TILLAGE

IMPLEMENTS
• Definition of Tillage: It is a mechanical
manipulation of soil to provide favourable
condition for crop production.

 Objectives of Tillage:
1. To obtain deep seed bed, suitable for different
type of crops.
2. To add more humus and fertility to soil by
covering the vegetation.
3. To destroy and prevent weeds.
4. To aerate the soil for proper growth of crops.
5. To increase water absorbing capacity of the soil.
6. To destroy the insects, pests and their breeding
places
7. To reduce the soil erosion.
Classification of Tillage
 Tillage is divided into two classes:
1. Primary tillage and 2. Secondary Tillage

Primary tillage Secondary Tillage

Types of Tillage
 Minimum Tillage: It is the minimum soil
manipulation necessary to meet tillage
requirements for crop production.
 Strip tillage: It is a tillage system in which only
isolated bands of soil are tilled.

Minimum Tillage

Strip tillage
Contd…
 Types of Tillage

 Rotary tillage: It is the tillage operations

employing rotary action to cut, break and mix the
soil.

Rotavator Mulch tillage

 Mulch Tillage: It is the preparation of soil in such

a way that plant residues or other mulching
materials are specially left on the surface. Contd…
 Types of Tillage

 Combined Tillage: Operations simultaneously

utilizing two or more different types of tillage
tools or implements to simplify, control or reduce
the number of operations over a field are called
Combined Tillage.
Primary Tillage Implements
1. Indigenous plough
2. Mould board plough
3. Disc plough
4. Chisel plough
5. Sub soiler
6. Rotary plough
1. Indigenous
plough
 Most commonly used in this country.
 Main parts are:
a) Body
b) Share
c) Shoe
d) Beam
e) Handle.
2. Mould board plough
Function:
1. Cutting the furrow slice
2. Lifting the soil
3. Turning the furrow slice
4. Pulverising the soil
 Components:
a) Share
b) Mould board
c) Land side
d) Frog
e) Tail piece
a) Share: Part of the plough bottom which penetrates
into the soil and makes a horizontal cut below the
surface.
b) Mould board: It is the curved part which lifts and
turns the furrow slice.
c) Land side: It is the flat plate which bears against
and transmits the rear side lateral thrust of the
plough bottom to the furrow wall.
d) Frog: It is the part to which other components of
the plough bottom are attached.
e) Tail piece: It is an adjustable extension, which can
be fastened to the rear of a mould board to help in
turning a furrow slice.
Components of Share

Material: Chilled cast iron or steel.

Cleavage edge
Types of Share:
Types of Mould board:
Adjustment of mould board
plough
3. Disc plough
 It cuts, turns and breaks furrow slices by means of
separately mounted large steel discs, which is rolling
type to reduce friction. It works well in the
conditions where mouldboard plough does not work
satisfactorily.
 Types: a) Standard disc plough, b)Vertical disc
plough
 a) Standard disc plough
 It consists of steel disc of 60 to 90 cm diameter and 5-
10 mm thickness. Each disc revolves on a stub axle in
a thrust bearing , carried at the lower end of a strong
stand which is bolted to the plough beam.
 Disc angle: It is the angle at which the plane of the
cutting edge of the disc is inclined to the direction of
travel. It varies between 42° to 45°.
 Tilt Angle: It is the angle at which the plane of the
cutting edge of the disc is inclined to a vertical line. It
varies between 15° to 25°.

 Concavity: It is the depth measured at the centre of the

disc by placing its concave side on a flat surface. It’s
value is 8 cm for 60 cm diameter disc and 16 cm for 90
b. Vertical disc
plough
 It combines the principle of the regular Disc plough
and disc harrow. This type of plough is also called
Harrow plough or One way disc plough.
 It has a frame, wheel arrangement, depth adjusting
devices same as disc plough but the discs are fitted on
a single shaft and turn as one unit like a gang of disc
harrow.
 Size of the disc varies 50 to 65 cm, and the disc angle
varies from 40° to 45°.
 4. Chisel
plough
 It is a plough used to cut hard pan of soil just below the
regular ploughing depth by means of a number of
narrow tynes.
5. Subsoiler
 This plough is designed to penetrate the soil to
depths more than those achieved during normal
ploughing operation.
 Usually plough depth may be 40 cm or more upto
100 cm.
 6. Rotary plough
 It has a number of rotary tynes or knives which are
mounted on a power driven horizontal rotor. It is also
called Rotary Tiller. It is suitable for shallow cultivation
and weed control
 Rotavator

Rotary tiller Rotavator

Important terms used in connection with
ploughing of land
 Furrow: It is a trench formed by an implement in the soil
during the field operation .
 Furrow slice: The mass of soil cut, lifted and thrown to one
side.
 Furrow wall: It is an undisturbed soil surface by the side of
a furrow.
 Crown: The top portion of the turn furrow slice is called
Crown.
 Back Furrow: A raised ridge left at the centre of the strip of
land when ploughing is started from centre to side is called
Back furrow.
 Dead furrow: An open trench left in between two
adjacent strips of land after finishing the ploughing is
called Dead furrow.

 Head land: While ploughing with a tractor, a strip of

unploughed land is left at each end of the field for the
tractor to turn, that is called Head land.

 Plough Size: The perpendicular distance from wing of

the share to the line joining the point of share and heel
of landside is called size of plough.
 Methods of ploughing
1. Gathering: Whenever a plough works round a
strip of ploughed land, it is said to be Gathering.
2. Casting: Whenever a plough works round a
strip of unploughed land, it is said to be Casting.
Tractor Drawn Implement
types:
1. Trailed type
2. Semi mounted type
3. Mounted type
Trailed type
 It is one that is pulled and guided from single
hitch point but its weight is not supported by the
tractor. Eg. Trolley.
Semi mounted type
 This is attached to the tractor along a hinge axis
and not at a single hitch point. It is controlled
directly by the tractor steering unit but its weight
is partly supported by the tractor. Eg. Seed drill
Mounted type
 It is one which is attached to the tractor, such
that it can be controlled directly by the tractor
steering unit. The implement is carried fully by
the tractor when out of work. Eg. Mould board
plough
Few Terms
 Pull: It is the total force required to pull an
implement.
 Draft: It is the horizontal component of pull,
parallel to the line of motion. D=Pcosα
 terms:
 Centre of power/pull: It is the true
point of hitch of a tractor.

 Centre of resistance: It is the point

at which the resultant of all the
horizontal and vertical forces act. It
lies at a distance equal to 3/4th size of
the plough from the share wing.

 Line of pull: An imaginary straight

line passing from the centre of
resistance through the clevis to the
centre of pull.
 Few
terms:

 Side draft: It is the horizontal component of pull

perpendicular to the direction of motion. This is developed
if the centre of resistance is not directly behind the centre
of pull.

 Unit draft: It is the draft per unit cross section area of

the furrow.
 Soil inversion: (X1-X2)x100
X1 [X1: No. of weeds before
ploughing in a fixed area, X2:No. of weeds after ploughing in
the same area.]

 Soil Pulverisation: It is the quality of work in terms of

soil aggregates and clod size. This is measured by
Few
terms:
 Theoretical field capacity: It is the rate of field
coverage of the implement, based on 100% of time
at the rated speed and covering 100% of its rated
width.
Theoretical field capacity, Ha/hr: Width of
implement(m) x Speed(m/hr)/10000

 Effective field capacity: It is the actual area

covered by the implement, based on its total time
consumed and its width.

 Field Efficiency: (Effective field capacity/

Theoretical field capacity)x100
Secondary Tillage Implements
1. Disc Harrow
2. Spring tooth harrow
3. Spike tooth harrow
4. Acme harrow
5. Patela
6. Blade harrow/ Bakhar
7. Guntaka
8. Triangular harrow
9. Bodela
10. Zig-zag harrow
 1. Disc harrow
•It is a harrow which performs the harrowing
operations by means of a set of rotating steel discs,
each set being mounted on a common shaft.
 Disc harrows are divided into two classes:
a) Single action, b) Double action
 Single action Disc harrow
•In this harrow two gangs placed end to end, which
throw the soil in opposite direction.

•Gang angle: The angle between the axis of the gang

and the line perpendicular to the direction of travel is
called Gang angle.
Double action Disc harrow

Tandem type Offset type

 2.Spring tooth
harrow
 It has tough flexible teeth suitable to work in hard and
stony
soils.
 It is fitted with springs, having loops of elliptical shape
which
gives springing action in working condition.
 3.Spike tooth harrow
 It is a harrow with pegs as working part, fitted on a
rigid articulated or flexible frame.
 It is used to break Clods, stir the soil, uproot the
weeds, level the ground, break the soil crust and
Cover the seeds.
4. Acme harrow

It is a special type of harrow having curved knives, also

called Knife harrow. The front part of the knife
compacts the soil and crushes the clods.
5. Patela
 It is a wooden plank used for smoothening the
soil and crushing the clods. In certain cases,
weeds can be collected with the help of the
curved spikes attached behind the wooden board.
6.Triangular harrow
 It is a spike tooth harrow with a triangular frame.
The frame is made of wood pointed spikes are
fitted in frame.
7. Zig-zag harrow
 It is a spike tooth harrow with a zig-zag frame and
teeth attached at the junctions of the frame members.
 8. Bakhar/Blade harrow
 It is an implement which consist of one or more
blades attached to the beam. It is used to prepare
seed beds mostly in clayey soil.

9. Guntaka
It is an improved type blade harrow.
10. Bodela
It is a twin blade harrow used in the southern region
of India.
 Intercultural operations
 Definition: The operations performed in the field after
sowing but before harvesting the crop are called as
Intercultural operations.

 Objectives:
1. Breaking the upper surface of soil,
2. uprooting the weeds,
3. aerating the soil,
Implements for Intercultural
operations

1. Cultivators
2. Paddy weeder
3. Wheel hoe
4. Hand hoe
 1. Cultivators
 It is an implement for inter cultivation with laterally
adjustable tines or discs to work between crop rows.
This can be used for seed bed preparation and for
sowing with seeding attachment.
Type: Depending upon the type of power available: 1.
Tractor Drawn, 2. Animal Drawn
1. Tractor Drawn: It may be a) Trailed type, b) Mounted
type
a) Trailed type
 It consists of a main frame which carries a
number of cross members to which tines are
fitted.
 At the forward end of the cultivator, there is a
hitch arrangement for hitching purpose.
 A pair of wheels are provided in this cultivator.
b)Mounted type
 A rectangular frame of angle iron is mounted on
three point hydraulic linkage of tractor.
 The cross members carry the tines in two
staggered lines.
 Depending upon the flexibility and rigidity of
tines tractor drawn Cultivators are of two types:
 i) Spring loaded tines and
 ii) Rigid tines cultivator.

Rigid tines cultivator

Spring loaded tines
Shovel & Sweeps
 For actual cutting the soil, different types of
shovel and sweeps are used:
a) Single point shovel,
b) Double point shovel,
c) Spear head shovel,
d) Sweep,
e) Half sweep,
f) Furrower
2. Animal Drawn cultivator
Three tined cultivator with seeding attachment is
this type of cultivator. It is also used for interculture
of row crops by detaching the seeding attachment.
2.Paddy weeder
 It is used for uprooting weeds and burying them in
puddled soil between rows of standing paddy crop. It
improves the soil aeration. It consists of:
 a) Frame,
 b) Weeding roll,
 c) Tines,
 d) Float,
 e) Handle.
3.Wheel Hoe
 It is a hoe with one or two wheels. Wheel hoe is
used for interculture purpose in between row
crops. Working tool is attached to the wheel.
4.Hand hoe
 It is a hand tool with blades, tines, and some
times discs attached to a frame, used for inter-
cultivation of crop. Eg. Spade, Khurpa etc.
 Numerical Problems
1. Calculate the area covered per day of 8 hrs by a tractor
drawn four bottom 35 cm plough if the speed of the
ploughing is 6 km/hr, the time lost in turning is 6%.
[Ans: 6.32 Ha]
2. Calculate the size of a tractor to pull a four bottom 35 cm
MB plough through a depth of 10 cm. The soil resistance is
0.5 kg/cm². The speed of the tractor is 5.5 km/hr, the
transmission and tractive efficiency of the tractor being 85%
and 30% respectively.
[Ans: 41.1 kW]
3. Total draft of four bottom, 40 cm MB plough when ploughing
17.5 cm deep at 5.5 km/hr speed is 1700 kg. Field efficiency
is 75%. Calculate: a) Unit draft, b) actual power requirement,
c) area covered/hr. [Ans: 0.607 kg/cm², 25.45 kW, 0.66 Ha]
4. Tow bullocks weighing 400 kg each are pulling an implement
with a speed of 3 km/hr. Find the power to be developed by
the bullocks.
[Ans: 0.653 kW]
 Numerical problems

5. How many acres can be covered by a harrow of 1.5 m

width in a day of 8 hrs with bullock power. If each
spike of the harrow is giving 1 kg resistance when
there are 50 spikes. What power would be necessary
for the bullocks to pull the harrow? Speed of the
bullock is 4 km/hr. [Ans: 4.8 Ha, 0.544 kW]
6. A five tine cultivator having tine spacing 8 cm,
working depth of 5 cm and speed is 3 km/hr. Turning
loss is 10%. Soil resistance is 0.6 kg/cm². Calculate
i. Time to cover one hectare
ii. Maximum draft
iii. Required power. [Ans. 9.25 hr, 120 kg, 0.98 kW]