Page 512 - Biosystems Engineering

484 Cha pte r Se v e ntee n

Tillage Implements
Tillage is cultivation carried out for nurturing crops. Tilling helps to
create a better environment for seed germination, root growth, weed
2
control, soil erosion, and moisture control. It can be divided in two
categories: primary tillage and secondary tillage.
Primary Tillage Primary tillage is used so that the soil can attain a
reasonable depth (10 to 15 cm) with varying clod sizes, bury trashes
by inversion, and mix different tilled layers. The action is rather more
aggressive, the operation being relatively heavy, leaving a rough sur-
face. Primary tillage helps soil aeration and water accumulation.
Depending on the soil type and the plough used, the soil will nor-
mally be inverted aerating the deep layers and trapping water during
a rainfall. During primary tillage crop residues are also chopped and
incorporated. Common implements used for this purpose are mold-
board, one-way disc, offset disc, and tine implement. The differences
between these tools are given in Table 17.1.

Secondary Tillage Secondary tillage implements are used to create
refined soil conditions, control weeds, incorporate fertilizers, pud-
dling, and leveling soil surface. Many types of machines are available
for this type of tillage. The implements used for secondary tillage are
the peg tooth harrow, disc harrow, tined cultivator, rotary tiller, and

Moldboard One-Way Disc Offset Disc Tine Implement
System Animal, 2-wheel, 4- 4-wheel Animal,2-wheel,
2-wheel, 4- wheel tractor tractor 4-wheel tractor
wheel tractor
Width 1–3 shares 2–4 disc 9–21 discs 1–15 tine
Soil High Medium-high High Low
Disturbance
Plough Total Inversion Inversion/ Cutting
Action inversion cutting
Soil Share design Machine Machine Weight/design
Penetration weight weight
Weed control Bury Bury Cut/bury Cut
Handle Poor Good Good Medium-good
Obstacles
Power Heavy Medium-heavy Medium- Low-medium
Requirement heavy

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plough.
TABLE 17.1 Different Types of Secondary Tillage