Primary Tillage Implements
Primary tillage is the deepest operations/performed during the period between two crops. The following are the implements used for primary tillage.
1. Country/wooden/Desi plough – The indigenous plough consists of a wooden body to which a handle and a shaft pole are attached. The body is made of a bent piece of hard wood with two arms making an angle of about 135°. It is given a wedge shape with an isosceles triangular section. A small piece of flat iron (shares) serves as the piercing point of the plough and is fixed over the plough body with clamps. The shaft pole is secured with the yoke during working. The working of plough results in the opening of ‘V’ shaped furrow. The width of furrow depends on the size of the plough bottom. The depth of penetration of a country plough can be altered a little by pulling the implement behind or pushing forward, which results in deeper or shallow ploughings respectively. It covers 0.15 to 0.20 hectare in 8 hours.
2. Improved iron plough – The bullock drawn improved iron plough is made of mild steel except the pole shaft and hence it has longer life. As and when the share wears off, it can be pushed forward. Pole shaft angle and height of the handle can be adjusted according to field requirements. The plough is provided with a mould board as optional attachment for soil inversion. This plough is suitable for dry ploughing in all types of soil with a pair of bullocks. It covers 0.5 ha per day and costs Rs. 750-1000/-.
3. Bose plough – It is wooden plough with a mould board can share instead of the usual small iron share. It is used for the primary tillage operations in wetlands. Nowadays this plough is made up of iron angles instead of woods to make it sturdy. It is also called as Melur plough in Tamil Nadu.
4. Mould board plough – It is a modern tillage implement used to plough deeply and pulverize the soil. It is more durable, easy to pull and can be adjusted properly. The main parts of the mould board plough are the frog or body, handle, beam, share, mould board, wheel and coulter. This type of plough leaves no unploughed land as the furrow slices are cut clean and inverted to one side resulting in better pulverization. The animal drawn mould board plough is small, ploughs to a depth of 15 cm. Big size tractor drawn mould board ploughs can plough up to a depth of 30 cm. Mould board ploughs are used when soil inversion is necessary. Victory plough is an animal drawn mould board plough with a short shaft.
5. Turn wrest plough – This is also called reversible plough. The mould board with share is hinged either left or right side of the central body with a hook. When the mould board is needed to shift to another side, the hook is released and the mould board is easily swing to the opposite side. By this when the plough reaches to one end of the land instead the mould board can be shifted Ploughing with country plough Rotavator a Tractor operated rotavator to other side and the ploughing can be continued, so that furrow slices will uniformly fall and same direction.
6. Disc plough – In the disc plough, the share, the mould board and coulter of the mould board plough are replaced by an inclined concave steel disc of 60-90 cm diameter, set at an angle to the direction of travel. Each disc revolves on an axle and the angel of the disc to the vertical position and to the furrow wall is adjustable. Lever arrangements are provided to lift the discs clear off the ground and for changing the angle of molding and adjusting the depth of penetration of the discs into the soil. While working, the discs rotate, scoop out furrows, invert the furrow slice and pulverize them thoroughly. Disc plough is especially useful under the following soil conditions: Soil with hard pan and sticky soil, Dry hard ground,Rough and stony ground, Ploughing weedy lands and lands with stubbles, Deep ploughing.
7. Reversible disc plough – It is constructed in such a way that the disc can be reversed and the soil is thrown on one side. The land and furrow wheel adjust themselves properly when the plough is reversed. Reversible disc plough saves time taken up by ordinary disc plough. The furrow slice cut at each trip by the reversible disc plough is laid over the previous furrow thus resulting in a leveled field after ploughing.
8. Chisel plough or subsoil plough – It is bullock drawn implement used to break hardpan that exists in the soil due to continuous same type of operation. It consists of a curved chisel “C” like tyne with 37 cm radius of curvature and 3 cm thickness. It is rigidly held in a frame, which is provided with a handle and a shaft pole.
The operation of this plough is the same as that of an ordinary plough. It makes a simple vertical cut in the sub soil up to a depth of 45 cm and facilitates the downward movement of water and sub soil drainage. Chiseling becomes necessary in soil with hard impermeable plough pan. Both animal drawn (coverage 2 ha/day) costs Rs. 1200/- and tractor drawn (coverage 5 ha/day) costs Rs. 6000/- are available for usage.
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