Tillage, Ploughing, Harrow (2)

Important Point About Tillage

 TILLAGE 

•   The word tillage is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words “Tilian and Teolian”, means to plough and prepare soil for good seed to sow, to cultivate and raise crops.
• Jethrotull is the father of tillag.e.

• Mechanical manipulation of soil to provide favourable condition for good seed germination, seedlings establishment proper crop growth is called tillag.e.

• Tilth is the good physical condition of soil after tillage in relation to plant growth.

• Tillage operations for seed bed preparations are classified as:

1.  Primary tillage 
2.  Secondary tillage.

• The initial major soil working operation designed to plough the soil deeply to reduce soil strength, cover plant materials and rearrange aggregates is called primary tillage. It involves all tillage activities performed between “after harvesting to sowing is known as primary tillage”.

• Lighter and finer tillage operations performed in the soil after primary tillage to create proper soil tilth and surface configuration for seeding and planting are called secondary tillage operations. They consume less power per unit area compared to primary tillage operations. It involves all tillage activities performed between “after sowing to harvesting of crop”

• There are two types of tillage systems namely 

1. Conservation tillage system:- It includes no-till, ridge till and mulch till systems 
2. Other than conservation tillage systems:- It includes reduced tillage system and conventional tillage system
    

• Any tillage and planting system that covers 30% (1,120 kilogram per hectare) or more of the soil surface with crop residue, after planting, to reduce soil erosion is called Conservation tillage.

• No-till is defined as a system in which the soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting except for nutrient injection. Weed control is accomplished primarily with herbicides.

• In ridge-till, the soil is also left undisturbed from harvest to planting except for nutrient injection. Planting is completed in a seedbed prepared on ridges. Residue is left on the surface between ridges.

• The soil is disturbed before planting. Two tillage practices that fall into this category are zone-till and strip-till. Both of these tillage practices involve tilling a strip into which seed and fertilizer are placed.

• Reduced-till systems leave 15-30% residue cover after planting or 560 to 1,120 kilograms per hectare of small grain residue equivalent throughout the critical wind erosion period.

• Conventional-till systems leave less than 15 percent residue cover after planting, or less than 560 kilograms per hectare of small grain residue equivalent throughout the critical wind erosion period.

• Ploughing the entire field several times to prepare a good seed bed is called conventional tillage.

• Ploughing only in the required space of the land and then sowing is called conservation tillage.

• Tillag.e operations in which nearly 30 % of crop residue or other mulching materials are left on or near the soil surface is called mulch tillage.

• In strip tillag.e system only isolated bands of soil are tilled.

• Tillag.e operations utilizing simultaneously two or more different types of tillage tools or implements to simplify, control or reduce the number of operations over a field is called combined tillage.

• The implements used for primary tillag.e are called as primary tillage implements.

1. Soil cutting plough:- Country plough, Cultivator.
2. Soil turning plough:- M.B plough, U.P-1,2 plough
3. Plough with single handle:- Country plough, Praja plough, Meston plough,wah wah plough Shahbash plough
4. Plough with double handle:- Punjab plough, Victory plough, U.P-1,2 plough etc.
5. Bullock drawn plough:- Country plough, Praja plough, wah wah plough, Shahbash plough, Victory plough, U.P.-1, 2 etc
6. Tractor drawn plough:- Cultivator, Disc plough, Mounted plough, Saddle plough and Harrow plough.

• It is an animal drawn plough. It forms “V shaped furrows with 15-20 cm top width and 12-15 cm depth”. the field capacity is around 0.4 ha per day of 8 hours. These ploughs are also called as country ploughs.

• It is the working part of the plough attached to the shoe with which it penetrates into the soil and breaks it open.

• It is the main part of the plough to which the shoe, beam and handle are attached.

• It is a long wooden piece, which connects the main body of the plough to the yoke.

• A wooden piece vertically attached to the body to enable the operator to control the plough while it is working.

1. Lowering or raising the free end of the beam with respect to the plough body results in an increase or decrease in the share angle with respect to the horizontal surface which in turn increase or decrease the depth of ploughing.
2. Changing the length of the beam between plough body and yoke of the animals will also alter the depth of ploughing. Reducing the beam length will decrease the depth of cut and vice versa.

1. Cutting the furrow slice
2. lifting the furrow slice 
3. Inverting the furrow slice 
4. Pulverizing the furrow slice

1. Vertical suction (Vertical clearance)
2. Horizontal suction (Horizontal clearance) / side clearance.
3. Throat clearance

• A action of a disc plough is similar to the MB plough. A disc plough is designed with a view to reduce friction by making a rolling plough bottom instead of sliding plough bottom as in the case of MB plough.
• Weight of disc plough is 300-400 kg & working capacity is 0.3 – 0.4 hac./day.

1. Standard disc plough
2. Vertical disc plough.

• These ploughs usually have from 2 to 6 disc blades, spaced to cut 18 to 30 cm per disc.
• The discs are tilted backward at an angle of 15–25º from the vertical (Tilt angle) and with a horizontal diameter disc face angle of 42–45º (disc angle) from the direction of travel.
• Disc diameters are commonly 60-70 cm.

• It can turn over the furrow slice to left or right side. It not only improves the rate of work but also leaves the field flat and level. This plough is found very successful for contour ploughing.

• The rotary tiller are effective pulverization of soil ensures good plant growth, stubble and roots are completely cut and mixed with the soil and proper ground leveling after the operation.
• The number of ‘tynes’ varies from 28 – 54.
• The rotor is operated at 180- 200 rpm

• Chisel plough ploughing the soil & and bursting up the underlying layers of soil without bringing the sub-soil to the surface.
• The share has a lift angle of 20 degree width of 25 mm and a length of 150 mm. The implement could be used for deep tillage upto a depth of 40 cm.
• The coverage is 0.42 ha/hr when operated at a spacing of 1.5 m between rows.
• It is easily operated by any 35 to 45 hp tractor
• Conserves around 30 to 40% more soil moisture
• Roots proliferation is improved from 40 to 45%
• Nutrient mobility especially N and K increased by 20 to 30% and 30 to 40% respectively.
• Enhances the crop yield by 15 to 20%

• Harrow is a secondary tillag.e implement used for a variety of jobs in crop cultivation.

• Disc harrow is found very suitable for hard ground with full of stalks and grasses.

• It is a circular concave disc which cuts and inverts the soil. Disc is made of heat-treated hardened steel.
• Tractor drawn disc harrows have concave discs of size varying from 35-70 cm diameter.

• The spacing between the discs on the gang is called gang bolt. ranges from 15 to 25 cm for light duty and 25 to 30 cm for heavy duty harrows.

• It is made of cast iron

• These harrows are also known as peg tooth harrow, drag harrow, section harrow, or smoothing harrow. It will stir the soil to a depth of about 5 cm.
• It may be used to cultivate corn, cotton and other row crops in early stages of growth.

• Spring tooth harrows are made in sections somewhat like spike tooth harrows.The sections vary in width from 0.9 to 1.7 m. The sections may have from seven to twelve teeth.
• It is used for cultivation of rice and small grain crops.

• The width of the operation is 2000 mm. and the field capacity is around 1.5 ha/day. It is a tractor drawn implements.