Sowing and Planting Equipment in Indian Farms

Tractor Operated Sett Cutter Planter for Sugarcane

The whole stick sugarcane cutter planter has been developed, It is consists of a rigid body attached to a frame to create furrows, sett cutting unit, fertilizer application unit, chemical application unit, sett covering unit, and seedbox. The planter is PTO driven and mounted at the three-point linkage system of a tractor. The cutting of the cane of 350 mm length is done automatically in the machine and setts are treated with insecticides at the cutting point. The setts are placed in the furrow created by ridge bodies with overlapping up to 30%. The pesticide is also sprayed at the ends of sett in the furrows. The sett placed in the furrow is covered immediately after the treatment, the furrow is closed and rows are leveled by the leveler provided in the machine. The field capacity of the machine is 0.20 ha/h. The approximate cost of equipment is Rs. 50,000/-. The cost of operation of equipment is Rs. 2800/ha as compared to Rs. 4300/ha by traditional method.

Tractor Operated Sugarcane Seedling Transplanter

C:\Users\HP\Desktop\Photossss\DSC01604.JPGThe tractor-operated semi-automatic sugarcane transplanter has been developed at MPKV, Rahuri for transplanting sugarcane seedlings. It consists of a mainframe, two rotary drums, a power transmission system, seedling tray, furrow openers, ground wheel, press wheels, seats for workers, and a depth control mechanism. The plant to plant and row to row spacing of the machine are 600 and 1500 mm, respectively. The working width and depth of the machine are 1500 and 148-150 mm, respectively. The average effective field capacity and field efficiencies are 0.30 ha/h and 80.78%, respectively at a forwarding speed of 2.56 km/h. The machine results in a net saving of Rs. 2055/ha as compared to the conventional method.

Tractor Operated Vegetable Transplanter (Picker Wheel Type)

One of the major problems in vegetable cultivation is the transplanting of seedlings. This requires a lot of labor, which is very costly. A two-row semi-automatic planter having a picker wheel type metering mechanism has been developed at PAU, Ludhiana to transplant root wash type seedlings on the beds as well as on flat fields. Two persons (one for each row) are required to place the seedlings in the flappers when these open at the top position. After the seedling is dropped in the furrow, the soil is compacted around it with the help of two moving inclined wheels. The average field capacity of the machine is about 0.10 ha/h at a forwarding speed of 1.0 km/h. The cost of operation with the machine is Rs. 2200/ha as compared to Rs. 2800/ha with manual transplanting.

Tractor Operated Garlic Planter

Garlic planter.JPGA tractor operated six-row garlic planter has been developed at PAU, Ludhiana with actuating spoon (23 mm diameter and 2.5 mm depth size) type metering mechanism for the planting of garlic at 150 mm row spacing. It consists of a seed metering plate, seed hopper, agitator, and seed covering device. The power to the metering mechanism is provided from the ground wheel with the help of a chain and sprockets. The garlic planter is evaluated for sowing garlic (Punjab Garlic 1 variety) on 1.0 m wide beds. The effective field capacity of the machine is 0.18-0.21 ha/h at a forward speed of 2.00 to 2.25 km/h. An average percentage of missing and multiples are 9.13 and 26.70%, respectively with the garlic planter. There is a saving of 82% in labor requirement and 57% in the cost of operation as compared to manual planting. The approximate cost of the machine is Rs. 150,000 and the cost of operation is Rs. 6200/ha.