Performance of Light Weight Rotary Tiller for Different Agricultural Operations

Abstract

Light weight rotary tiller (Amar) was evaluated for seed bed preparation, interculture operation, puddling operation and basin preparation around the trees for finding its suitability. Overall discomfort rating of light weight rotary tiller was also measured during above operations. The average effective field capacity of rotary tiller was 0.042 ha/h for seedbed preparation under clay loam and silt clay loam soils. The average clod mean weight diameter (MWD) was observed 7.3 mm during seed bed preparation which was far below than the average clod size of 12 to 14 mm generally found in the final seed bed. The average depth oftilling (94 mm) achieved with this light weight rotary tiller may not be sufficient for sowing/planting of deep rooted crops. The overall discomfort rating on the 10-point VAD scale for operating duration of 45 min was 3.36. The high slippage was observed during seed bed preparation due to low traction of iron wheel provided in light weight rotary tiller. The effective field capacity of rotary tiller during interculture operation was 0.04 halh, which was 85% more than manual system of interculture operation. The weeding efficiency was 84% with light weight rotary tiller during interculture operation in apple orchards. The mean overall discomfort ratings on a 1O-point VAD scale for an operating duration of 35 min was 4.6, 5.4 and 7.6 for light weight rotary tiller, wheel hand hoe and manual system using spade, respectively. The interculture operation with light weight rotary tiller was found less tiring in comparison to interculture operation with wheel hand hoe and manual system. The average time required for basin preparation with rotary tiller was 4 min/basin, which was 1/3rd of time required in traditional system ofbasin preparation. However, cost of basin preparation was 5% higher with rotary tiller compared to traditional system due to involvement of high initial investment. The mean overall discomfort ratings recorded with rotary tiller after preparation of five basins was 5.5 in comparison to 7.9 with manual system.