Sutan Ahmmed
Senior Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Post harvest Process Engineering Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
K C Roy
Chief Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Post harvest Process Engineering Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
M Nurul Amin
Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Post harvest Process Engineering Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
M A Satter
Direcor (Training and Communication)
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
A power tiller operated planter for maize and pulse crops were developed in the FMPE Division of BARI. The functional parts of the planter are- frame, seed hopper, inclined plate seed metering device, seed delivery tubes, furrow opener, soil compaction roller and transport wheel. The main frame is made of 4 cm x 4 cm MS angle bar of 85 cm width and 100 cm height. The metering plates deliver the metered seed into the opening at the top of the delivery tube and pass through seed tube to the furrower. Field performance test was conducted at Barind, Rajshahi and BARI, Gazipur in 2003-04. The planter was tested for planting maize, wheat and chickpea. The row spacing and plant to plant spacing for maize were 75 cm and 25 cm, respectively. The row spacing for wheat and chickpea were 20 cm and 40 cm respectively. The planting capacity was 0.2 to 0.25 ha/hr and the speed of operation was 2 to 3 km/hr. The weight of the planter unit is 25 kg and price is Tk 8000. The planting cost for maize, wheat and chickpea are Tk 300, Tk 400 and Tk 330 per ha, respectively.
Chickpea, inclined plate, maize, planter, power tiller, wheat.
Gazipur, Rajshahi
Farm Mechanization
(i) To design and fabrication of a planter for maize, wheat and pulse crops
(ii) To evaluate the field performance of planter for maize, wheat and pulse seed at different locations.
(iii)To modify the planter if needed.
Design and fabrication: A power tiller operated planter for maize and pulse crops were developed in the FMPE Division of BARI during 2001-02. The functional parts of the planter are- frame, seed hopper, inclined plate seed metering device, seed delivery tubes, furrow opener, soil compaction roller and transport wheel. The main frame is made of 4 cm x 4 cm MS angle bar of 85 cm width and 100 cm height. The seed hopper is made of 18 gauge MS sheet of 70 cm length, 18 cm width and 20 cm height. It has 4 openings (45 mm x 40 mm) at 18 cm apart at the rear side of the hopper. The metering device for the planter is an inclined (600) plate edge-dropping cell.
Field test of the planter: Field performance test of BARI developed planter was conducted at Barind, Rajshahi and BARI, Gazipur in 2003-04. It was operated by a 12 hp power tiller at a speed of 1.5 to 4.0 km/h. Before planting, the seed-metering plate was fitted to the seed hopper for particular crop. Maize seeds were planted at 3 to 4 cm depth with a row spacing of 75 cm and plant to plant spacing of 25 cm. The planter covered 2 rows (75 cm width) in single pass. Seed rate of maize was 22 kg/ha. Wheat seeds were sown at 3 cm depth and row spacing of 20 cm. The planter covered 4 lines (80 cm width) in single pass and the seed rate of wheat was 100 kg/ha. Chickpea seeds were sown at 3 to 4 cm depth and row spacing of 40 cm. The planter covered 3 lines (1.20 m width) in single pass and the seed rate of chickpea was 48 kg/ha. After germination of seeds, plant population was counted.
Research Report
(i)Field performance test of developed planter revealed that it can be used effectively for planting and drill of maize, wheat and chickpea, respectively by changing the metering plate.
(ii)Seed rate and operational cost are lower than the traditional method. The planting cost for maize, wheat and chickpea are Tk 300, Tk 400 and Tk 330 per ha, respectively.
(iii)Field capacity of the planter depends on the skill of the operator and soil condition, for maize, wheat and chickpea are 0.25 ha/hr, 0.20 ha/hr and 0.22 ha/hr, respectively.
(iv)The planter could be substituted for manual line planting of maize, wheat and other pulse crops to reduce labour requirement.
(v)At the current wage levels, the planter has break-even points of1.70 ha/yr and 2.50 ha/yr, respectively for maize and wheat compared to that of the manual methods.
(vi)Extensive field tests and demonstrations should be done next year for popularizing the planter among the farmers, especially for the maize, wheat and pulse growers.
Report/Proceedings, Booklet/Leaflet