Studies on the Mechanized Planting of Baker's Garlic on Sand Dune Field (Part 1)

Furrow Shape and Planting Posture by Furrow Opener

Abstract

The fundamental experiments on the mechanization of planting operation of Baker's garlic bulb on sand dune fields were conducted in order to determine the effect of soil moisture content on the furrow shape formed by furrow opener. The planting postures of the bulbs dropped on the furrow were further-more examined to find the possibility of planting mechanization by natural dropping method of the bulbs during of tillage and furrow operations. The draft force of the furrow openers was also measured under various soil moisture contents.
The furrow shape formed by the furrow opener was the same as the cross sectional shape of the opener when the soil moisture content was more than 3% d. b.. However, the furrow shape formed by a cylindrical seed tube collapsed during the opening operation when the soil moisture content was in the range of 1-6% d. b.. The probability of the suitable planting posture for the seed bulb increased by making a soft seed bed so as to sink easily into the soil when the combination of the furrow opener and the seed tube was adequate. The draft force of the furrow opener increased in direct proportion with the increase of the soil moisture content from 1 to 6% d. b. with the high correlation coefficient of about 0.9.