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    7 views44 pages

    AGR - Remaining

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    Shubham Bhade

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 44
    Lecture No. 18 Water harvesting and life saving irrigation 15.1 Intre: uction Rainwater is the key input in dryland agriculture, In a tropical country such as India which experiences extreme variation in rainfall both in space and time, rain water management assumes vital importance in cutting down risks and stabilizing crop production in dry areas. When rains are received with an intensity far reaching infiltration rate, runoff is inevitable. It varies from 10 to 40% of total rainfall. Of this at least 30% can be harvested into water storage structures, 15.2 Water Harvesting The process of runoff collection during periods of peak rainfall in storage tanks, ponds etc, is known as water harvesting. It is a process of collection of runoff water from treated or untreated land surfaves/ catchments or root tops and storing it in an open farm pond or closed water tanks/reservoirs or in the soil itself (in situ moisture sturage) for irtigation or drinking purposes. Runoff farming and rainwater har vesting agriculture are synonymous terms, which imply that farming is done in dry areas by means of runoff from 4 catchment. Runoff farming is basically a water i vesting system specially designed to provice supplemental or life saving irrigation to crops, especially during periods of scil moisture stress, Collecting and storing wat er for ibsequient use is known as water harvesting. It is a method to induce, collect, store and conserve local surface runoff for agriculture in arid and semiarid regions. All water harvesting systems have three components viz, the catchment area, te storage facility and the command area, ‘he catchment area is the part of the land that contributes the rain water. The storage facility is a place where the runoff water is stored from the time it is collected until t is used. The command area is where water is used. Water harvesting is done both in_arid. egions with cortai differences. In arid regions, the collecting area or catchment area is substantially in higher proportion compared to command area, Actually, the runoff is induced in catchment area in arid lands whereas in semi-arid regions, runoff is not induced in catchment area, only the excess rainfall is collected and stored. However, several methods of water harvesting are used both in arid and semiarid regions, 15.2.1 Inducing Runoff Rain water harvesting is possible even in areas with as little as 50 to 80 mm average annual rainfall. Ancient desert dwellers harvested rain by redirecting the water running down the slopes into fields or cisterns. This small amount of runoff collected over large area may be useful for supplying water to small villages, house- holds, cattle etc,, For collection of higher amount of rainfall, runoff i induced cither by land alteration or by chemical atment, a) Land Alterations: Clearing away rocks and vegetation and compacting the soil surface can increase runoff. However, lend alteration may lead to soil erosion except where slope is reduced. When erosion is not excessive and low cost hill side land is available, land alteration can be very conomical way to harvest rain water in arid lands, b) Chemical Treatment: A promising nethod for harvesting rain water is to treat soils with chemicals that fill pores or make soil repellant to water. Some materials used for this purpose are sodium salts of silicon, latexes, asphalt and wax. 15.2.3 Methods of Wi er Harvesting ‘The different methods of water harvesting that are followed in arid and semiarid regions are discussed separately. 15.2.3.1 Arid Regions The catchment area should provide enough water to mature the crop, and the type of farming practiced must make the best use of water. In general, perennial crops are suitable as they have deep root systems that can use runoff water stored deep in the soil which is not lost through evaporation. a) Water Spreading: In arid areas, the limited rainfall is received as short intense storms. Water swiftly drains into gullies and then flows towards the sea, Water is lost to the region and floods caused by this sudden runoff can be devastating often to areas otherwise untouched by the storm. Water spreading is a simple irrigation ‘method for use in such a situation, Flaod waters are deliberately diverted trom their natural courses and spread over adjacent plains, The water is diverted or retarded by ditches, dikes, small dams or brush fences. The wet flood plains or valley floods are used to grow crops, b) Microcatchments: A plant can grow in a region with to little raintall for its survival a rain water catchment hasin is built around it. At the lowest point within each microcatchment, a basin is dug about 40 cm deep and a tree is planted in it. The basin stores the runoff from microcatchment, ©) Traditional water harv sting systems: Tanka, nadi, khadin are the important ‘raditional water harvesting systems of Rajasthan, Tanka is an underground tanie or cistern constructed for collection and storage of runoff water from natural catchment or artificially prepared catchment or from a rooftop. ‘The vertical walls are lined with stone masonary or cement concrete and the base with 10 cm thick concrete, The capacity of the tank ranges from 1000 to 600,000 |, Nadi or village pond is constructed for storing water from natural catchments. The capacity of nadis ranges from 1200 m3 to 15000 m* .Khadin is Unique land use system where in run of’ water from rocky catchments are collected in valley plains during rainy season, C:ops are grown in the winter season after ‘water is receded in shallow pond on the residual moisture, 15.2.3.2 Semiarid Regions Water harvesting techniques followed in semi-arid areas are numerous and also ancient. 1) Dug Wells: Hand dug wells have been used to collect and store underground water and this water is lifted for irrigation. The quality of water is generally poor due to dissolved salts. }) Tanks: Runoff water from hill sides and forests is collected on the plains in tanks, ‘The traditional tank system has following components viz, catchment area, storage tank, tank bund, sluice, spill way and command area. The runoff water from Catchment area is collected and stores in storage tank on the plains with the help of a bund. To avoid the breaching of tank buné, spillways are provided at one or both the ends of the tank bund to dispose of excess water. The sluice is provided in the central area of the tank bund to allow controlled flow of water into the command area. ©) Percolation Tanks: Flowing rivule-s or big gullies are obstructed and water is ponded. Water from the ponds percolates into the soil and raises the water table of the region. The improved water level in the wells lower down the percolation tanks are used for supplemental irrigation (Fig.15.1) ig. 15.1 Percolation tank 4) Farm Ponds: These are small storage structures for collection and storage of runoff water. Depending upon their construction and suitability to different topographic conditions farm ponds are dassified as ¢ Excavated farm ponds suitable for flat topography ¢ Embankment ponds for hilly terrains and * Excavated cum Embankment ponds There are three types of excavated farm ponds - square, rectangular and circular. Circular ponds have high water storage capacity. Farm ponds of size 100 to 300 m? may be dug to store 30 per cent of runoff. The problem associated with farm Ponds in red soils is high seepage loss. This can be reduced by lining walls. Some of the traditional methods for seepage control are the use of bentonite, soil dispersants and soil-cement mixture. Bentonite has excellent sealing properties if kept continuously wet, but cracks develop when dried. Soil-cement mixture can be used. A soil-cement lining of 100 mm thickness reduces seepage losses up to 100 per cent. The pit lined continuously develops cracks but no cracks develop when applied in blocks. The other alternative sealant fer alfisols is a mixture of red soil and black soil in the ratio of 1: 2, In arid and semi-arid regions, rains are sometimes received in heavy down Pours resulting in runoff. The runoff event ranges from 4 to 8 during the rain season in arid and semi-arid region, The percentage of runoff ranges from 10 to 30% of total rainfall. The size of the farm pond depends on the rainfall, slope of the soil and catchment area. The dimensions may be in the range of 10 m x 10 mx 2.5 mto 15 mx 15 x 3.5 m. The side slope 1.5: 1 is considered sufficient. A silt trap is constructed with a width of slightly higher than the water course and depth of 0.5 to 1 mand with side slope of 1.5: 1, The different types of lining materials are soil-cement, red and black sols, cement-concrete, bricks, Kadapa slabs, stone pitching, polythene sheet ete, ( Fig.15.2 to 154) In alluvial sandy loam to loamy sand soils of Gujarat and red sandy loans soils of Bangalore, a soil + cement (8: 1; mixture is” the best lining material. At Fig. 15.2 Farm Pond Lined with Kadapa Slabs Fig. 15.4 Farm Pond Lined with Fire Bricks Anantapur (A.P.}, soil without sieving and cement in 6:1 ratio (Fig. 15.5) is very effective and cheap lining material for red sandy loam soils. In laterite silty clay loam soils of Ooty, medium black soils of Kota, bitumen was effective. Water can be stored for two months in deep heavy soils with out lining at Nandyat (AP). Clay solls linings are generally the most economical. Evaporation losses can be reduced in farm ponds especially in arid regions by 1ubber or plastic floats. White plastic sheet is economical and easily available, Farm pond technology is economically viable. Studies undertaken in the Jhanwar medel watershed in Rajasthan showed that water harvesting in a farm pond of size 271 m3 and utilizing the water for supplemental irrigation is economically viable, Fig: 15.5 Farm Pond lined with soil + cement (6:1 ratio) 15.3 Supplemental irrigation / life saving irrigation ‘The runoff collected from different water storage structures is of immense use for protecting the dryland crops from soil moisture stress during prolonged cry spells. Supplemental or life saving or protective irrigation is given to sustain the dry land crop during the drought periods and take the advantage of subsequent rains. [m. dry areas, water, not land is the most limiting resource for crop production. Maximizing the water productivity but not the yield per unit land is the better strategy for dry farming areas. Supplemental irrigation is a highly efficient practice for increasing productively of crops in arid regions. The response to supplemental irrigation varies with crops, time of irrigation, depth of irrigation, method of water application and fertilizer application a) Quantity of irrigation water: Crops differ in responding to amount of irrigation water by supplemented irrigation during dry spell. Groundnut responds to 10 mm of irrigation through sprinkler on affisols during pod development stage. The benefit of supplemental irrigation lost for one week. Cotton needs a minimum of 30 mm of water to respond to irrigation applied either by sprinkler or drip irrigation system on vertisols. Chickpea similarly need 30 to 40 mm of supplemental irrigation applied as drip or sprinkler irrigation during flowering. Pigeonpea responds to 20 mm irrigation water applied at pod development stage with drip irrigation. Irrigation can be provided near the row, covering abcut 20% of the cropped area, leaving 80% of interrow zone. Pot watering, applying small quantity of water (around 250 ml) manually to each hill, is highly useful either for sowing or for transplanting in widely spaced crops like cotton, Redgram, castor, tomato, tobacco etc. Similarly, pot watering to protect the seedlings during early crop growth stage is highly useful. ‘The amount of water, if calculated over the entire area, works out less than 5 mm. For example, pot watering cotton seedlings at 250 ml hill works out 5,000 1/ha which works out to 5 mm, Productivity of harvested water can be increased by applying small quantity of water to large areas than heavy irrigation to small area. If rains occur immediately after irrigation, there will be no impact of irrigation and in black soil, it may reduce yield. b) Time of irrigation: Unlike in irrigated agriculture, the critical stage concept does not suit well, as dry spell may reduce the growth and yield of crop at any stage. Vegetative stage is considered as, non-critical stage in irrigated agriculture but in arid regions, dry spell during vegetative stage prolongs the crop duration which may ultimately result in crop failure due to end season drought. Death of seedlings also cause reduction in yield due to dry spell in vegetative stage, therefore, the strategy for getting successful crop is providing small quality of water, if available, at any Stage if the dry spell is more than 10 daysin light soils and 15 days in heavy soils, ©) Method of irrigation: Surface methods of irrigation like check basin, basin, and furrow methods are not suitable for supplemental irrigation, mainly for three reasons ; the rainfed lands are uneven, conveyance losses may go up to 30% and Himited amount of water available for ir-igation, Drip and sprinkler irrigations are ‘more suitable because small amount of water can be delivered, even on uneven soils with out conveyances losses (Figi5.6). Subsurface drip irrigation is very efficient for providing supplemental irrigation. The main drawback of micro-irrigation system is high initial cost of the system. Pot watering is another efficient method being used by the farmers for transplanting crops like tobacco, chilly, tomato etc., Fig: 15.6 Supplemental irrigation to tamarind by drip irrigation 4) Economics of water harvesting: Water harvesting and use of water for sowing and supplemental irrigation increas? the productivity of wheat and onion in mountainous watershed in Himachal Pradesh. The benefit-cost ratio ranges from 0.41 to 1.33 for water harvesting structures of different sizes with an estimated life of 25 and 40 years respectively. 15.4 watershed Problems a) Physica! problems: Steep slopes, bad lands, weak geological formations etc, can be found by observation of the existing maps. Problems such as heavy and intense rainfall, excessive runoff and strong winds can be identified from the weather and hydrological data, b) Resource use problems: Problems such as shifting cultivation, forest destruction, fire, over grazing, poor road construction and uncontrolled mining should be identified. ° ©) End problems: The final effects of watershed degradation ie. soil erosion, land slides, heavy sedimentation, water pellution, floods and droughts must be identified as quickly as possible. By analyzing the information like history, frequency and extent of these problems can be determ ned. 4) Socio economic and other problems: Serious sicio economic problems can be major obstacles in carrying out watershed work. Any serious problem should be identified at the beginning of the stage. These may include land tenure, poverty, lack of education, low acceptance of innovations, seasonal shortage of labour etc, in dents, fordy ete CRn- app farming ) oy Pen Gp t+ D Land alieractiong 2) Chemical bentninfe _ ) Mevkod Q way on receding © D Atel pins @Deoal Pocdig 8) Mecsocalelimesty Thadfeemal calls harsh PJ Geus.cstd teyeons- o Deg cuts 6) Tauks c) pewstafien farcks #2) Fat bond J Ww Lepplamontal issP gles [" Soot “tusgallona % Qoanlety tak coates 5) Tne Y) Gronoinies watt 9) W2abireled Probleme a) Peal problenn 5’) Resource, wre problems tree.) 4). ecto - Geanemati aud offer peoblens of te goon >) tod of agen Introduction | _ | Area under irrigation ~ 30% Rainfed ~ 70%, | Major food production ~ dryland > 90% of sorghum, pearImille:, groundnut and pulses are | grown in arid and semiarid areas, Dry land agriculture - Problems ~ low productivity and high | in stability. La a | 02-Dec-19 SSS] Reasons for low productivity in dry land area a ¥ Lack of moisture conservation practices ¥ Improper crop planning és per land capability ¥ Inadequate effort to increase water resources ¥ Low rate of fertilizer use Y Lack of timely farm operations ey geet ¥ Unpredictable rainfall situations 43 ¥ Lack of improved technology ¥ Crop planning as per land use capability ¥ Summer ploughing | Y Selection of crops ¥ Use improved cultivars ¥ Seed treatment Seed hardening ¥ Soil moisture conservation | ¥ Contingent crop planning ¥ Prought management through mulching and anti-transpirants | —____] (02-Dec-19 Summer ploughing | + Help to conserve rain water in situ as possible and to harvest rain water * Shallow off season tillage with pre-monsoon showers ensures better moisture conservation + Improves soil structure due to alternate drying and cooling |+ Breaking of hard crusted upper layer of the soil Selection of crops based on, > Early maturing/Short duration varieties © Deep rooted crops > Drought resistant crops 02-Dec-19 02-Dec-19 Improved crop varieties for growing under drought situations con varie J Rie [ADT An a WOO Fe TR TR) RS oie |e. comin INALON}Cos 7 |soghom J Nal (5) Cw 3, TNAU Sonu hyo) Go 5 GwiboR Pa si Paur2 KT. KK LAM | Tat” [60.0 (Cuy.X7. TNAU Cab pond Coe 24 | Finger miltet_ [Co 13, Co(Ra) 14, Paiyurl, Piyur2 |Foxtait iter [Co 6, Coctey7 Prom [Geaco(Pvs Ri Barnyard [Co |. Coukv2 millet Kodo mille [C03 Lite mitlet [Co 3. contingency planning - sorghum | Early onset of monsoon followed by a long gap > inlereutivation operations > Plant population Delayed onset of monsoon > short duration cultvars such as CSH 23 > Increase seed rate to 1.5 times > Applying Carboturan or Phorate (3 3) granules in the seed rows before sowing to safe guard against the stoot fly attack $e Prolonged monsoon and excessive rainfall at maturity » To cause heavy grain mold infestation - Harvesting of the crop at physiological maturity, > spraying fungicidal mixture containing 0.3% Dithane M-45 three times at 10 days interval starting from 50% flowering onwards are recommended, ‘DITHANE Failure of monsoon + Monsoon fails after sowing of the crop, plant population should be reduced proportionately to 1/2 either by uprooting alternate plants or altemate rows. + Partial failure and extremely delayed monsoon alternative crops like castor, Pearl millet and horse gram may be sown in light soils 02-Dec-19 — Improved crop varieties for growing under drought situations —__1 {crop | Variety ioongan [608 CoGa) 7 VENA Vane 8 Gy Blekoram [VEN VENEa) 4 VEN Ba)5 VN6, TNAU sein Go8 Ganges [00 GaP) 7, Part. veNa Redgran [VEN (i) 3,0 1 Co 7. SR sunnier _[ NAUSUF (C0 4), oSA/5 TNAU Sinton bid God sesame _|Go TMV 3. INV 5, TAT, SVPR I, VRISIN& Groundnut [TMV 7, TMV 10, TMVGn 13, VRI2, VRIGh 5, VRIGn6, VRIGn 7] CoGn 5, TNAU Co6 —__ |_ Seed treatment | ' _ —___. Chemical used for seed Crops hardening [Maize SS*CS KCL _ |Sorghum, Peari millet [Pctassium dihydrogen| phosphate (Green gram ‘Meso, [Black gram [Cotton [Groundnut each, i 02-Dec-19 ! j I — Soil and moisture conservation * Contour bunding and contour cultivation for shallow and medium deep soils and graded bunding for deep soils. * Integrated water harvesting and runoff recycling through farm ponds and percolation tank. * Strip cropping - to control erosion and increase water absorption Contour bund Graded bund 02-Dec-19) 02-Dec-19 L ‘On-set of (Crops fo be taken te crop8 of hol duration to be sown Delay exceeding 3-4 weeks ‘Normal= June Groundnut Normal - Oct Cotton / sorghum Delay - Early Nov ‘Sunflower / pearl milet / ragi Anti transpirant spray, harvesting for fodder (millets) harvesting at 2. Immediately after sowing stand reduction is less than 20%. Re sowing if stand reduction 2, Early withdrawal of rainfall more than 20%. Mulching between crop rows. Stirring soil surface to create dust mulch to reduce evaporation —| b. At vegetative phase Mulching, antitranspirant spray spraying Kel, thinning of 33-50% population 2-Dec-19 | k | Drought management through mulching and | ! | anti transpirants | Mulches - 60 to 15% of evaporation losses can be reduced, weed control and improvement of soil structure. Different type- soil mulch or dust mulch, stubble mulch, straw mulch, plastic mulch and vertical mulching. vn Reduce — speeds of wind and Reduces soil temperatures. Antitranspirants |v stomata closing type: ABA, PMA, Atrazine at low conc. v Reflectanat type: Kaoline ¥ Film forming type: Wax, oil, mobileaf ¥ Growth retardant: ccc Non - monetary inputs management | r ¥ Choice of crops, selection of varieties. ¥ Tillage ~ minimum tillage, Zero tillage, off season tillage | ¥ Time of sowing, depth of sowing © Plant population Y Choice of erops and varieties ¥ Plant protection | | ¥ Weed mangement ime of harvesting | 02-Dec-19 10 i LEC Fat 12 Watershed co Def: It is an area of land and water bounded by a drainage divide with in which, the surface runoff collects and flows out of the area through single outlet into a river or other body of water. 1p Itis referred as catchment or drainage basin a It is also defined as a hydrological unit where in all the water is collected and drained in a common outlet. 8 Micro watershed 500 ha + 10% © Major — watershed : >1000ha a Watershed A Watershed a Watershed is also defined as a hydrological unit wherein all the water is collected and drained in a common outlet . aquite, ozvec-19 02-Dec-19 5 Depending upon the operational feasibility they are classified major watershed or basin micro-watershed u Major watershed is more thar, 1000 ha. © micro-watershed is between 100-1000 ha. Presently it is 500 ha + 10%. Concept © 5 Development on watershed basis in hilly and mountain ecosystems is relatively more relevant where high erosion rates and wide spread land degradation are major concerns. 1D Recently, erosion rates of the order of 600-700 t ha-1 per annum have been observed in the over-exploited small watershed of shiwaliks. (SAMRA, 1998). Objectives 0 Effective and efficient utilization of rain water for agricultural production by improving infiltration of water, reuse of drainage and runoff water and tapping the percolated water in deea tube wells for the productive use in dry farming. Components of watershed programme 2 Soil and water conservation co Water harvesting 3 Crop management 1. Soil and water conservation 85333 mt of sol lost through erosion © 10% deposited in surface “eservoirs resulting in loss of 1.2% of storage capacity ( Dhuruva Narayana et al,, 1998) 1B _Inshallow and medium vertisols 12 42% of total rainfall lost through evaporation 15 28% through runoff 1p 7.5% deep percolation 12 23% Retained (Balasubramarian, 1999) 02-Dec-19 02-Dec-19) = Soil and water conservation A. Tillage practices: © Working of soils with implements provides more space for water storage. Encourages infiltration time, thus reducing run- off. 9. Surface tillage improvers soil water entry, contour cultivation arrests runoff water and soll sediments by the ridges is ® furrows opened across slope. B. Summer ploughing: The soil becomes recepliveto summer shavers Soil and water conservation Ge C. Fallowing for moisture conservation © Provides sufficient moisture for the main crop raised during post rainy season on profile stored moisture. 10. Increases the supply of nutrients for subsequent crops D. Planting geometry: © When moisture is limited, increasing inter-row spacing and decreasing intra-row spacing is advantageous, Soil and water conservation E. Intercropping: 12 Moisture extraction from the entire profile is maximum with better water use efficiency. F. Mule! 1B: 15 Surface, stubble, soil or dust, vertical polyethylene mulches etc, 2 Crop residue mulch is important. Stalks of Maize, Bajra, Paddy Husk, Coir pith cust helps in reducing weed population is reduces evapovation 2. Water Harvesting 2 Collecting water in towlying areas for agric, groundwater recharge for drinking propose. |. Runoff Inducement: a, Vegetation management 5b. Surface treatment 1 ¢. Chemical treatments 1, Runoff Collection: = Micro-catchment water harvesting 1» Run-off farming water harvesting = In-situ water harvesting, 02-Dec-19 (2-Dec-19 Water Harvesting UL. Storage and conservation U_ Sedimentation control 5 Seepage control © Evaporation control ® IV. Recycling o a. Critical irrigation o b. Supplemental irrigation 3. Crop Management > Crop management and water use > Pre-monsoon sowing > Plant population > Depth of sowing > Seed Treatment 02-Dec-19 Ideal Integ. Watershed Devpt. Approach 1c Human resource development or community development. 12 Soil and land management Water management 1 Crop management 1b Forestation © Pasture development Livestock management © Rural energy management 13 Farm and non-farm value eddition activities 1 The goal isto achieve environmentally sustainable and economically viable Objectives of Watershed: Recent objectives: © Maximum productivity 11 limproving standard of living of © Rain water conservation people. © Increasing ground waterlevel/ © Major emphasis for upliftment of Recharging ground water rural poor and vital importance for the rural development © Prevent soil erosion 1 Improving income and status of © Draining excess water the people, © Maximum water storage i, ts Creating employment to rural capacity sector through out the year. Improving infra structural facilities Ss a ) conuepls —b) ebjechvas — 6) Cmfonenfr of voalhishad TW) Siland wale Gusuroher J Tiago practi 8) Sama plot 0 Roarg fe maotslecre. Conteverkn 4 plentos gon @ noorpa F) Male wD) Woks tasueshy 1) RawofP. wdceadl DD) Rennefe cobbecfes 1) shoraaie oud Cotvales 1) Reegl Iv) Cop manage ® v) Ideal gece) roalusheck Devpt Approach od) Objechusm of dalecishect 2) OF b) Pocad— objechrec : Dacdaoe 90: 12 tesa Me haw 2adywn fo ey Gnd forming UDY OF TOOLS, IMPLEMENTS, AND MACHINERIES FOR TILLAGE, SOWING AND AFTER CULTIVATION AND ASSESSING THEIR EFFICIENCIES Farm machinery and implements help in increasing the utilization of labour and increasing the area under intensive and multiple cropping. Mechanized rapid field operations assist directly and indirectly in conservation of rain water and timely field operations and precision metering and placement of inputs. There are a good number of improved animal and tractor operated equipments developed and manufactured in India for seedbed preparation, seeding and planting, inter-culture, spraying anc dusting, harvesting, threshing, shelling and decortications. Following are the some of the labour saving implements widely used in rainfed farming IMPLEMENTS FOR FIELD PREPARATION Chisel plough Deep tillage using chisel plough is essent al for improving the yield of crop especially under dry farming. Deep tillage shatters compacted sub soil layers and aids in better infiltration and storage of rainwater in the crop root zone. The improved soil structure also results in better development of root system and the yield of crops and their drought tolerance is also improved. The implement could be used for deep tillage u> to a depth of 40 cm. The coverage of the implement is 0.42 ha/hr when operated at a spacing of 1.5 m between rows. IMPLEMENTS FOR FORMING LAND CONFIGURATION Ridger Ridges and furrows can be effectively and economically formed using tractor drawn ridger and planting of seedlings or sowing of seeds can be done in the formed ridges. The cost of he unit is Rs.30,000. An area of 3.5 ha can be covered per day; results in 24 and 90 per cent saving in cost and time when compared with conventional method Power tiller operated basi Listing is the process of formation of alte-nate furrows and ridges on land to conserve soil and moisture. Hence a basin lister has been developed for use with power tillers in dry farming. The size of the basin formed is 120 x 30 x 15 cm and the coverage is 0.25 ha per day. The distance between the basins is 45 em. The cost of the unit is Rs.4,000. The salient features include simple and easy to mount and dismantle; aids in conservation of soil moisture at deeper depths for better plant growth and increases the crop yield by 150 kg/ha. Tractor drawn basin lister ‘The basin lister consists of three trenchers of width 30 em, cams, camshaft, cam follower, ground wheels and frame. The basin lister unit is attached to the standard nine tynedcultivator ‘The seed box along with cup feed type seed metering mechanism is mounted on the cultivator frame and the seeds are dropped in between the basins. Seeds are sown in 4 rows at 45 cm apart. Heavy duty auger digger ‘The auger digger is basically equipment that can be front mounted on any type of power liller. It can be operated by a single person. 15-25 holes of 30 cm diameter can be dug in one hour. Widely used for planting fruit crops in drylands and gardenlands. SOWING IMPLEMENTS Power tiller drawn cup feed seed planter (TNAU model) It is used to sow seeds like groundnut, maize, sorghum and pulses. It is power til drawn with a power requirement of 10 — 12 hp. It can cover four rows at a time with a spacing of 25 ~ 60 cn which is adjustable It is suited for all the makes af 10-12hp power tiller and has a coverage of 0.2ha per hour. Operator can ride comfortably while sowing with the unit Improved broad bed former cum seeder (TNAU model) It is used to form raised bed and sows simultaneously. It is tractor drawn and can cover four rosy ata time. It is suitable for sowing groundnut, bengalgram, maize, sorghum and pulses in raise! beds. It has a coverage of 3.2. ha/day. Saving in cost is 57% and saving in labour and time + 95%. The implement will form broad beds separated by furrows and simultaneously undertab sowing in rows on the bed formed. Tractor drawn ridger seeder (TNAU model) The tractor drawn ridger seeder can be used for ridge forming simultaneously. eee cS f Itis tractor mounted with a power requirement of 35 hp and capacity of 0. 40 ha per hr. is suitable for sowing cotton, soybean, black gram, green gram, maize and cow pea in single row or paired rows. Row to row and plant to plant spacing is adjustable. Saving in cost and time is 24% and 90% respectively, when compated with conventional method. Air assisted seed drill (TNAU model) ay It is used to drilling small seeded erops like, sesame and ragi. SSSSEEY, It is tractor mounted with a power requirement of 3545 Hp and & capacity of 5 ha per day. The cost of operation is Rs.150/ha and the saving in cost is 55% and saving in time is 92 %, ‘Tractor mounted hill drop planter (TNAU model) ‘A hill drop planter is for sowing row crops like ground nut and cotton with accurate hill to hill spacing on the row. The machine is to alleviate the difficulties of obtaining a proper plant population in a drilled crop. ‘The unit has a cup feed seed metering device for sowing nine rows of crop. Bullock drawn seed planter The implement can be hitched to a pair of enimals easily as in the case of country plough. The cost of the unit is Rs. 3500. It is useful for fine sowing of crops like groundnut, sorghum, cowpea, Bengal gram, green gram and black gram. The capacity of the unit is 1 ha / day. The seed planter is suitable for rainfed areas where sowing is to be completed within a short period. ‘Tractor drawn seed planter It is tractor drawn equipment used for line sowing of crops like groundnut, sorghum, maize and pulses. Seed boxes along with cup feed type seed metering mechanism are mounted on the cultivator frame and the secds are dropped in furrows opened by the cultivator shovels. Detachable side wings are fixed to the existing shovel type furrow openers of the cultivator, which, helps in placing the seed at the required depth. Coverage of the unit is 4 ha/day. INTER-CULTURE EQUIPMENTS The power weeder developed by Rangaswamyet al. (1993) at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore was compared with manual weeding with hand hoe and drylandweeder The Field capacity of power weeder is 0.04 ha/hr with 93 percent weeding efficiency. The cost of operation of power weeder is only half of the drylandweeder and one third of the manual weeding with hand hoe. Long handled weeder (TNAU model) It is a long handled tool and consists of rotor with diamond shaped pegs, cutting blade, frame and handle. It is manually operated and has a working width of 120 mm with a capacity of 0.05 ha/day. It is used for removal of shallow rooted weeds in row crops. It has been designed ergonomically for easy operation. Useful in dry land and garden land crops and is ideal ata soil moisture content of 8 to 10 per cent. Single wheel hoe The wheel hoe is a widely accepted weeding tool for weeding and interculture in row crops. It is a long handled tools operated by push and pull action. Tractor drawn sweep weeder Cultivator or tiller is popular farm eq.1ipment used by our farmers for tilling the farm land. Nine tynes cultivator is most commonly seen in the Indian villages. Though cultivator is a secondary tillage implement, our farmers do not use it for weeding purposes. The cultivator tyne spacing is adjustable and can be used for weeding between the standing row crops. In place of the reversible shovels, sweeps have been replaced. A. tractor drawn cultivator has been modified for weeding and interculture in dry land and garden land crops such as cotton, tapioca, maize, black gram, green gram, groundnut, sorghum and vegetable crops. The weeder requires one operator to operate the tractor and farm (women) labourers per hectare for weeding in between the plants in the seme row. The rear pneumatic tyres of the tractor were replaced with iron wheels for reducing the crop damage by the wide pneumatic tyres and for minimizing the wheel slip. Distance between the sweeps is adjustable according to the spacing of crop rows but the minimum spacing of crop should be 300 mm. The effective field capacity of the tractor drawn weeder is 0.36 ha/h. HARVESTING AND THRESHING MACHINERY Groundnut harvester (TNAU model) It consists of a digging blade, an elevator shaker, idlers, driving sprockets; two gauge wheels, and gearbox. The digger is operated by a tractor of 35 hp or higher. and the cost of the equipment is Rs.40,000. Impact type groundnut stripper (TNAU model) The unit consists of a 1.2 m long peg type stripping slinder fitted with rigid stripping fingers. The fingers are mounted on eight bars. The fingers are made of 70 mm long ‘sim diameter mild steel rods and are spaced at a spacing of 50 wun, The fingers on alternate bars ate staggered. The cylinder volves at 200 rpm and is powered by 2 hp / petrol start \crosene run engine. The vines are. held:by the operator and the wot zone with the pods is exposed to the beater fingers for § wiping the pods. The machine is designed for two operators » work simultaneously Multicrop thresher (commercial make) It consists of hopper for auto feeding. Threshing unit tus three sharp cutting blades with spike tooth cyl'nder. Crop is, ul and beaten against the concave, thus separating the grain Iwo aspirator blowers winnow the grain. Bagging unit is also wovided. Various pulleys and drives are provided to alter -ylinder and blower speeds and to suit different crops. It has slevators for loading grain into trolley and a set of pneumatic steels for transport. Groundnut thres Vhis machine is used for threshing fresaly harvested groundnut crop having high nwisture, The capacity of the unit is about 200 kg pods per hr. itusker sheller for maize ‘The machine is suitable for simultaneous removal of the sheath around the maize cobs sal separating the maize kernels from the cobs. .The capacity of the unit is 85 quintals of cob / ‘ay or 24 quintal of kernels / day. Sunflower sheller It is used to shell the sunflower seeds and to separate the husk. The capacity of the unit is i quintals of seed /day. Castor sheller The castor sheller is used for shelling and cleaning castor pods. The capacity of the unit is loS ky, Arour. MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENTS Tractor operated rotoslasher Tractor operated Rotoslasher ‘This unit is used for slashing cotton stal:s. The field capacity is about 0.4 ha per day. The saving in cost and time are 87% and 95% respectively. Fo Chitesel plough ) pbawts Poni tnd Gof Joost Hr Puskad bate: sls 6) Towlor cecum Boss (202 c) iat, UN) Seog rrflernenti ») poe. Fetter howe é Seed Flaukt (Trro mode " b ‘of poved broack bed Bowrer coum

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