Development and performance evaluation of manual/bullock operated multicrop planter for hilly region

Abstract

In hills, sowing of various crops is generally performed manually by broadcasting of seeds, and that not only consume higher seed rate but also cause uneven distribution of seed at improper depth and moisture, poor germination, unhealthy plants and ultimately lower the yield.  To overcome these problems, a single row manual/bullock multicrop planter was designed and developed for line sowing of wheat, maize, soybean, lentil, pea, mustard, millet etc. for hilly small fields.  The power and pull requirements were 74.6 W and 12 kgf, respectively.  The machine has a nylon made cell type seed metering mechanism with 4 types of cells of different sizes on a roller, and also has a fluted roller for fertilizer metering.  Shovel type and Inverted T-type furrow openers can be used as the need.  Two persons are required to operate the machine manually by one using handle and one with bullocks.  The effective field capacity was observed 0.0378, 0.05, 0.058 and  0.056 hah^{-1 in} wheat, lentil, mustard and pea, respectively.  The cost of operation was observed 42% less in multicrop planter with 21%-33% increase in yield as compared to traditional broadcasting method.