Precision seeding is one of the most crucial operations affecting the productivity and input cost in vegetable crops. The exact placement of single seed in soil ensures saving in costly seeds, reduces the problem of thinning and crop higher yield as each plant gets the desired quantity of sunlight, water and nutrients. A six-row tractor drawn pneumatic precision planter was developed for exact planting of single seeds at pre-determined seed/row spacing. The planter performance was evaluated for pea crop in sandy loam soil having initial moisture content of 16.3 per cent and bulk density of experimental plot after seedbed preparation was 1.52 g/cm3. The average seed rate of this planter was very low in comparison to seed drill and it was 60 kg/ha for pneumatic planter and 100 kg/ha for seed drill. The uniformity coefficient for pneumatic planter and seed drill were 90.85 per cent and 82.28 per cent respectively. The average plant population was 20.48 plants/m2 for pneumatic planter, which was approximately 11 per cent higher than plant population by seed drill. Total man-h/ha required for pneumatic planter and seed drill were 6.10 and 9.0 respectively.
Pneumatic planter, Uniformity coefficient
