Performance evaluation of tractor operated garlic (allium sativum L.) clove planter

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important foreign exchange earner for India. The farmers generally plant garlic by manual method, which is labour intensive and time consuming. A tractor-operated garlic clove planter was developed and evaluated for its performance in the field. The average wheel slip, draft and average depth of seed placement by the developed planter were 6.93%, 289.83 kg, and 42.1 mm, respectively. The average seed spacing, miss index, multiple index, quality of feed index, seed rate and seed metering efficiency for GG-4 and GG-5 garlic varieties were 99.4 mm, 6.12%, 7.91%, 85.96%, 377 kg.ha⁻¹; and 96.35% and 99.9 mm, 4.58%, 6.07%, 89.34%, 443 kg.ha⁻¹, and 96.75%, respectively during field tests. The effective field capacity and field efficiency of the developed planter were 0.33 ha.h⁻¹ and 80.33; 0.32 ha.h⁻¹ and 79.02%, respectively, for GG-4 and GG-5 garlic seeds. The cost of planting by the developed planter with operational cost of tractor was ^ 553.63 per hour (? 1677.67 per ha), and was less as compared to available planting machineries for garlic.