Design improvements and field evaluation of conservation agriculture machineries for direct drilling in rice-wheat cropping system
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Date
2006-07
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G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)
Abstract
The field experiments were conducted on four conservation agriculture machines i.e. Inverted-T opener ZT drill (M1), Double disc opener ZT drill (M2), Star wheel punch planter (M3) and Rotary powered disc residue drill (M4) for direct drilling of rice and wheat during the year 2005-06 at the experimental field of Pantnagar, Uttaranchal (India) to select the best drill for a specific condition for further acceleration of the conservation tillage technology. Incorporation of design improvements in conservation agriculture machines were made for making them suitable for field operations under different field residue conditions in rice-wheat cropping system. Studies were conducted to investigate the effect on soil physical properties, machine performance, water requirement, crop establishment and overall economics of the tillage systems. The field experiments conducted in silty loam soil showed that soil dry bulk density up to 100 mm depth increased gradually from initial value of 1.40 g/cc to 1.52 g/cc at the time of harvest under zero tillage. The fuel consumption was observed maximum as 7.45 l/ha in case of rotary powered disc residue drill and minimum of 4.15 l/ha in star wheel punch planter. Time required for sowing operation was approximately same for all the machines. The soil moisture content was observed higher of about 1.01 and 1.31 percentage points in rice season and 1.31 and 1.34 percentage points in wheat season at 2 DAS and 130 DAS, respectively with field condition of chopped stubbles as mulch (C2) than the conventional tillage (C3) and irrigation water requirement was also found minimum in case of mulch condition. The weed density was maximum in standing stubble (C1) field condition, whereas it was minimum in conventional tillage. The machines M2 and M4 produced better results than other machines in terms of crop growth parameters viz. plant emergence, number of tillers/m2, plant height, number of spikes, number of grains/spike and test weight. The grain and straw yields of rice were found a maximum of 6.25 and 8.60 t/ha with the machine M2, whereas it was minimum of 5.31 and 7.07 t/ha with the machine M3; but for wheat crop, maximum grain and straw yields (3.77 and 5.17 t/ha) were found with M2, whereas, minimum grain yield (3.33 t/ha) was found with M1 and minimum straw yield was (4.61 t/ha) with M3. Maximum net income of Rs 32681/ha was found with double disc opener ZT drill under field condition, C2 in rice season, whereas, it was Rs 29002/ha with rotary powered disc residue drill under same field condition in wheat season. Maximum net income of Rs 59606/ha was obtained in case of double disc opener ZT drill under field condition, C2 in rice-wheat cropping system. Maximum benefit : cost ratio was found about 2.49 with double disc opener ZT drill under field condition, C2 in rice-wheat cropping system.
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