JTPG (Jurnal Teknologi Pertanian Gorontalo)

Design and Performance Test of a Portable Rice Collector Machine Based on a Screw Conveyor Mechanism

Indra Lasimpala — 2026-06-25

The process of collecting grain after drying is still largely done manually, thus requiring a relatively long time and potentially increasing yield losses. This study aims to design and test the performance of a portable, screw conveyor-based grain collector to improve the efficiency of the grain collection process during the post-harvest stage. The study was conducted through the stages of design, fabrication, and testing of the tool’s performance by comparing the manual method and the use of the tool based on parameters of working time, collection capacity, and grain loss. The machine was designed using a galvanized pipe frame, grain collection components, a screw conveyor system, sack supports, and a two-stroke engine drive. The test results showed that the use of the tool produced a working capacity of 2550 kg/hour, higher than the manual method of 1965.5 kg/hour. In addition, the use of the tool was able to reduce grain loss from 14.7% to 12.1% and increase the total efficiency of working time by up to 25.3%. Thus, the developed portable grain collector machine has the potential to be applied as an appropriate technology to support the efficiency of post-harvest handling of rice on a small to medium scale. The relatively low standard deviation values for all test parameters indicate a relatively consistent performance of the machine across all replicates. These results can be used as a basis for further development, particularly to evaluate the effects of variations in screw conveyor rotational speed, grain moisture content, and operating scale on machine performance. Therefore, the machine can be implemented as an appropriate technology to support efficient post-harvest rice handling on small to medium-scale farms, as well as increase the effectiveness and flexibility of its use in the field.

Agricultural Technology in Climate-Smart Maize Systems: Integrating Digital, Agronomic, Biological, and Inclusive Innovations

Yunita Djamalu — 2026-08-19

Agricultural technology is reshaping maize systems, yet its contribution to sustainable intensification depends less on the novelty of individual tools than on their integration across genetics, sensing, agronomy, ecology, institutions, and value chains. This structured critical review synthesizes 70 Scopus-indexed studies published from 2021 to 2025 to assess how recent technologies influence productivity, resource-use efficiency, climate resilience, environmental performance, and farmer welfare. The evidence shows rapid progress in unmanned aerial vehicle imaging, hyperspectral sensing, machine learning, crop modeling, variable-rate management, precision irrigation, and digital extension. These tools improve diagnosis and prediction, but their agronomic value is realized only when linked to actionable management rules. Conservation agriculture, subsurface drip fertigation, optimized nitrogen placement, controlled-release fertilizers, biochar-based amendments, microbial inoculants, and stress-targeted nanomaterials can raise yield or reduce environmental burdens, although performance is strongly conditioned by soil, climate, formulation, and management. Genomic prediction, high-density genotyping, gene editing, and high-throughput phenotyping are also converging toward environment-specific breeding. Across smallholder contexts, adoption is shaped by profitability, credit, market access, organizational membership, risk, and the compatibility of technologies as a package; information alone is rarely sufficient. Important trade-offs include microplastic accumulation from film mulching, nitrate displacement after ammonia-control interventions, uncertain nanoparticle safety, and digital model transferability. The review proposes an integrated framework in which sensing, prediction, intervention, verification, and institutional delivery operate as a closed decision loop. Future research should prioritize interoperable data, multi-location validation, whole-system environmental accounting, affordability, and co-designed technology bundles that deliver measurable gains under real farm constraints across diverse production regions.

Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) Biomass for Agricultural Materials: A Review of Processing Pathways

Siti Fauziah — 2026-08-21

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is simultaneously an invasive aquatic burden and a potentially valuable lignocellulosic feedstock for agricultural materials. This review critically evaluates its material potential through a structured synthesis of 51 studies supplied in the source corpus, spanning direct water-hyacinth evidence and transferable findings from agricultural residues, biochars, cellulose derivatives, hydrogels, films, composites, adsorbents, and thermal-storage systems published mainly during 2021-2026. The evidence is organized around feedstock variability, physical architecture, chemical composition, thermal conversion, and application-specific structure–property relationships. Direct evidence confirms that water-hyacinth biochar can reduce thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity in soil blends, but the corpus lacks standardized datasets for untreated plant fractions, seasonal composition, contaminant burdens, and long-term field performance. Cross-biomass studies show that alkali treatment, bleaching, hydrolysis, silane modification, pyrolysis, activation, and hybridization can convert low-density plant tissue into cellulose fillers, nanocellulose, porous carbon, controlled-release matrices, insulation products, and functional coatings. The synthesis indicates that water hyacinth is most credible as a locally processed feedstock for biochar-based soil systems, sorbents, water-retentive composites, biodegradable films, low-load panels, and thermal-management components. Its high moisture burden, hydrophilicity, heterogeneous ash and mineral content, and potential accumulation of pollutants remain decisive constraints. A design framework is proposed that links plant fraction, pretreatment severity, porosity, surface chemistry, crystallinity, and thermal stability to agricultural function. Future progress requires fraction-specific characterization, contaminant-safe harvesting, low-energy dewatering, benchmarked life-cycle assessment, release and leaching tests, field validation, and standards that distinguish direct water-hyacinth data from analogical inference for circular and climate-resilient agricultural production systems.

Drying Kinetics and Convective Heat Transfer of Coconut-Shell Biobriquettes in a Dual-Blower Tray Dryer

Aulia Utari Sitorus — 2026-08-24

Biobriquette quality is strongly determined by the drying process, yet the relationship between drying conditions, product quality, and the underlying convective heat transfer mechanism is rarely quantified together. This study evaluates the drying kinetics, product quality, and convective heat transfer characteristics of coconut-shell biobriquettes dried using a dual-blower tray dryer with IoT-based temperature control. Biobriquettes were dried at temperatures of 75-105 °C and durations of 60-150 minutes, and the results were compared with sun drying and with the Indonesian National Standard (SNI 01-6235-2000). The lowest moisture content, 3.81 ± 0.37%, was obtained at 105 °C for 120 minutes, meeting the SNI requirement (maximum 8%), while extending the drying time to 150 minutes caused surface cracking from excessive internal stress. The tray dryer reduced moisture content roughly eight times more than sun drying (3.81% vs. 30.29%) and achieved a drying rate about 4.5 times higher (0.000780 vs. 0.000171 g.cm-2·min-1); these differences, together with the effect of drying temperature and time, were statistically significant (p < 0.05; independent-samples t-test for the tray-dryer-vs-sun-drying comparison and one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s HSD post-hoc test for the temperature and time comparisons). The mean ash content (8.66 ± 0.09%, n = 2) remained slightly above the SNI threshold, indicating room for improvement in carbonization or binder formulation. Convective heat transfer analysis showed a turbulent airflow regime (Re = 660,158.76) with a heat transfer coefficient of 41.01 W.m-2·K-1, higher than a comparable tray-dryer study (25.47 W.m-2·K-1), consistent with forced convection being an important contributor to the observed moisture removal and product quality; as no direct comparison with a single-blower configuration was performed within this study, this interpretation is based on comparison with values reported elsewhere in the literature rather than a controlled experimental comparison.

Purification of Lipase Enzyme from Oil Palm Mesocarp by Ammonium Sulfate Fractionation: Activity and Storage Stability

Ririn Arsy Gunawan — 2026-08-31

This study examines the isolation and salting-out fractionation of lipase enzyme from oil palm mesocarp as a preliminary step toward preparing a biocatalyst for enzymatic biodiesel production, aimed at overcoming the limitations of conventional acid and base catalysts such as soap formation, corrosiveness, and difficulty of separation and reuse. Lipase was isolated from oil palm mesocarp through extraction using phosphate buffer, then fractionated by salting-out with ammonium sulfate at four saturation ranges (0-20%, 20-40%, 40-60%, and 60-75%). Volumetric enzyme activity (U/mL) was determined by acid-base titration, while storage stability was evaluated by comparing the activity of fresh enzyme with that of enzyme stored for 2 weeks at 18 oC. The crude extract obtained from isolation had a moisture content of 69.19%, indicating that the enzyme was in a fresh condition prior to fractionation. Enzyme activity increased consistently from the crude extract (4.16 U/mL) to Fraction IV (53.59 U/mL), an increase of about 12.9-fold; because protein concentration was not determined, this increase reflects volumetric activity rather than specific activity or purification fold, and is consistent with, but does not by itself confirm, separation of lipase from co-precipitating, less active proteins. After 2 weeks of storage, all fractions showed a decline in activity, but to different degrees: the crude extract lost 53.85% of its activity, whereas Fraction IV lost only 4.37%. These findings, based on single measurements, suggest that ammonium sulfate fractionation not only increases the volumetric activity of lipase but may also improve its short-term storage stability. Fraction IV is accordingly proposed as a promising biocatalyst candidate for further application in enzymatic biodiesel production from high-FFA feedstocks; confirmation through replicated measurements, protein/purity characterization, and direct catalytic testing is recommended before firmer conclusions are drawn, and further work on immobilization and stabilizing additives is suggested to extend its storage life.