Land shaping implements
(a) Ridge plough – It is a bullock or tractor drawn implement. It is a double mould board plough with mould boards on both the sides, which meet along a central line. The mould boards are either fixed or adjustable so that the width of the furrow can be adjusted. The ridge plough lays the earth on both the sides equally, leaving an open furrow in the middle. It forms furrows and not ridges. However, when the furrows are close to one another; the inter furrow spaces take the form of ridges but when furrows are formed apart for planting sugarcane, cotton, etc., the inter furrow spaces take the form of ridges but when furrows are formed apart for planting sugarcane, cotton, etc., the inter-furrow spaces take the form of raised flat beds.
(b) Bund former – This consists of a pair of opposing wings, which are wide apart in front and converge towards the rear with a gap at the end. The wings gather loose soil from the surface and leave it in the form of bund with approximately 18-20 cm in height. To form reduced size bunds, the wings are lightly raised at the fore end and pulled a little backward. When the implement is hitched near the yoke, a small quantity of earth alone is gathered. The gaps formed at the intersection of long and cross bunds while working with the implement are closed with manual labour. Ridges for sowing cotton and similar crops are also formed with bund former, with the bunds close to one another as when irrigation channels are formed.
(c) Bed-furrow former – It is a tractor-drawn iron implement, which is capable of forming alternate beds and channels. It will form two beds and three furrows in one pass of unit. Using this implement a well defined, raised beds 30 cm wide at top and ‘V’ shaped channels 45 cm wide and 15 cm deep are formed on the well-ploughed and harrowed field. It covers an area of 3–3.5 ha/day.
(d) Rollers – The rollers are used for breaking clods and compacting the soil. There are different types of rollers in use.
(i) In Iron rollers cast iron rings of 0.6 m in diameter are fixed to an axle and provided with a hoped frame for hitching with power unit. Surface of the roller may be plain or fluted or ribbed. The fluted and ribbed rollers are more efficient in breaking clods. The plain rollers are used for compacting the soil surface.
(ii) Stone rollers are commonly used for threshing grains. They are made up of cylindrical stone with 0.75 m length and 0.4 m diameter.
(iii) Sheep foot roller is the latest implement developed by TNAU, to create partial compaction in rice fields in light soils. It has a cylindrical drum with projections on the surface like sheep foot.
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