Question

Practical on hitching of primary and secondary tillage implements

Answer 1

Tillage
It is a mechanical manipulation of soil to provide favourable condition for crop production. Soil tillage
consists of breaking the compact surface of earth to a certain depth and to loosen the soil mass, so as to enable
the roots of the crops to penetrate and spread into the soil.
Objectives of Tillage
To obtain deep seed bed, suitable for different type of crops.
To add more humus and fertility to soil by covering the vegetation.
To destroy and prevent weeds.
To aerate the soil for proper growth of crops.
To increase water-absorbing capacity of the soil.
To destroy the insects, pests and their breeding places and
To reduce the soil erosion.
Classification of Tillage
Primary tillage
It constitutes the initial major soil working operation. It is normally designed to reduce soil strength,
cover plant materials and rearrange aggregates. The operations performed to open up any cultivable land with a
view to prepare a seed bed for growing crops is known as primary tillage. Animal drawn implements mostly
include indigenous plough and mould-board plough. Tractor drawn implements include mould-board plough,
disc plough, subsoil plough, chisel plough and other similar implements.
Secondary tillage
Tillage operations following primary tillage those are performed to create proper soil tilth for seeding
and planting are secondary tillage. These are lighter and finer operations, performed on the soil after primary
tillage operations. Secondary tillage consists of conditioning the soil to meet the different tillage objectives of
the farm. The implements include different types of harrow, cultivators, levellers, clod crushers etc.
Types of Tillage
Minimum Tillage - It is the minimum soil manipulation necessary to meet tillage requirements for crop
production.
Strip Tillage - It is a tillage system in which only isolated bands of soil are tilled.
Rotary Tillage -It is the tillage operations employing rotary action to cut, break and mix the soil.
Mulch Tillage -It is the preparations of soil in such a way that plant residues or other mulching materials are
specially left on or near the surface.
Combined Tillage -Operations simultaneously utilizing two or more different types of tillage tools or
implements to simplify, control or reduce the number of operations over a field are called combined tillage.
Difference between tools/Implements/Machines
Tool - It is an individual working element such as disc or shovel.
Implement - It is equipment generally having no driven moving parts, such as harrow or having only simple
mechanism such as plough.
Machine -It is a combination of rigid or resistant bodies having definite motions and capable of performing
useful work.
Implements for Primary Tillage
Plough - Ploughing is the primary tillage operations, which are performed to cut, break and invert the soil
partially or completely. Ploughing essentially means opening the upper crust of the soil, breaking the clods and
making the soil suitable for sowing seeds.
Country or Indigenous plough:
It penetrates into the soil and breaks it open. The functional components include share, body, shoe,
handle and beam (Fig.1). It can be used for dry land, garden land and wetland ploughing operations.
Share - It is the working part of the plough attached to the shoe with which it penetrates into the soil and breaks
it open.
Shoe - It supports and stabilizes the plough at the required depth.