peer-reviewedIn 2002, 2003 and 2004, field trials were carried out in Slovenia in the form of random blocks with five replications. Three potato cultivators/ridgers were used on medium textured soil. The aim was to establish which potato cultivator/ridger was the most suitable for inter-row space cultivation, ridge shaping and achievement of the highest possible potato yield, work-rate and productivity. A drawn cultivator/ridger with spring tines on a parallelogram framework and wing ridge heads attached (STC), was com¬pared with a drawn cultivator/ridger with rigid tines on a parallelogram framework and cogwheel ridge discs attached (RTC) and with a rotary, PTO-driven cultivator/ridger (RC). The latter created the largest cross-sectional area of the ridge and proved to be the most efficient at crushing soil aggregates in the inter-row space and at ridge shap¬ing. It also allowed the lowest cone resistance at the ridge centre and in the central part of the ridge side. A higher number of tubers per plant resulted from ridges made by the PTO-driven cultivator/ridger giving a higher total yield of tubers than with the other two cultivators/ridgers. In comparison with the drawn cultivators/ridgers, the PTO-driven cultivator/ridger shaped ridges with better physical properties on medium textured soil; however both drawn cultivators/ridgers had greater work-rates, and also needed less energy to cultivate a unit of area.The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenian Government for financing the project
