Is Part Of First Biomass Conference of the Americas: Energy, environment, agriculture, and industry; Proceedings, Volume 1; PB: 796 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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