Planters and their Components: Types, attributes, functional requirements, classification and description

Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

The Current Adoption of Dry-Direct Seeding Rice (DDSR) in Thailand and Lessons Learned for Mekong River Delta of Vietnam

The paper documents the joint study trip, organized by CCAFS Southeast Asia for Vietnamese rice researchers, extension workers, as well as local decision makers, to visit Thailand in April 2018. The goal of the study trip was to observe and learn the experience of Thai farmers on the large-scale adoption process of dry-direct seeding rice (DDSR), a viable alternative to address regional scarcity of fresh water in irrigation caused by the drought and salinity intrusion in the Mekong River Delta

A review of knowledge: inter-row hoeing & its associated agronomy in organic cereal & pulse crops

The aim of this project was to establish the “state of the art” for inter-row hoeing and its associated agronomic practices in organic cereal and pulse crops. To achieve this a detailed review of literature was undertaken. • To facilitate inter-row cultivation in cereal and pulse crops, some adjustment of row spacing may be required. For cereals, drilling crops in 25 cm rows can reduce yield compared with normal drilling practice, primarily due to greater intra-specific competition amongst the crop (i.e. competition between crop plants). • The yield penalty resulting from widely spaced crop rows can be minimised using a number of approaches, depending on the drill: 1. Reducing the seed rate in widely spaced crop rows can help to minimise excessive intra-specific competition. 2. Band sowing the crop in wide rows can also help to minimise intra-specific competition as the seed is distributed over a greater area. 3. Using a twin-row arrangement can completely overcome the yield penalty. • The recommended row spacing for peas (up to 20 cm) and beans (up to 35 cm) does not require any further adjustment for inter-row hoeing. • Recent developments in automated guidance of inter-row hoeing equipment mean that weeding operations can now be conducted a much higher speeds (10 km h-1). This has highlighted the limitations of some of the cultivators currently used (e.g. ‘A’ blades), as excessive soil throw can occur at this high speed. Rolling cultivators may prove to be the most suitable at high forward speeds. For manually guided hoes working at slower speeds (5 km h-1), ‘A’ and ‘L’ blades offer an effective low cost solution. • In terms of the timing of inter-row hoeing, it is suggested that weeding operations should be conducted at an early stage in the growing season, as the weeds that emerge with or shortly after the crop are the ones that pose the most significant threat for crop yield. Weeding on two occasions can provide better levels of weed control than weeding once, but weeding more frequently offered little additional benefit. Reductions of weed biomass of up to 99 % have been reported as a result of inter-row hoeing, although this has not always resulted in a positive crop yield response. This is probably due to crop damage resulting from inaccurate hoeing, a problem that can be overcome with automated guidance. • There is some evidence to suggest that mechanical weeding operations can mineralise soil bound nitrogen. • The impact of inter-row hoeing on ground nesting birds is uncertain. Early indications suggest that skylarks prefer to nest directly adjacent to or in the crop row rather than between rows. The information contained within this review should enable farmers to make best use of inter-row hoeing in their arable crops. There are a number of areas that require further research and development: • The interaction of seed rate and row spacing needs to be confirmed in organic systems. • Relatively little is known about the mechanisms of weed kill and the detailed interaction between the cultivator blade, the weed and the soil. This is particularly important with the new automated guidance equipment that allows weeding at high forward speeds. • The timing and frequency of inter-row hoeing has received very little attention. The optimum weed control timings are based on small-plot crop:weed competition studies and need to be verified under field scale management with inter-row hoeing equipment. • Finally, the impact of inter-row hoeing and widely spaced crop rows on ground-nesting birds has not been looked at directly, but is of importance. Please see the main report for a more detailed summary before the full text

Design, development and field assessment of a controlled seed metering unit to be used in grain drills for direct seeding of wheat

AbstractA new controlled seed metering unit was designed and mounted on a common grain drill for direct seeding of wheat (DSW). It comprised the following main parts: (a) a variable-rate controlled direct current motor (DCM) as seed metering shaft driver, (b) two digital encoders for sensing the rotational speed of supplemental ground wheel (SGW) and seed metering shaft and (c) a control box to handle and process the data of the unit. According to the considered closed-loop control system, the designed control box regularly checked the revolution per minute (RPM) of seed metering shaft, as operation feedback, using its digital encoder output. The seeding rate was determined based on the calculated error signal and output signal of the digital encoder of the SGW. A field with four different levels of wheat stubble coverage (10%, 30%, 40% and 50%) was selected for evaluation of the fabricated seed metering unit (FSMU). The dynamic tests were conducted to compare the performance of installed FSMU on the grain drill and equipped grain drill with common seed metering unit (CSMU) at three forward speeds of 4, 6 and 8 (Km/h) for DSW. Results of the FSMU assessment demonstrated that an increase in forward speed of grain drill (FSGD) and stubble coverage did not significantly affect the seeding rate in the grain drill for DSW. Using the FSMU reduced the coefficient of variation (CV) by approximately 50%. Consequently, applying the FSMU on the common grain drill led to a desirable seeding rate at different forward speeds of the grain drill and stubble existence

Restoring North America’s Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystem Using Seed Enhancement Technologies

Rangelands occupy over a third of global land area, and in many cases are in less than optimum condition as a result of past land use, catastrophic wildfire and other disturbance, invasive species, or climate change. Often the only means of restoring these lands involves seeding desirable species, yet there are few cost effective seeding technologies, especially for the more arid rangeland types. The inability to consistently establish desired plants from seed may indicate that the seeding technologies being used are not successful in addressing the primary sources of mortality in the progression from seed to established plant. Seed enhancement technologies allow for the physical manipulation and application of materials to the seed that can enhance germination, emergence, and/or early seedling growth. In this article we examine some of the major limiting factors impairing seedling establishment in North America’s native sagebrush steppe ecosystem, and demonstrate how seed enhancement technologies can be employed to overcome these restoration barriers. We discuss specific technologies for: (1) increasing soil water availability; (2) enhancing seedling emergence in crusting soil; (3) controlling the timing of seed germination; (4) improving plantability and emergence of small seeded species; (5) enhancing seed coverage of broadcasted seeds; and (6) improving selectivity of pre-emergent herbicide. Concepts and technologies in this paper for restoring the sagebrush steppe ecosystem may apply generally to semi-arid and arid rangelands around the globe

Razmak i dubina setve semena ozime raži

Proper seed distribution over area and depth is the essential condition that provides later uniform plants distribution over the vegetation space. Paper presents statistical analysis of two drills accuracy results in winter rye sowing. Experiment was done in north Kosovo, during rye sowing with two mechanical seed drills, OLT Gama and IMT 634.23. Besides the comparative analysis of the sowing results achieved by these two drills, in the paper is tested and verified the applicability of Gaussian function for analytical description of longitudinal, transverse and depth distribution of winter rye seed at the experimental plot.Pravilna raspodela semena po površini i dubini predstavlja osnovni uslov za obezbedjenje ravnomerne raspodele biljaka u vegetacionom prostoru. U radu je predstavljena statistička analiza rezultata ispitivanja tačnosti distribucije semena dve uskoredne sejalice u setvi ozime raži. Ispitivanja su izvedena na severu Kosova, u toku setve semena raži primenom dve sejalice Olt Gama 14 i IMT 634.23. Osim komparativne analize rezultata setve koji su dobijeni primenom ove dve sejalice, u radu je testirana i proverena primenljivost Gausove funkcije za analitičko opisivanje uzdužne, poprečne i raspodele semena ozime raži po dubini na eksperimentalnoj parceli

Razmak i dubina setve semena ozime raži

Proper seed distribution over area and depth is the essential condition that provides later uniform plants distribution over the vegetation space. Paper presents statistical analysis of two drills accuracy results in winter rye sowing. Experiment was done in north Kosovo, during rye sowing with two mechanical seed drills, OLT Gama and IMT 634.23. Besides the comparative analysis of the sowing results achieved by these two drills, in the paper is tested and verified the applicability of Gaussian function for analytical description of longitudinal, transverse and depth distribution of winter rye seed at the experimental plot.Pravilna raspodela semena po površini i dubini predstavlja osnovni uslov za obezbedjenje ravnomerne raspodele biljaka u vegetacionom prostoru. U radu je predstavljena statistička analiza rezultata ispitivanja tačnosti distribucije semena dve uskoredne sejalice u setvi ozime raži. Ispitivanja su izvedena na severu Kosova, u toku setve semena raži primenom dve sejalice Olt Gama 14 i IMT 634.23. Osim komparativne analize rezultata setve koji su dobijeni primenom ove dve sejalice, u radu je testirana i proverena primenljivost Gausove funkcije za analitičko opisivanje uzdužne, poprečne i raspodele semena ozime raži po dubini na eksperimentalnoj parceli

Versatile strip seed drill: A 2-wheel tractor-based option for smallholders to implement conservation agriculture in Asia and Africa

Smallholders in Asia and Africa require low-cost seed drills for minimal soil disturbance while establishing various crops. A seed drill that can be drawn by the widely-available two-wheel tractor (2WT) is an attractive option for mechanization of no-till in small-sized fields. The Versatile Strip Seed Drill (VSSD) was designed with the capacity to make up to 40 mm wide and 60 mm deep strips in untilled land along with seed and basal fertilizer application in a single-pass operation, while powered by the 8.95 to 11.93 kW 2WT. An important innovation of the VSSD was to fit the seed box with both fluted roller-type seed meters for delivery of sufficient small-size seeds to achieve adequate plant density per unit row length; and vertical disk-type seed meters for precision and spaced row planting of larger seeds. Both incessant seed dropping by fluted roller seed meters and spaced planting by vertical disk type seed meters provided optimum plant populations that were generally higher than in conventional, full-tillage plots with the same rate of hand broadcasted seed and fertilizers. Time required for crop establishment by VSSD ranged from 0.13 to 0.18 ha·h−1. When the VSSD was attached to the 2WT for crop establishment, the diesel fuel consumption varied from 4.4 to 6.1 L·ha−1, which was lower than for most 2WT-based planters previously used in Bangladesh. In on-farm multi-locations trials, wheat crops established with the VSSD had statistically similar grain yield compared to conventional tillage; however, significantly higher grain yield was obtained from mustard and lentil, by 14% and 19%, respectively. The VSSD is a unique, minimum-soil-disturbance multi-crop planter, and can be a platform on which to build conservation agriculture systems for small farms in Asia and Africa