Integration and Performance Evaluation of a Variable Rate Seeding System Using Trimble Technology for Precision Agriculture

A variable seed rate system was integrated and evaluated using Trimble technology. Laboratory tests were conducted to assess system performance on a seeder test bench, with seed delivery rates ranging from 180 to 800 seeds per minute. The system was tested using two corn seed plates: a 30-cell Precision Planting plate (PP) and a 40-cell John Deere (JD) plate. The laboratory results showed a cell fill rate of 98.6% for the PP plate and 104.5% for the JD plate. Field performance was evaluated at four sowing densities (100,000; 80,000; 60,000; and 40,000 seeds·ha⁻¹) and three travel speeds (6, 8, and 10 km·h⁻¹). Results showed no significant differences in dosing uniformity due to sowing density otr speed. The system achieved 100% dose uniformity with a coefficient of variation (CV) of just 1.36%, demonstrating high operational reliability. Regarding seed delivery uniformity, an analysis of variance of seed fall timing revealed a significant difference between the plates. The PP plate outperformed the JD plate, with a CV of 10.82% compared to 14.387%, respectively. The system‘s response time to changes in seeding density ranged from 43 milliseconds (from 100,000 to 80,000 seeds·ha⁻¹ at 10 km·h⁻¹) to 232 milliseconds (from 40,000 to 100,000 seeds·ha⁻¹ at 6 km·h⁻¹). In conclusion, the integrated variable seed rate system demonstrated high operational reliability. However, an average variability of 12.5% in planter performance was observed, highlighting an opportunity for further optimisation and system improvement.