Development of Subsoiler Suitable for Chhattisgarh Plain

Abstract

Compacted soil hard-pans restrict crop growth by limiting root access to nutrient and moisture in the subsoil. Soil can become deeply compacted in areas tracked by heavy agricultural machineries for primary as well as secondary tillage operation and land management practices. The increased adoption of rotavator among state's farmer results the hardpan formation. Compacted layer typically developed 15-30 cm below the surface where conventional cultivators can't reach. These layer require special equipment called subsoiler and similar chisel/mole plough to fracture them. The objective of this study was to develop an effective subsoiler suitable for Chhattisgarh region that minimized soil disturbance and energy requirements. A subsoiler of 7 cm wide share and operated by 35 hp tractor was developed. The field performance result of subsoiler indicates that it is suitable for operating at 4 km/h forward speed. For achieving 45 cm depth of subsoiling it requires 2.86 meter distance to travel. The subsoiler is suitable for dry and moist soil as the wheel slip was within acceptable limit i.e. around 15 %, field efficiency was more than 80 % and fuel consumption wasless than 4 lit/h. However it was not suitable for wet soil as it results wheel slip of more than 25 %, field efficiency only 66.6 % and fuel consumption 4.70 lit/h. The operating cost of subsoiler was calculated as 427 Rs/ha.