EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE OF FURROW OPENERS OF COMBINED SEED AND FERTILIZER DRILLS

A performance index was developed for the furrow openers of combined seed and fertiliser drills on the basis of output, quality of work and energy input. Compaction of soil at seed depth, subsoil distribution patterns of seed and fertiliser, soil coverage and row roughness were considered as measures of the quality of sowing and were correlated with the emergence rate. Laboratory tests were also conducted to compare the performance of seven openers, employing shoe, shovel or hoe designs, on a basis of the performance index. Draft requirement of openers was found to increase with opener width and boot wedge angle, whereas lateral and vertical separations between seed and fertiliser were influenced by transverse tube spacing and boot geometry, respectively. A hoe type opener having 30 degrees wedge angle, 40 mm transverse tube spacing and a baffle plate at its boot performed better than other openers.