ABP 32D: CROP
ESTABLISHMENT
MACHINERY
CROP ESTABLISHMENT
Field crops are most often grown to provide food for humans and for animals.
Growing field crops requires a sequence of operations that usually starts with land
preparation followed by planting. These two stages are known as crop establishment.
Crop growth requires a supply of nutrients through application of fertilizers as well as
protection against weeds, diseases, and pest insects using biological, chemical, and/or
physical treatments. Finally, the crop is harvested and transported to processing
locations. This general sequence of operations can be more complex or specifically
modified for a particular crop or cropping system. For example, crop establishment is
only required once, while crop protection and fertilization may be repeated multiple
times annually.
CROP ESTABLISHMENT IS AFFECTED BY:
Quality of Seed
Environment
System of Seeding (Planting)
SOIL
• Plays a vital role in establishment and growth of any crop
Problems with Soil Structure
1. Affect root development
2. Fertility Uptake
3. Moisture Retention
LAND PREPARATION
• the process of preparing the land for planting, thereby
providing good physical, chemical, and biological
conditions that would permit optimum plant growth.
1. PLOWING
LAND PREPARATION
PLOWING
• is a primary tillage refers to operations which loosen very
compact soil.
• Plowing with a moldboard plow, or breaking land with an ard
or discing plow are examples of primary tillage operations.
• most often done with a moldboard plow. This is a tool that
loosens earth by cutting a slice and turning it partially over so
that air and water reach the area where plants root, often
referred to as the root zone.
EFFECTS:
(a.) Good plowing stimulates plant growth by opening the compact
upper surface of the soil so roots can develop quickly, taking nutrients,
water, and oxygen from the soil. Moisture is absorbed easily, seeping
down to deeper areas where it can act as a reserve during dry periods.
(b.) Plowing also serves to turn under weeds and organic surface
material that becomes valuable fertilizer. Good plowing tilts the furrow
slice so decaying material is spread evenly through the loose soil. As
oxygen and water penetrate and as sun dries exposed roots, the material
decays and provides nutrients for the crop.
2. HARROWING
LAND PREPARATION
HARROWING
• is a second tillage
• These operations are used to prepare the seedbed or
improve the soil where crops are maturing. Harrowing is the
process of smoothing and leveling a plowed field.
• The harrow breaks clods and works the tops of furrow slices
into a fine, moisture-retaining bed where seeds germinate
easily.
Higher germination rates resulting from harrowing are explained
by improved structure of the seedbed:
• it is better aerated
• it is moisture-retaining
• there is more contact between the seed and soil particles; large air
pockets and clods are eliminated and seeds are easily covered
• some weeds are killed.
Manual Methods in Land Preparation are Used in the
Following Cases:
• Where the topography is too steep, rugged, wet or rocky for
mechanized land clearing.
• Where labour is cheap and easily available, and its use is desirable to
help reduce rural unemployment.
• Where the soil characteristics and environmental conditions do not
justify any large-scale mechanical operations for improving survival
and/or growth.
• Where time is not a pressing factor.
Clearing Fields With Animal Power
• Animals can be used to clear fields of fallen trees or other
debris that will interfere with plowing.
MANUAL LAND PREPARATION
MECHANICAL LAND PREPARATION
PLANTING CORN
LAND ESTABLISHMENT
PLANTING CORN
Planting is a critical activity in the production of corn and the
crucial step to obtain good yields. Traditional hand tools are mostly
hand-made and manual sowing demands a high investment of labor and
time.
On several occasions, efforts of more than 50 hours of work are
reported to carry out the manual planting of one hectare. Modernizing
these tools allows small producers to optimize their resources, perform
their tasks on time and make them less fatiguing (Aikins et al., 2010).
MANUAL PLANTING
FERTILIZER APPLICATION
Fertilizers are applied by different methods mainly for 3 purposes:
1.To make the nutrients easily available to crops;
2.To reduce fertilizer losses and;
3.For ease of application
MANUAL FERTILIZER APPLICATION
MECHANICAL PLANTING
AND FERTILIZATION
APPLICATION
PHILMECH PNUEMATIC CORN PLANTER
TRACTORS
Manual Planting
Mechanical Planting
PRECISE PLACEMENT OF SEEDS & UNIFORM FERTILIZER RESULTING TO BETTER GROWTH
TWO TYPES OF SEED METERING
Pneumatic Metering
used low volume high
pressure blower, more
efficient and less sensitive to
varying seeds sizes.
TWO TYPES OF SEED METERING
Mechanical Metering
cheaper but require seeds of
uniform sizes..
Bigger machinery are not
suitable to local condition
More than 50% of farms
sizes are less than 2 ha ,
(Hill, H. 1986 and Halos, S.
2005)
But Mechanical metering
system is not suited to local
hybrid seeds as they are not
uniform in size resulting to
inconsistent seed drops
• Dela Cruz,SM (2003) recommended that instead of changing farm sizes, from several
small farm areas to one big consolidated farm so that big machines could be used, an
alternative strategy of mechanizing small farm holdings is the introduction of smaller
machines that would be more appropriate for the present farm sizes.
PHILMECH CORN PLANTER
Features:
• 5-1 machine. It can It can plant un-
inoculated and Bio-N inoculated corn seed,
fertilize, furrow and cover the seeds and
fertilizer at the same time.
• It uses a pneumatic metering system (PMS)
to accommodate any size of corn seeds
during planting.
• Can be mounted to medium size tractor ( 28-
35 hp)
• It has a furrower attachment
• Made of locally available materials
Specifications:
• Metering system - Pneumatic
• Row spacing – 65-75 cm
• Hill spacing – 15-30 cm
• Seed depth – 5-10 cm
• Fertilizer application rate – 3-8 bags/ ha
• Fuel consumption Tractor (diesel) – 8
liters/ ha Engine for vacuum blower
(gasoline) – 12 liters/ ha
• Labor requirement – 2 persons
• Cost – P350,000 (excluding tractor)
OPERATING PROCEDURE
1. Attach the hitch of the planter to the standard three-point hitch of the tractor.
2. Set the hill and row spacing, seed depth, fertilizer application rate, and depth of
furrow.
3. Place the seeds in the seed hopper which can contain 5 kgs each.
4. Place the fertilizer in the fertilizer tank.
5. Start the engine. Set the engine RPM at least 1500 rpm.
6. Check the seed metering and fertilizer discharge roller by rotating the ground
wheel.
7. Start the tractor.
8. Proceed with the planting operation.
BASIC MAINTENANCE
• Never allow excess fertilizer to remain in the tank
overnight as this will absorb moisture and become sticky
the next morning.
• Always wash the fertilizer tank with water at the end of the
day to remove any fertilizer residue.
At the end of the planting season:
• Wash the equipment with water, especially the fertilizer tank
• Carefully check worn or damaged parts and replace if necessary
• Tighten all screws and bolts
• Lubricate all bearings and chains
• Store the equipment in a dry place.
ADVANTAGES OF MECHANICAL
ESTABLISHMENT COMPARED TO
MANUAL ESTABLISHMENT
CROP ESTABLISHMENT
• TIMELINESS OF OPERATION:
• farm mechanization ensures that all farm operation are done and completed within a given
period of time.
• MECHANIZATION SAVES TIME:
• in farm mechanization, all most human efforts are substituted with machines. Hence labour
saved could be employed somewhere else.
• MECHANIZATION INCREASES FARM YIELD:
• as a result of mechanization, farmers become richer due to increase yield.
• IT ENCOURAGES LARGE SCALE FARMING:
• with the use of machine which reduces labour and thereby making the work faster and
easier, farmers tends to go into large scale farming activities.
• INCREASE IN OUTPUT:
• mechanization makes it possible for farmers to have increase in output
ADVANTAGE OF MECHANICAL ESTABLISHMENT
6. IT MAKES SPECIALIZATION OF LABOUR POSSIBLE:
farm mechanization enables people to become specialized in
certain operations within the farm.
7. CO-OPERATION AMONG FARMERS:
mechanization enables many farmers to come together and pool
their resources together, thereby promoting or encouraging co-operation
among farmers.
8. IT SAVES TIME:
mechanization translates quickly the products of man’s brain into
reality.
ADVANTAGE OF MECHANICAL ESTABLISHMENT
9. REDUCTION IN COST OF OPERATION :
mechanization leads to reduction in the cost of agricultural
operations per unit output.
10. AVAILABILITY OF LABOUR FOR OTHER SECTORS:
mechanization also helps to release labour to other sectors of the
economy.
11. USE OF LESS HUMAN LABOUR:
mechanization helps to accomplish lots of work with less human
labour. Also Address the scarcity of labor especially during peak
planting period and address the limited number of draft animals
ADVANTAGE OF MECHANICAL ESTABLISHMENT
DISADVANTAGES OF MECHANICAL
ESTABLISHMENT
CROP PREPARATION
1.HIGH COST OF RUNNING:
farm mechanization, due to the high cost and numerous machines
involved, is very expensive to operate
2.DISPLACEMENT OF WORKERS :
in farm mechanization, very few workers are required. Hence
many people will be out of job when mechanization is introduced
3. CAUSES ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION:
mechanization causes environmental pollution due to smokes
emanating from engines of these machines, chemicals and the use of
fertilizer.
DISADVANTAGE OF MECHANICAL ESTABLISHMENT
REFERENCE:
Acosta, J.L. Manual&Mechanical Crop establishment. LGU-Mabalacat City, Pampanga
Prepared By:
• DE CHAVEZ, ELPIDIO C.
• GASIS, MA. RIVEROSE A.
• HERNANDEZ, FORIAN J.
