M A Wohab
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
Enamul Hoque
Agronomist
CYMMIT
Bangladesh
The concept of minimum tillage or reduced tillage is becoming important to minimize the cost of land preparation, environmental pollution, maintain soil health and timeliness of operation. To get the benefit of minimum tillage, 57 unit power tiller operated minimum tillage seeders (PTOS) were purchased by the farmers of Rajbari, Magura, Faridpur and Jhenaidah districts. Before delivering the seeder to farmers, a preliminary training programme on operation, repair and maintenance was conducted for the seeder owner and operator in the project site in Rajbari district. Wheat and jute seeds were sown by the seeders. Tilling, sowing and laddering operations were done in a single pass. Area covered by the seeder was 49 ha for wheat and 15.5 ha for jute. Due to proper placement of seed in furrows under soil, plant population was optimum with lower seed rate. About 50% jute seed was saved by using the seeder and 30% weeding cost was reduced by using upland weeders in jute fields. Three units of the seeder were also demonstrated in the farmers field in Manikganj, Faridpur, Jessore, Barisal and Tangail districts for sowing jute. In all the sites, the seeder performance was satisfactory.
Field capacity, furrow maker, jute, minimum tillage, seeder, wheat
Rajbari, Magura, Faridpur and Jhenaidah
Farm Mechanization
1.To use the Power Tiller Operated Minimum Tillage Seeder for sowing wheat and jute
2.To compare the machine performances with traditional practice
In the year 2005, forty three unit PTOSs were sold to the farmers of Rajbari, Faridpur and Magura districts. The cost of seeder with power tiller was Tk. 85,000/unit and without power tiller (only seeder unit) was Tk. 30,000/unit. Farmers purchase the power tiller with seeder on loan without interest. They paid 50% of the cost of seeder before receiving the seeder and the rest 50% of the cost was recovered in 12 installments in 12 months. There was a project staff in the site who collected the installment by the 7th day of each month. Loan recovered from the farmers was highly satisfactory (100%). Before seeder distribution to the farmers, the seeder owner and operators were trained up on operation, repair and maintenance of power tiller and seeder.
In the previous year (2004), 14 unit PTOSs were sold to the farmers of Rajbari, Magura and Jhenaidah districts on loan system. All these 57 unit seeders were imported from China and were used for sowing wheat, jute and other crops. The area covered by the seeder were wheat 49 ha and jute 15.5 ha. Total area covered by the seeder was 64.5 ha in Rabi, 2005-2006. Except selling, 3 units of the seeder were demonstrated in the farmers field in Manikganj, Tangail, Faridpur and Jessore districts for sowing jute with the cooperation of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute. In all the sites, seeder operation was done successfully. The seeder was also demonstrated in farmer’s field in Barisal district for sowing wheat and mungbean. For weeding in line sown field, BARI developed upland weeders were used by the farmers. Two weeding and thinning operations were done in the jute fields.
Research Report
Power Tiller Operated Seeder (PTOS) can be successfully used for sowing wheat and jute. Use of seeder can save fuel, oil, maintenance cost, environmental pollution, time, money and drudgery. It can play an important role in maintaining soil health through reduced tillage. The loan system could be a good opportunity for machinery extension to the farmers.
Report/Proceedings