Coverage mobilization by different no-tillage in-line handling mechanisms

Abstract

Vegetation cover on soil acts positively in maintaining temperature and soil moisture, yet, it has been imposing specific operational conditions on seeders. The objective of this study was to evaluate performance of different mechanisms regarding straw mobilization, employed in a no-till seeder. The experimental area was conducted on clayey soil under no-tillage with a large quantity of sorghum residue. The experiment was established in a randomized block design, as the treatments consisted of a combination of two mechanisms at front of the furrow opener composed of cutting disc and row cleaners, and three mechanisms behind the seed furrower, covering discs prototype model M1, Spider and commercial model, with the combination of cutting disc and Spider model not being evaluated. We assessed the coverage permanence on soil index, vegetation mass on surface and inside the line. The treatment containing the row cleaner mechanism efficiently removed straw from the surface of sowing line as well as the return one acted on straw replacement. It was identified that use of the cutting disc at the front of seeder contributed to the increase of straw installation inside the line, three times more than in the row cleaner system when operating individually. Covering mechanism with row cleaners reduced straw inside the line and kept line covering similar to treatment of cutting disc operating alone. KEYWORDS:Zea mays, seeder, furrowers. MOBILIZAÇÃO DA COBERTURA VEGETAL POR DIFERENTES MECANISMOS EMSEMEADURA DIRETA RESUMO: A cobertura vegetal sobre o solo age positivamente na manutenção da temperatura e da umidade do solo; contudo, vem impondo condições operacionais específicas às semeadoras. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de diferentes mecanismos quanto à mobilização da palha, empregados em uma semeadora direta. A área experimental foi conduzida em solo argiloso, em semeadura direta com alto volume de palha de sorgo. O experimento foi implantado no delineamento de blocos casualizados, sendo que os tratamentos consistiram na combinação de dois mecanismos à frente da haste sulcadora, compostos pelo disco de corte e rodas de varredura, e três mecanismos atrás do sulcador da semente, discos cobridores modelos protótipo M1, modelo comercial e Spider, sendo que a combinação disco de corte e modelo Sp ider não foi avaliada. Foram avaliados o índice de permanência da cobertura e a massa da cobertura vegetal na superfície e no interior da linha. O tratamento que continha o mecanismo rodas de varredura removeu eficientemente a palha da superfície da linha de semeadura bem como os de retorno atuaram na reposição da palha. Constatou-se que o uso do disco de corte à frente da semeadora contribuiu para o aumento da introdução da palha no interior da linha, três vezes mais em relação ao sistema rodas de varredura, quando eles operam isoladamente. A utilização dos mecanismos cobridores adicionados às rodas de varredura reduziu a introdução de palha no interior da linha e manteve a cobertura sobre a linha, similar a...

Tractive Demand, Soil Mobilization Parameters, and Corn Yield in Compacted Oxisol

“…In general, it is stated that the soil mobilization set (the disc plus shank) of the seeder used in this study is adequate in the assumption of low soil mobilization recommended by the direct seeding system. Brandelero et al (2014), when evaluating different mechanisms for furrow sowing management in direct seeding, verified that the LSS ranged from 0.165 to 0.28 m, when the average furrow depth was 0.049 and 0.081 m, respectively. This characteristic of low LSS caused by the furrow opener shank, even working at greater depths, is essential because greater mobilized soil surface areas tends to cause increases in soil loss (Volk & Cogo, 2014), as well as greater weed emergence in the seeding line (Theisen & Bianchi, 2010).…”