PM—Power and Machinery: Performance Evaluation of Various Types of Furrow Openers on Seed Drills—a Review

Abstract

A review of the performance of various designs of furrow openers of seed drills and planters under controlled laboratory conditions and also results of comparative performance of furrow openers in the laboratory and field are presented. The studies show in general that an increase in the rake and horizontal included angles increases furrow depth and furrow area. For light sandy soils, a rake angle of 130° was found to be best for the depth stability of the openers. Quadratic relationships were found for depth force relationships for both horizontal and vertical forces, whereas the force–rake angle relationship was found to be both speed and width dependent. Forces acting upon furrow openers were reported for several conditions.In general, it was found that the availability of soil moisture in the furrow opener groove and the evaporation rate of soil moisture were critical factors affecting plant emergence as compared to factors such as depth stability, compactness of the furrow, etc., especially for zero tillage systems in the presence of stubble. Disc-type furrow openers had minimum depth variation in most of the studies and the soil disturbance was also less than for hoe-type furrow openers. These openers were found suitable for conventional tillage systems under irrigated conditions. Penetration of furrow openers was a problem in hard soils and disc-type openers did not perform well for zero tillage sowing under stubble mulch conditions due to the tendency of the openers to push dry soil and stubble into the furrows. Hoe-type openers were suitable for both conventional and zero tillage systems. Under zero tillage conditions, they generally performed better than disc-type openers. However, they had the disadvantage of a higher rate of soil moisture loss due to greater soil disturbance. Under zero tillage conditions, furrow openers which produced subsurface shattering, such as winged, chisel, winged chisel and inverted T furrow openers, gave the best performance as regards rate of plant emergence and final plant stand. This was due to the humid environment in the furrow opener groove. Runner-type furrow openers were found suitable for shallow sowing under irrigated conditions with conventional tillage systems.