Farm Tools and Equipment Used for Tillage - Smart Farming

Types of Tillage implements & operations

 

Primary Tillage implements

Tillage Implements used for loosening and opening the soil are called ploughs. Ploughs are used as primary tillage.

Ploughs are of three types:

•       Wooden ploughs.
•        Iron or inversion ploughs 
•     Special purpose ploughs.

Mould-board Plough/ MB Plough

The parts of MB plough are frog or body, MB plough or wing, share, landside, connecting, rod, bracket and handle. This type of plough leaves no un-ploughed land as the furrow slices are cut clean and inverted to one side resulting in better pulverization. The animal-drawn MB plough is small, ploughs to a depth of 16 cm, while two MB plough ploughs which are bigger in size are attached to the tractor and ploughed to a depth of 24 to 30 cm. MB plough ploughs are used where soil inversion is necessary. A victory plough is an animal-drawn MB plough with a short shaft.

Disc Plough

The disc plough bears little resemblance to the common MB plough. A large, revolving, concave steel disc replaces the share and the MB plough. The disc turns the furrow slice to one side with a scooping action. The usual size of the disc is 60 cm in diameter and this turns into a 35 to 30 cm furrow slice. The disc plough is more suitable for land in which there is much fibrous growth of weeds as the disc cuts and incorporates the weeds. The disc plough works well in soils free from stones. No harrowing is necessary to break the clods of the upturned soil as in an MB plough.

SPECIAL PLOUGHS

Special plough used for special purposes.

Subsoil Plough:

A subsoil plough is designed to break up hard layers or pans without bringing them to the surface. The body of the subsoil plough is wedge-shaped and narrow while the share is wide so as to shatter the hard pan and make only a slot on the top layers.

Chisel Plough:

A chisel plough is used for breaking hard pans and for deep ploughing (60-70 cm) with less disturbance to the top layers. Its body is thin with a replaceable cutting edge so as to have minimum disturbance to the top layers. It contains a replaceable share to shatter the lower layers.

Ridge Plough:

The Ridge plough has two mould boards, one for turning the soil to the right and another to the left. The share is common for both the mould boards i.e. double winged. These mould boards are mounted on a common body. The ridge plough is used to split the field into ridges and furrows and for the earthling up of crops. Ridge ploughs are used to make broad beds and furrows by attaching two ridge ploughs on a frame at 150em spacing between them.

Rotary Plough or Rotary Hoes:

A rotary plough cuts the soil and pulverizes it. The cutting of soil is done by either blades or tynes. The blade types are widely used. The depth of cut is up to 12 to 15 cm. It is suitable for light soils.

Basin Lister:

Basin lister is a heavy implement with one or two MB ploughs or shovels. These shovels are mounted on a special type of frame on which they act alternately. This implement is used to form listed furrows (broken furrows with small dams and basins) to prevent free runoff of rainfall and blowing off the soil in low rainfall areas.

Secondary Tillage Implements

Different types of implements like cultivators, harrows, planks and rollers are used for secondary tillage.

Tractor Drawn Cultivator:

A cultivator is an agriculture implement used for finer operations like breaking clods and working the soil to a fine tilth in the preparation of seedbeds. A cultivator is also called a tiller or tooth harrow. It is used to further loosen the previously ploughed land before sowing. It is also used to destroy weeds that germinate after ploughing. The cultivator has two rows of tynes attached to its frame in staggered form. The main object of providing two rows and staggering the position of tynes is to provide clearance between tynes so that clods and plant residues can freely pass through without blocking. Provision is also made in the frame by drilling holes so that tynes can be set close or apart as desired. The number of tynes ranges from 7 to 13. The shares of the tynes can be replaced when they are worn out.

Sweep Cultivator

In stubble-mulch farming, it is difficult to prepare the land with ordinary implements due to clogging. A sweep cultivator is an implement useful under this condition. It consists of large inverted V-shaped blades attached to a cultivator frame. These blades run parallel to the soil surface at a depth of 10 to IS cm. They are arranged in two rows and staggered. A sweep cultivator is used to cut up to 12 to 15cm depth of soil during the first operation after harvest and shallower during subsequent operations. It is worked frequently to control weeds. It can also be used for harvesting groundnut.

Harrows

Harrows are used for shallow cultivation in operations such as preparation of seedbeds, covering seeds and destroying weed seedlings. Harrows have three types:

·         Disc harrow.

·         Blade harrow.

·         Indigenous blade harrow.

Disc Harrow

The disc harrow consists of a number of concave discs of 45 to 55 cm in diameter. These discs are smaller in size than disc plough, but more discs are arranged on a frame. These discs are fitted 15cm apart on axles. Two sets of discs are mounted on two axles. All the discs revolve together with axles. The discs cut through the soil and effectively pulverize the clods.

Blade Harrow

Blade harrows are used for different purposes like removal of weeds and stubbles, crushing of clods working of soil to a shallow depth, covering the seeds, inter-cultivation and harvesting of groundnut etc. The blade harrows useful for inter-cultivation are discussed later. Blade harrows are two types viz. indigenous and improved.

Indigenous Blade Harrows

The general design of an indigenous blade harrow which is called a guntaka consists of a beam to which two pegs are attached at the ends. A blade is attached to these two pegs. Two shaft poles and' a handle are the other parts of Guntakal. Depending on the beam length and weight, they are called different names and used for different purposes.

Plank and Roller

A plank is a very simple implement and consists of a heavy wooden beam of 2 m in length. In addition, shafts and handles are fixed to the beams. When it is worked most of the clods are crushed due to their weight. It also helps in micro levelling and slight compaction necessary after sowing. Rollers are used mainly, to crush the hard clods and to compact the soil in seed rows.