A NEW SEED DRILL FOR PLANTING PEAS ON A RAISED-BED

Abstract

Until now, the traditional method for planting pea seeds in Egypt is manual because of the scarcity of planting machines. Therefore, this study aims to provide and evaluate a new seed drill for planting pea seeds on a raised bed in silt-clay loam soil. This seed drill consists of the frame, seeds hopper, seed metering device, transmission system, and covering unit. Laboratory tests on pea seeds were conducted to determine the seeds’ physical and mechanical properties. Field trials were carried out under the following parameters; four forward speeds (‎‎0.79, 0.98, 1.28, and 1.64 m s–1), ‎three disc cell capacities (1, 2, and ‎‎3 seeds per cell), two different cells shapes (circular, and a rectangle with semicircle end), and three distances between rows (‎7.5, 10, and 15 cm) to assess the performance of the seed drill on fuel consumption, specific energy, slip ratio, seeds damaged‎, germination ratio, plants number per hill, longitudinal scattering, and pea pods yield. The results revealed that the optimum performance of the seed drill was achieved at a forward speed ranging from 0.79 to 0.98 m s–1, using a disc cell capacity of ‎‎2 seeds, a circular cell shape, and a distance between rows of 10 cm.