Performance Evaluation of a Power Tiller Operated Seed Drill

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an acute shortage of agricultural labourers during sowing season due to migration of youths for employment opportunities in urban areas.Due to non-availability of labour and draft animals during sowing seasons resulting in delay in sowing operation which may effect on the yield of crop.In many places the seed is sown even when the soil is at a low moisture content, which affects the germination of the plant stand and yield.Therefore, in order to mechanize crop sowing operation under rainfed conditions, a suitable seed drill is vital as it places the seed in the zone of adequate moisture and at desired depth.The power operated seed drill gives proper seed rate, uniform distribution and correct placement of seed and fertilizer resulting in higher yield and reduces human drudgery.Presently the available seed drills are need of modification to suit intercropping system as well as perfect depth of sowing under dryland conditions.Due to the uneven and erratic rainfall distribution during early and late kharif may lead to unfavourable conditions for the sole crop, so the system of intercrop can be adopted which acts as a crop insurance for the farmer without dependence on the sole crop.The study indicated that, the field experimentations and laboratory results the crops whose row to row spacing is 30 cm, the implement requires approximately 16hrs, i.e. 2 days to complete the sowing for 1 hectare of land.If the crop selected has row to row spacing of 60 cm then sowing of the crop seeds can be completed within 1 day for 1 hectare which can be economical to the farmers besides, sowing area under sowing can be increased by adapting this seed drill to overcome the dependency on sole crops and reduce the drudgery.