Combined Tillage Tools– A Review

Abstract

The costliness of energy, forces the farmers to choose another cost efficient tillage methods. The cost as well as time of operation plays a critical role in choosing another tools for tillage. Combined tillage is the way in which two or more different tillage implements operates at the same time in order to manipulate the soil and reduce the number and time of field operations. It was envisaged that such an implement would affect considerable saving of time, fuel and energy. This would also reduce the cost of operation. There was an efficient and potential reduction in the soil compaction, labour and fuel cost, saving in time and reduction of multiple tillage operation in single pass. The conventional tillage practices are becoming increasingly expensive in terms of time, fuel and equipment costs and are also causing more soil damage and compaction due to higher number of passes required for the conventional implements during seedbed preparation. As the land sizes in India are small, the scope for increasing the speed or width of existing implements is less feasible. Hence, reducing the number of passes by combining two or more field operations with the use of combination tillage implements may provide better solution. In a single run the combined tillage tool performs primary as well as secondary tillage operations.