STRIP-TILL-DRILL IN PUNJAB- A STUDY

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1 Indian J. Agric. Res., 43 (4) : , 2009 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE / indianjournals.com STRIP-TILL-DRILL IN PUNJAB- A STUDY J.S. Mahal, S.S.Ahuja, L.N. Shukla and Kulvinder Singh Deptt. of Farm Power & Machinery, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana , India. ABSTRACT A tractor operated 9-row strip till drill was developed in the Department of Farm Power & Machinery, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana to use minimum tillage technique for wheat sowing in Punjab. It was successfully demonstrated on large scale. As a result Punjab Govt. gave 50% subsidy on sale of this machine. During the year 1998 seventeen machines were purchased by the farmers. In the following years this number rose to about 99 in Punjab. Manufacturers further improved the machine as per demand and feedback from the farmers. They have strengthened the power transmission system and also attempted to make 11-row machine. Gearboxes have also been developed for 1000 rpm PTO. A survey was conducted to assess the status of the machine in Punjab, its impact on energy and time saving. Farmers are saving 30 to 60% of fuel and time. Machine is also being operated on custom hiring basis at the rate of Rs to 1875 per ha. It has been seen that there is no change in yield of wheat sown with this machine vis-à-vis traditional method of sowing. Farmers have also expressed that the machine also helps to control phalaris minor, the most troublesome weed of wheat in Punjab. Problems faced by the farmers and modifications undertaken by the manufacturers are discussed. Key words: Strip-till-drill, Punjab. INTRODUCTION Wheat is the most important crop of Punjab and is grown on more than 33 lakh ha with a production of about 144 lakh tones (Anonymous. 2005b). Punjab is the most mechanized state of India. Under the present situation it has become very important to cut down the cost of production as the cost of inputs is increasing day by day (Dhaliwal, 2000). To reduce the cost of production research on minimum tillage is being undertaken in Punjab Agricultural University on the guidelines discussed by various researchers in different studies (Shukla et al., 1996 and Singh and Singh, 1995). A tractor operated 9-row strip till drill was developed in the Department of Farm Power & Machinery PAU, Ludhiana for wheat sowing in Punjab after the success of the technology in various parts of the world (Lindwell and Anderson, 1977; Witmuss and Lane, 1973 and Witmus et al., 1971). Machine was demonstrated on large scale and Punjab Govt. gave 50% subsidy on sale of this machine. Three manufacturers started commercial production of this machine. The introduction of the machine faced certain teething troubles due to the hesitations of the farmers to adopt minimum tillage practice and poor manufacturing quality. During the year 1998 seventeen machines were purchased by the farmers. In the following years this number rose to 99 machines in Punjab out of which around 72 machines were working in the year 2000.

2 244 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH Manufacturers have tried to improve the machine as per demand and feedback from the farmers. Manufacturers had strengthened the power transmission system and also attempted to make 11-row machine. Gearbox was developed for 1000 rpm PTO. A survey was conducted to assess the status of the machine in Punjab, its impact on energy and time saving. Farmers are saving 30 to 60% on fuel and time. Machine is also being operated on custom hiring basis at the rate of Rs to 1875 per ha. It was observed that there is no change in yield of wheat sown with this machine vis-à-vis traditional method of sowing. Further farmers expressed that the machine also helps to control phalaris minor, the most troublesome weed of wheat in Punjab. However, this fact could not be verified under actual field conditions where weedicides are used. Problems faced by the farmers and modifications undertaken by the manufacturers are discussed in this paper. MATERIAL AND METHODS Machine description: Strip-till-drill is a tractor PTO operated seed-cum-fertilizer drill for wheat sowing without any field preparations. It consists of a horizontal lateral rotor powered by PTO through universal shaft, a gear box and final chain drive that rotates at 200 to 220 rpm. The basic design of the machine was based on functional design of the large machines developed at other research centers (Witmus and Lane, 1973). It consists of nine sets of blades each set tilling a strip of 65 mm width. Each tilled strip is followed by a furrow opener that places seed and fertilizer in finely tilled soil. As a result, seed is placed in tilled soil and inter row space is left intact. This results in reduced tillage and about percent saving is achieved on fuel and time. Farmers who had purchased strip-tilldrill machines were visited to assess the problems and benefits they are getting from the machine. A questionnaire was developed and 32 farmers were interviewed. Machines were presently in use only in four districts of Punjab. These districts are Ropar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Sangrur. Most of the machines were in the last three districts. Soil type in the regions where machines are in use varies from loamy sand to clay loam. The machines were critically inspected and the problems of the farmers were discussed. Fields sown by these machines were also visited to see the stand of the crop. Data regarding use of the machine, their field capacities, fuel consumption, tractor loading etc. was obtained from the farmers. Breakdowns reported were recorded. Practices adopted by the farmers for seedbed preparation before the use of strip-till-drills was noted down to calculate the saving in fuel and time. Machines used by the farmers in traditional practice were stubble shaver, disc harrow, cultivator, planker and seed cum fertilizer drills (Anonymous., 2005a). For calculations field capacities of these machines were respectively taken as 0.8 ha, 0.8 ha, 1.2 ha, 1.4 ha and 0.8 ha per hour. Average fuel consumption for heavy tillage operations like harrowing, tilling and stubble shaving was taken as 5 liter per hour. Fuel consumption for planking and ordinary seed drills in prepared fields was taken as 3.5 liter per hour. Fuel consumption for strip-till-drill was decided to be 5 liter per hour. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Increasing confidence of the farmers in the strip-till-drill: About one third (29%) of the machines were purchased in the year 1998, the first year of its introduction. Following year did not show any increase in its purchase due to certain problems. Fig.1 shows how the number went up later in the year Farmers were convinced with the minimum tillage technology and 35% machines out the total machines purchased were purchased in the year The number may have increase many folds in these years

3 as the farmers were satisfied by the success of the machine but in the mean time a new development occurred. The results were somewhat similar to as discussed by Witmuss and Lane, (1973) and Dhiman and Sharma, (1986). Another minimum tillage machine was introduced in Punjab under the name of Zerotill-drill or No-till-drill. This machine was cheaper and simpler in construction than striptill-drill and resulted in decrease of purchase of strip-till-drill in the years 2001 and This machine uses a simple furrow opener as discussed by Chaudhary, However, strip-till-drill performs better in heavy soils than the no-till-drill (Dhaliwal, 2000). 100 Vol. 43, No. 4, Farmers with bigger tractors are the actual buyers: About 60% of the machines were purchased by the farmers with tractors of 40 to 50 hp. Farmers feel that smaller tractor cannot run this machine however a 35 hp tractor is recommended for 9 row machine. A hp tractor can operate 11 row-machine with ease. Farmers having machines with 35 to 40 hp tractors were only 24% (Fig.2). One reason for the bigger tractors may be that such farmers have large land holding and good financial status. Their risk bearing capacity makes them progressive to adopt new technologies. Table 1: Year wise area covered by 32* Strip-Till-Drills covered under the survey Year Area, ha Total Farmers own area On custom hiring** * Total number of Strip-till-drills in Punjab during the year 2000 were about 72 and this figure rose to 99 in the year ** Average Custom hiring rate for the year 2000 was Rs per ha Cummulative percentage Year Fig. 1 Growth of strip-till-drill in Punjab in the last five years

4 246 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH >50 hp, 16% hp, 24% >40-50 hp, 60% Fig. 2: Percentage of tractors of different horse power used on strip-till-drill Area under strip-till-drill is increasing: In the first year of introduction total area sown by strip-till-drills was 88 ha. It is only 16% of the area sown in the year In the year 2000 about 32 farmers have sown 541 ha with these machines (Table 1). Since the estimated number of these machines was around 72 in Punjab, total area sown by these machines must be around 1000 ha and may have increased to 1200 ha in the year Machine has good potential for custom hiring: In the year 2000 out of 541 ha 195 ha (36%) were sown on custom hiring basis with rates varying from Rs to 1875 per ha with an average of Rs per ha. Farmers have sown from 6 to 44 ha on custom hiring basis in one year only with one machine. This trend will go a long way to reduce the investment on machinery by the farmers. Machine saves farm operations, fuel and time: Data provided by the farmers clearly shows that they have saved 37% of the fuel, 32% of the time and 56% of the operations required for seed bed preparations and wheat sowing with use of this machine (Table 2) and was in accordance to various other studies (Shukla et al and Dhaliwal 2000). Machine has still more potential to save fuel and time because farmers have not totally abandoned the tillage operations before using the strip-till-drill machine. Some farmers are still reluctant that without any field preparation they can get yields as good as in the traditional practices. There was no significant change in yield from crop sown with strip-till-drill without any field preparations. Average yield was 4880 kg/ha and was close to potential of the crop (Anonymous., 2005a). Others use two to three operations of disc harrow or cultivator to incorporate the paddy straw. But total number of operations has definitely reduced. Conventionally farmers use 2.9 operations of disc harrow and 1.65 operations of cultivator on an average before wheat sowing

5 (recommended). These operations have been reduced to 1.26 and 0.17 operations for a given land respectively. Traditionally, total number of operations with stubble shaver, disc harrow, cultivator, planker and drill amount to 9.55 operations of tractor which requires liters of diesel and 9.38 hours of time per ha. For details see Table 2 and Fig. 3 and 4. With use of strip-till-drill average number of Vol. 43, No. 4, operations of the tractor have been reduced to 4.21 that decreased fuel requirement to 26 l/ha and time to 6.38 h/ha. These calculations tally with the overall guess of the farmers that they save about 40 to 50% or 18 to 22 liters of fuel per ha with this machine. The building confidence of the farmers in this machine will increase savings of the farmer in the near future. Table 2: Level of use of different implements under conventional and Strip-till-Drill wheat sowing systems in Punjab. Implement used Conventional system Strip-till-drill cultivation system Avg. number of passes Avg. time spent on Avg. number of passes Avg. time spent on of each implement each implement, h/ha of each implement each implement, h/ha Stubble shaver Disc Harrow Cultivator Planker Drill/Strip-till- drill Total Diesel used l/ha 26.0 l/ha Savings with strip- No. of passes per acre: 55.9% till-drill over Time : 32.2% conventional Diesel: 37.0% Drill, 0.95 Stubble Shaver, 0.6 Disc Harrow, 2.9 Planker, 3.45 Cultivator, 1.65 Fig. 3: Average number of operations of a machine under conventional system.

6 248 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH Strip till drill, 1 Stubble Shaver, 0.48 Disc Harrow, 1.26 Planker, 1.3 Cultivator, 0.17 Fig. 4: Average operations of other implements used along with strip-till-dill. Machine has an acceptable field capacity: Farmers have covered from 1.6 to 4.8 ha per day with an average of 3.0 ha with this machine depending upon the size of the machine, tractor and number of operations undertaken before using strip-tilldrill. Average field capacity has been found to be 0.32 ha per h. No difference in crop growth: With a few exceptions majority of the farmers were of the view that machine has no effect on weeds, crop lodging and yield (average yield 4880 kg/ha, Anonymous., 2005a). Two farmers were of the view that because of lesser volume of water required for irrigation water does not stagnate for a long that improves crop health. Irrigation water requirement is reduced because well tilled soils absorb water quickly and total depth of irrigation increases. Modifications undertaken by the manufacturers The manufacturers have undertaken the following improvements with their experience and demands of the farmers. 1. Power train has been strengthened after initial failures of shafts and gears. One manufacturer has provided chain drive from both sides of the rotor. Original design of PAU has chain drive only on one side. But farmers felt that double chain casing prevents the machine for going close to the field boundaries. 2. Gearbox for 1000 rpm PTO has also been provided. Out of 32 machines five machines were having these types of gearboxes. 3. For bigger tractors 11 row machines have also been designed and sold. Out of 32 machines surveyed four were 11 row machines. Price of a 9-row machine supplied by various manufacturers varied between Rs.

7 Vol. 43, No. 4, Table 3: Problems reported by the farmers, frequency of occurrence of the problems and remedial measures taken. S.No. Problem % of farmers Remedial measures if taken reported 1 Shearing of the main transmission shafts 22 Replaced after welding failed again 2 Burning of bearings 6 Replaced 3 Oil leakage 6 Seals replaced Breakage of blades 9 Blades replaced 5 Seed or fertilizer metering system 28 Machines replaced or repaired 6 Moist soil deposit on ground wheel 22 Scrapers fitted or frequently cleaned 7 Ground wheel or chain assembly hits 6 - side borders on first run around a field and one line of crop is missed. 8 Excessive rodents due to excess straw 3 - and grains of previous crop on the surface 9 Furrow openers does not follow blades 3 Aligned the shanks on rotavator 10 Bottom of furrow openers and bottom of furrow made by blades not in level to Rs They were charging about Rs extra for 11 row machine. 4. Ground wheels have been taken inside the main frame to avoid unsown areas near the field boundaries. 5. Some manufacturers are using narrow furrow openers (traditional design) to work in narrow furrow but farmers feel that it mixes fertilizer with the seed that may adversely effect seed germination. 6. Over the years workmanship in general has improved and machines have better out look. Problems faced by the farmers Some farmers have shared their problems while using these machines. Their views have been tabulated in Table 3. Major problems are as under: 1. About 25% of the farmers have complained of the major breakdowns like shaft shearing off, burnt bearing, trouble in chain drive and damaged bevel gears of the main gear box. These shafts have to be replaced and gearboxes repaired. Some farmers also reported oil leakage, breaking of rotor blades and loosening of blade fasteners. 2. Twenty eight percent of the farmers have reported faulty seed and fertilizer metering systems. Especially fertilizer system was not working uniformly. 3. Many farmers reported a common problem of lugged ground wheel. Since ground wheel runs on freshly tilled moist soil it gathers soil around it and grows in size with soil sticking around it. As wheel diameter increases its axle rises up that reduces the depth of sowing. Wheel cannot be easily cleaned because of the lugs over it. Frequent cleaning is required. 4. About six per cent of the farmers have reported obstruction of chain assembly or the ground wheel to take the machine close to the field boundaries. One row of the crop near the boundaries is lost.

8 250 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 5. One farmer reported that there is no provision for alignment of universal shaft joints and if they are fixed incorrectly shaft gives rotational vibrations. 6. Improper alignment of the furrow openers with blades of the rotor, vertically as well as laterally was also reported by three farmers. 7. One farmer shared that absence of any tillage operation before using strip-till-drill leaves enough straw and grains of previous paddy crop to invite rodents. 8. Two farmers were of the view that the machine overloads their 35 hp tractor if no tillage operation is performed before using the machine. REFERENCES Anonymous. (2005a). Package of Practices for Rabi Crops, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Anonymous. (2005b). Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh. Chaudhary M. A. (1988). Agric. Mech. in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 19: Dhaliwal I.S. (2000). Ph.D. Dissertation. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Dhiman S. D. and Sharma A. P. (1986). Agric. Mech. in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 17: Lindwell C. W. and Anderson D. T. (1977). Soil Sci. 57: Shukla L. N., et al Agric. Mech. in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 27: Singh B. and Singh T. P. (1995). J. Agric. Engg. ISAE. XXXII: Witmuss H. D. and Lane D. E. (1973). In: 1973 summer meeting, ASAE, June 17-20, at University of Kentucky Laxington, Kentucky. Witmuss H. D. et al (1971). Trans. of ASAE. 14: 60-63, 68.