Testing of Roller-Crimper-and-Undercutting-Blade-Equipped Prototype for Plants Termination

Abstract

The use of roller crimpers to terminate plants and obtain a natural mulch before cash crop establishment has been identified as a valid and sustainable approach to control weeds. Several enhancements have been evaluated to improve and speed up plant termination to avoid delays in cash crop planting and consequent yield losses, which can occur with standard roller crimpers. In the present study, a new prototype machine provided with a roller crimper and an undercutting blade, allowing it to simultaneously crimp plant stems and cut root systems, has been designed, realized, and tested. The aim of the research was therefore to evaluate the effectiveness of the prototype for plant termination and to compare it with a commercial roller crimper. The termination was performed on a spontaneous vegetation cover (weeds). A monophasic exponential decay model to evaluate the weed termination rate over time was performed. The fitted model showed that the prototype is able to achieve a greater and faster weed devitalization compared to the commercial roller crimper, with a lower plateau (0.23 vs. 5.35 % of greenness of plant material, respectively) and higher constant of decay (1.45 vs. 0.39 day−1, respectively). Further studies are needed to evaluate the prototype’s effectiveness in relation to different soil textures, moisture conditions, and amounts of plant biomass to manage, to further improve the machine and extend its use in a broad range of situations, including cover crop termination.

Agronomic performance of disc chain harrow as a conservation agriculture tool for a one-step cover crop termination and seedbed preparation

“…3 and Table 2), they appear very good when compared to those of roller crimpers and harrows for shallow tillage, which represent the main alternatives for cover crop devitalization. For example, the roller crimper with undercutting blade used in the work by Sportelli et al (2023), which had a devitalization efficiency comparable to that of the disc chain harrow used here, showed a lower working rate (0.4 ha h −1 m −1 , based on the width of the machine reported by those Authors) and a higher fuel consumption (around 14 L ha −1 ). The low working rate of roller crimpers is partly due to high vibrations (Kornecki et al , 2006; Raper et al , 2004).…”

“…Using CL1 discs as both front and rear tools resulted in a low devitalization efficacy but this does not necessarily represent a limit since laying plants down and crushing them on the ground can create a soil mulching similar to that obtained by a roller crimper, which is widely adopted for its recognized positive effects in a conservation tillage approach (Ashford and Reeves, 2003;Kornecki et al, 2009). On the other hand, the work of the combination K4 front CL1 rear was much more effective than that obtainable with a roller crimper, except for roller crimpers equipped with undercutting blades (Sportelli et al, 2023) or associated with flaming or herbicides (Frasconi et al, 2019), which guarantee a high devitalization efficacy. Interestingly, with the K4CL1 setup, the soil surface remained slightly cusped, which is to be considered as beneficial for preventing soil crusting and enhancing water infiltration (Astafyev et al, 2021;Dang et al, 2018;Mwiti et al, 2023).…”

Current and future glyphosate use in European agriculture

“…When cover crops are present, their efficient termination is crucial for weed-free seedbed preparation and to limit competition with the main crop (Rosario- and biomass levels, aiming to improve the tool and broaden its applicability (Sportelli et al, 2023). However, it is important to remember that for some cover crops, the use of a roller crimper alone may not be sufficient.…”

“…Roller crimpers have emerged as a sustainable approach to terminate cover crops and create natural mulch in reduced tillage systems (Antichi et al, 2022; Kornecki, 2020). The discussion around tillage versus roller crimper approaches has attracted interest in Europe (Navarro‐Miró et al, 2019), yet detailed research is needed to assess the effectiveness of prototypes across different soil textures, moisture conditions, and biomass levels, aiming to improve the tool and broaden its applicability (Sportelli et al, 2023). However, it is important to remember that for some cover crops, the use of a roller crimper alone may not be sufficient.…”