Spiked Clod Crusher and Planker Performance Under different Soil Conditions

The performance of tractor-drawn cultivator with spiked clod crusher arid with planker was evaluated at the Crop Research Center of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pant Nagar under 3 field condition, namely, manually harvested soybean field (loam soil), manually harvested paddy field (silty-day-loam-soil) dcombine harvested paddy field (silty-clay-loam soil). The cultivator-spiked clod crusher saved 18.5%, 23.47% and 15.60% compared to cultivator planker in soybean field, manually harvested paddy field and combine harvested paddy fields, respectively. The total tractor hours saved with cultivator-clod crusher as compared to cultivator planker combination was about 1.43, 4.25 and 4.80.h/ha, which amounted to a saving of about Rs. 179, Rs. 531 and Rs. 600 per hectare at assumed tractor hiring cost of Rs. l25/h for complete seed bed preparation in soybean field (loam type light soil), manually harvested paddy field and combine harvested paddy fields (silty-clay-loam type heavy soil), respectively.