On-farm Trials of Animal-drawn Zero-till Drill for Potential Crops as Earthquake Relief Measures in the Sikkim State

Agriculture sector is vital for the nation and is the principal source of livelihood for more than 58 per cent of the population. Agriculture like the rest of other country plays an important role in Sikkim. The main crops in Sikkim are rice, maize, black gram, mustard, cardamom, finger, passion fruit, mandarin etc. The rural population of Sikkim needs immediate relief measures (short term and long term strategy for employment opportunities) through engineering for on farm trials of improved farm technologies and entrepreneurship development for employment opportunities. The zero till seed drills (single row and two row units) were identified and refined for size and weight reduction suiting to the requirements of farmers under terrace conditions. The on farm trials in earthquake affected regions got good response in terms of savings in time (65%) and cost of operation (69%) over traditional practice of ploughing twice using traditional plough, leveling by traditional leveler (dande) before and after broadcasting of seeds. The machines were promoted for wheat, buckwheat and mustard crops in affected regions which benefited in terms of seeds saving, weeds control and labour saving during field trials.