Kripanarayan Shukla, Pankaj Gupta, Jasmin Bhimani and N.R.N.V. Gowripathi Rao
Abstract
Minimum tillage techniques provide several advantages over traditional tillage methods, such as streamlining farm operations to create optimal seedbeds. Spot tillage, in particular, offers benefits like maintaining soil structure, preventing erosion, saving time and energy, and cutting input expenses. For this study, the effect of different auger size (40, 50 & 70 mm) which was operated by 12V DC motor at different depth of operations (80, 120 & 160 mm) was determined. The different parameters were measured such as bulk density, cone index, and germination percentage for castor crop (GCH-9) and same for traditional sowing method. The results showed that auger size (40, 50 & 70 mm) and depth of operation (80, 120 & 160 mm) significantly influenced bulk density as bulk density of the soil increased with depth and decrease with increase in auger size. The larger auger (70 mm) resulting in lower values in bulk density due to more soil removal. However, cone index was not significantly affected by auger size (40, 50 & 70 mm) and depth of operation (80, 120 & 160 mm). The germination percentage of castor at 70 mm auger size was obtained 88 % and the same was obtained in traditional sowing. Overall, results showed that auger having the size of 70mm and depth of operation at 160 mm was desirable compared to other auger size in terms of lower bulk density and cone index and the seed germination for castor crop of all treatment combinations had comparable effects on germination, as there were no substantial variations observed among the different combinations of treatment.