Evaluation of Manually Operated Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana) Drum Seeder cum Fertilizer Applicator for Nursery Raising

Abstract

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is generally cultivated by the transplanting method. The seedling nursery is grown on one-tenth of the area to be transplanted with recommended seed rate. Manual sowing is the common practice for nursery raising which is cumbersome and non-uniform. Hence, a manually operated finger millet drum seeder cum fertilizer applicator was designed and developed. It was tested with two different diameter ground wheels (165 and 230 mm), three different operating speeds (1, 1.5 and 2 km h^-1) and two different numbers of orifices on the drum (12 and 24). The seed rates were determined with the combinations of these independent parameters in the laboratory under a jacked condition of the seeder and working condition in the field over a sticky plate as well as under field conditions. The seed drill operated with 24 orifices drum at 1.5 km h^-1 speed using 165 mm diameter wheel and at 2 km h^-1 speed using 230 mm diameter wheel gave sufficient plant population to satisfy the transplanting need.