Success Stories of KVK

Planting Seeds Mechanically…….……Accurate, faster & still at lesser cost!!!

Selective Mechanization:Planting Seeds Mechanically…….……Accurate, faster & still at lesser cost !!!

The central & eastern part of the Nashik district has majority area under the kharif crops like pearl millet, soybean, maize, groundnut & gram, wheat in rabi. Maize being assured return crop, bold seed grams, groundnut have been picking up. Although grain crops like oilseeds, pulses, cereals, etc.& cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, etc. occupies the larger cultivable area of our state, low productivity & poor crop economics remain the prime concerns till date. Appropriate farm machineries with human, animal and mechanical power source from sowing to harvesting can help in ensuring the timely and effective operations and utility of various crop production practices & inputs.

  • Problems identified: Planting seeds is the time-slit operation as furrow opening, planting, fertilizer application seed covering at proper moisture with accuracy, labour for assured.

  • Unlike other crops, crops requiring precision planting, tender seeds/odd shaped seeds like maize, cotton, groundnut, are still sown manually on large area.

  • These methods are labour intensive and time consuming with high drudgery level & require higher costs to the extent of approx. Rs.3300/ha.
Interventions:

  • CRIDA inclined plate planter cum fertidrill : Manual operations; furrow opening, disc type seed metering, placing seed & fertilizers at proper depth, covering of seeds, combined.

  • Nine-tine unit with tractor drawn & four-tine unit bullock drawn introduced for different holding.

  • All the sowing operation at the cost of Rs. 1250 per ha only at the one forth time.
Feedback & Adoption:

  • Save labour, time & cost of operation by 60%, 70% & 62 % respectively with timely operation and increased productivity.

  • Planter has addressed the problem of labour scarcity; high cost of sowing in maize, ground nut, etc. and also met the timeliness operations.

Hi-Tech Vegetable Nursery : An Agri-Support Enterprise