Unveiling Potential of Seed Planter and Drone for Sowing of Pelleted Seeds in Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)
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Authors
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RAJA K
Seed Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-641003, India
Author
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C VANITHA
Seed Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-641003, India
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R UMARANI
Seed Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-641003, India
Author
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R JERLIN
Seed Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-641003, India
Author
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P MASILAMAN
Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu-621712, India
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K NATARAJAN
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Vridhachalam, Tamil Nadu-606001, India
Author
Keywords:
Sesame, Seed pelleting, Seed germination, Seedling vigour, Mechanized sowing, Seed drill sowing, Drone sowingAbstract
An experiment was conducted to standardize the optimum pellet size for mechanized sowing in small sized sesame seeds. After standardization of pelleting protocol, the pelleting was carried out in the seed coating machine and the physical properties of the pellets were measured. In which, irrespective of different layers of pellets, the 100 seed weight of pelleted seeds increased over unpelleted seeds. The physiological parameters showed that the sesame seeds pelleted with 16 layers have recorded higher seedling vigour than unpelleted seeds. Therefore, it was optimized for sowing in the field by seed drill and drone. The field experiment results showed that sowing of pelleted seeds with air assisted seed drill was found suitable for maintenance of recommended plant population (11 plants/m2). Maximum plant height (128.2 cm) was registered by pelleted seeds sown by inclined seed drill followed by line sowing with pelleted seed (127.7 cm) and the lowest plant height (125.1 cm) was recorded in broadcasting of unpelleted seed. Among the treatments, pelleted seeds sown by drone produced more number of branches (7.8/plant) and capsules (58.4/plant) and recorded 13.3% higher yield (746 kg/ha) than the unpelleted seed.
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