Soil Disruption and Power Requirement of Cultivator Shovels and Sweeps

Tillage is an energy intensive farm operation consuming about 40 per cent of the total energy input required for crop production. Tractor drawn cultivator is one of the most important tillage tools used by Indian farmer. It is primarily the type of tillage implement which is used for opening the land, preparing the seedbed for sowing of the seeds as well as after the crop has come up a few cms above the ground. Reversible shovel and sweep are primarily used for loosening and steering the soil. They are used on cultivators and are recommended for secondary tillage operation but most of the farmers also use this shovel for primary cultivation. The experiments were conducted in sandy loam soil using two commonly used reversible shovels and sweeps each at four forward speeds (0.97, 1.25, 1.53 and 1.81 m/s) and depths (0.04, 0.08, 0.12 and 0.16 m) of operation at a soil moisture content of about 10.5 per cent (d.b.) under controlled soil bin conditions. Spoil furrow width and depth increased with the increase in depth and speed of operation whereas reverse trend was observed for crescent height which decreased with increase in speed of operation for both shovels and sweeps.