To solve the problem of straw cleaning and drip irrigation belt restoration for no-till seeding in drip irrigation areas, a staggered straw cleaning device was developed for no-till seeding, which is mainly composed of a front two-sided tine discs group, a drip irrigation belt laying mechanism, a middle single inner tine discs group, a rear single outer tine discs group. Different tine disc groups are set in longitudinal, transverse, and radial directions to move and throw the straw on the surface of the seeding strip. The critical parameters of the tine disc were designed and calculated, and the radius was determined to be 160 mm, the number of teeth was 12, and the theoretical working width was obtained. The movement and straw scattering process were analyzed, and the main influencing factors and the maximum straw scattering distances in the horizontal and vertical directions were determined. The interaction model of staggered tine discs group–straw–soil is established using the discrete element method (DEM). The forwarding speed, rotating speed, disc rake angle, and lateral distance of the middle tine discs were used as influencing factors, and the straw cleaning rate and the mass of straw returned in the drip irrigation coverage area were selected as the text indexes to carry out quadratic orthogonal rotation experiments. The quadratic regression model of the three sensitive parameters on the cleaning rate and the mass of straw returned in the drip irrigation coverage area was constructed and optimized. The optimal solutions were obtained: the forwarding speed was 9 km/h, the disc rake angle was 33.7°, and the lateral distance of the middle tine discs was 529 mm. The field validation test was carried out, and the results showed that the straw cleaning was 89.13%, the straw cleaning width of the seed strip was 527.2 mm, and the straw coverage rate of the drip irrigation area was 80.74%. This achievement can provide a reference for straw cleaning of no-till seeding under drip irrigation.

Early spring low temperatures and plastic film use constrain sustainable cotton production in Xinjiang. This study compared five integrated cultivation systems: conventional tillage with plastic mulch (CK), no-tillage with non-woven fabric arch shed (NTN), no-tillage with blue plastic film arch shed (NTB), conventional tillage with plastic film mulching and non-woven fabric arch shed (CTPN), and conventional tillage with plastic film mulching and blue plastic film arch shed (CTPB). Soil hydrothermal conditions, plant growth, root traits, yield components, and seed cotton yield were evaluated. CTPN and CTPB improved seedling-stage hydrothermal conditions and early growth relative to CK. Across the monitored 0–450 mm soil profile, mean soil temperature under CTPN and CTPB was 21.13% and 17.75% higher than under CK, respectively, while mean soil water content was 17.12% and 10.68% higher, respectively. However, these advantages did not result in the highest yield. NTN achieved the highest seed cotton yield, 15.19% higher than CK, followed by NTB with a 9.02% increase. NTN’s yield advantage was mainly associated with higher seed cotton weight per boll. Correlation analysis showed that boll number per plant was negatively associated with yield, whereas seed cotton weight per boll was positively associated with yield. Overall, favorable seedling-stage conditions alone did not determine final productivity, and NTN showed potential for practical application under comparable arid Xinjiang conditions while reducing reliance on conventional surface plastic mulch.

Current small arch shed machine designs rely on manual pole placements, resulting in low construction efficiency and mechanized levels. These machines were not designed with key components tailored to the agronomic requirements of Xinjiang’s small arch shed cotton cultivation model. An automated rod-feeding mechanism for a small arch shed was designed using SolidWorks 2023 to bridge this gap. Its major components include rod separation and conveying units, enabling the separation and orderly transportation of tunnel rods. A kinematic simulation of the conveyor rod during the transport process using ADAMS 2024.1 software was performed to examine the effects of motor speed, synchronous belt stop block height, and horizontal distance on the conveyor rod. Using MATLAB 2023a to fit the center-of-mass distance curve yields the optimal values for the parameters (motor speed = 17.57 rpm, stop block height = 16.79 mm, and horizontal distance = 103.95 mm). Bench test results confirmed the simulation performance of the device with a motor speed of 17 rpm, a synchronous belt stop block height of 15 mm, and a horizontal distance of 100 mm. The automated rod-feeding device exhibited an 80.8% feeding rate. The prototype operates stably, and this design can serve as a reference for developing automated equipment for small arch sheds.

The optimized design of key components in harvesting equipment is significantly impeded by the significant grain loss from the header and high energy consumption during stalk cutting that result from the lack of physical and mechanical parameters regarding the plant-flower head system during the mechanized harvesting of edible sunflowers. To furnish the design of mechanized harvesting equipment for palatable sunflowers with theoretical support and foundational data, physical parameters measured included geometrical properties, critical bending angle, coefficient of static friction, moisture content, and head seed collision loss rate. Mechanical parameters—radial elastic modulus, shear modulus, and shear strength—were obtained from stalk compression and shear tests using a universal testing machine. Stem-head detachment force was quantified with a universal testing machine fitted with bespoke fixtures, and orthogonal experiments were conducted with tensile speed, head-picking plate spacing, and tensile angle as factors to establish the significance hierarchy and optimal configuration. Considerable heterogeneity was observed: mean plant height, head diameter, and head thickness were (1733 ± 153) mm, (275 ± 28) mm, and (93 ± 19) mm, respectively. The critical bending angle decreased with height, whereas stalk moisture content increased from base to apex. Mean stalk and head moisture contents were 65% and 61.4%. The coefficient of static friction varied from 0.24 to 0.63 depending on contact material. A critical impact velocity of 2–3 m/s induced mechanical damage and seed cracking. The stalk radial elastic modulus was (1.12 ± 0.27) MPa; shear modulus and shear strength increased with decreasing sampling height, with basal stalks exhibiting a mean shear modulus of 2.47 MPa and shear strength of 1.87 MPa. Sampling position significantly influenced shear modulus (p < 0.05). The factor significance for stem-head detachment force was head-picking plate spacing > tensile angle > tensile speed. The optimal combination (tensile speed 500 mm/min, head-picking plate spacing 50 mm, tensile angle 10°) yielded a detachment force of (202.3 ± 9.5) N, with a relative error below 5% compared to prior detachment force measurements, confirming the reliability of the optimised results. These data provide essential foundations for developing stalk cutting, head inserting, and combine harvesting equipment.

To address issues such as plastic film residue and poor seed depth stability during cotton sowing operations in Xinjiang, a new type of no-till cotton seeder has been proposed and designed. The seeder is mainly composed of a rotary tillage device, a furrow opener and fertilizing device, a sowing mechanism, a compaction mechanism, and mechanical transmission parts. The structure and working principle of the cotton seeder are expounded on; the key parts, such as the rotary tillage mechanism, furrow opener, and compaction system are analyzed; and the key factors of the best size of each part are determined. The single-factor simulation design was carried out using the EDEM discrete element simulation technology, with the machine’s forward speed, rotary tillage speed, furrow opening depth, and compaction depth as the test conditions and the sowing quality as the evaluation standard. The corresponding mechanical model was established and determined the optimal combination of simulation parameters. To evaluate the performance of the cotton no-tillage seeder, field tests were conducted on its rotary tillage, tape laying, and seed press performance. The field experiment’s results indicate that under the optimal simulated parameter combination, the actual planting depth was approximately 28 mm with a coefficient of variation of 12.26%, achieving a compliance rate of 93.3%; the average planting spacing was 64.05 mm with a coefficient of variation of 12.46%; the soil disturbance rate was 32.9%; the germination rate was 96%; and the seed drying rate was below 2%. These results comply with industry standards and agronomic requirements, providing technical support for ensuring the quality of no-till cotton cultivation.