Effect of rotary blade design modification on residue retention into conservation agriculture practice

Abstract

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been a promising technique for better crop production. Manual seeding with conventional tillage practice is laborious and time consuming. However, Strip tillage (ST) method incorporating seeding machines minimizes human drudgery and optimizes the crop yield. Many problems associated with ST have been rectified e.g. tiny furrow backfill, inaccuracy of seed and fertilizer placement, leading to poor germination and curtailed outcomes. This article focused on the effects of residue retention for the rotary blades design on a versatile multi-crop planter (VMP). Four types of rotary blades of VMP differed by 15^o increment of tip angles were designed, fabricated, and experimented with a constant speed 350 RPM for ST operation targeting wheat and maize cultivation. Technical aspects related to the quality of strip i.e. width of furrow, depth of seed placement, moisture content, bulk density etc. were observed. Furthermore, the percentage of straw cut and seed emergence were visualized. From the observation, straw clogging was almost dissolved due to rotating action with the sharp edge of the new designed blades in front of the furrow openers. Soil cutting depth of strips and seed placement depth was consistent all over the field by the modified blades during wheat and maize sowing. The set of tip angle blades at 15 cm anchored rice residue shown the improved seed germination rate of 95.89% for wheat and 78.65% for maize. The investigation enables scope for adopting modified blade for better performance into CA practice.