Construction and Operation of Manual

Introduction

Growing of crops and developing land can be one of the costliest processes as it includes clearing, digging, and grubbing (a process in which we remove the unwanted plants and wastes from the soil), dredging, and grading, excavating, transporting and filling of land.

Tillage is a process of preparing the land for the growing of crops, a process in which we prepare the soil by mechanical agitation of different types such as: digging, stirring, and overturning. It is a process in which we perform mechanical agitation to get the desired seedbed so that the seed could germinate easily with the help of an optimum environment.

What are the types of tillage systems?

There are different types of tillage systems these are: 

• Conventional Tillage System: It is a tillage system that is used for cultivation. Its main purpose is to prepare the seedbed as well as control the growth of weed. Conventional tillage system also includes three different types:

• Primary: These are used after harvest. It is the first soil tillage after the last harvest. It is generally used when the soil is wet enough so the ploughing can be done and also it should be strong enough so that traction can be done.
• Secondary: It is a process of improving seedbeds by increasing the soil pulverisation. It is also used in reducing the soil in the finer tilt and also helps in controlling the weeds so that it could conserve the moisture.  
• Special Purpose: It’s for occasional purposes. Some of the special purpose tillage are: Subsoiling (to break hardpan beneath the plough layer), levelling (to level the soil surface), blind tillage (to remove weeds and to contain moisture), clean tillage (top remove all vegetation)

Conservation Tillage System: A Conservation tillage system is a process, or you can say it is a tillage system that is used for creating a suitable environment for growing crops. There are different types of conservation tillage systems:

• Reduced Tillage: It helps in preserving the soil’s natural structure by making the soil more resistant to erosion and also the negative effects of heavy field equipment.
• No-Tillage: No-tillage system is a method of farming that includes or requires a special kind of equipment like disc seeders or agricultural drills to make furrows, then you will have to plant seeds, firm them, and then cover them with soil. It leads to minimum disturbance of the soil.

Equipment that is used for Tillage.

The equipment of tillage is broadly classified into different groups depending on the purpose for which field it can be used:

• Primary Tillage Equipment: These are the equipment that is used for primary tillage or you can say for harvesting.

• Wooden plough: It is a farm tool that is used for loosening the soil before sowing the seeds or planting. 
• Soil Turning Plough: It helps in turning over the uppermost soil and bringing fresh nutrients to the surface. 
• Mouldboard Plough: Moldboard plough is one of the most important ploughs for canal irrigation or heavy rain areas where a lot of weeds grow. 
• Disc Plough: These ploughs are used in hard dry or sticky soil. It is used for deep tillage of land to help in turnover of the upper layer of soil and bringing fresh soil.
• One-Way Plough: One-way plough can also be called disk tiller, harrow plough, wheatland plough, cylinder plough, and vertical disk plough.
• Rotary Plough: Rotary ploughs can also be called rototillers that have curved cutting knives that are mounted on a horizontal power-driven shaft.

• Secondary Tillage Equipment:

• Tractor Drawn Cultivator: It is used for loosening the previously ploughed land and before sowing.
• Sweep Cultivator: It is a cultivator which uses sweeps to till the soil.
• Harrows: It is used for smoothing the surface or for breaking the soil.
• Blade Harrow: These are drawn by animals for preparing the seedbeds in clayey soil and also for moisture conservation.
• Indigenous Blade Harrow: It consists of a beam to which two pegs are attached to the ends. 
• Plank and Roller: It is used to crush the hard clods to smoothen the surface and also to compact the soil lightly. 

Implements for Layout of Seedbed

• Country Plough: It is one of the most common ploughs which is used in India. It penetrates the soil and breaks it open.
• Ridge Plough: It has two mouldboards one for turning the soil to the left and the other for turning to the right. 
• Bund Former: It is used for making bunds or ridges for collecting the soil.

Sowing Equipment:

• Plough
• Seed Drill
• Ferti-cum-Seed Drill
• Mechanical Seed Drill

Effects of Tillage on Soil.

• Positive effects:

• Tillage helps in loosening the soil and also aerificates the top layer which makes the planting of crops easier.

• It helps in destroying the weeds with the help of machines.

• It also reduces the risk of crop disease.

• Negative effects:

• Dries the soil before seeding.

• Soil also loses nutrients, like nitrogen and fertiliser, and also its ability to store water.

• Reduces the organic matter in the soil.

Conclusion:

The Tillage system is one of the most effective ways of aggregating soil as well as sowing seed. It helps in removing all the weeds and containing moisture of the soil. It has different kinds of tillage systems and these are done with different types of equipment like Plough, Cultivator or Seed Drill, and many more.