On Farm Trials of Tractor Drawn Multicrop Ridge-furrow and Flat Bed Seeding Machine for Rain fed and Irrigated Conditions

Abstract

To meet the seeding requirements of different crops, the tractor drawn ridger-seeder was improved upon and a multipurpose tractor drawn seeding machine. which could accomplish sowing of crops both on flat bed as seed-cum-fertilizer drill like wheat, barley and methi crops and in ridge-furrow system as ridger-seeder with slight modifications/ adjustments, was developed and field tested. It has three point hitch, two bottom ridger-seeder, which forms the ridges and furrows with seeding either on ridges, sides of ridges or in the furrows as desired, in single operation and nine shoe type combined furrow openers for its use as seed-cum-fertilizer drill on flat beds. The machine was taken for demonstration and popularization in the adopted village Sarsod for sowing of raya and gram crops as ridger-seeder. It was capable of sowing 5-6 ha/day depending on type of crop sown. There was 30-40% saving of irrigation water with its use as ridger-seeder. During last two years 125 demonstrations were organized and about 12-15% higher yields were obtained by the farmers.