TILLAGE & LAND

PREPARATION

En Mohd Fauzie Jusoh

Lecturer
Agriculture Technology Programme
Faculty of Agro-Based Industry
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (Jeli Campus)
Locked Bag No.100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan.
014-2903025/fauzie.j@umk.edu.my/
 INTRODUCTION

 Farm mechanization involves the use of equipment

mounted to the tractor to accomplish tasks previously
done by man or animals.
 Plowing equipment attached to tractors and used
for land preparation.
 Proper soil preparation is required for the growth of
seeds.
 INTRODUCTION

Task can be done including :

 Land clearing
 Tillage and seedbed preparation
 Fertilizer application
 Broadcasting or drilling of seeds
 Transplanting
 Pest and disease control
 Weed control
 Harvesting
 In-field transport of the harvested crop
 INTRODUCTION

Advantage of using tillage equipment :

 Various types of farm work can be done
 Better quality of job can be obtained
 Various type of farm soil can be cultivated
 Working time can be reduced
 Working schedule at farm can be arranged and smoothly
done
 TILLAGE

 Defined as mechanical modification of soil structure

resulting in a soil tilth that is suitable for seed germination
and plant growth.

 Objective :
 Provide a suitable environment for seed germination
 Root growth, soil aeration, soil compaction
 Weed control / Destroy Weed
 Control Insect & Pest
 Bury Stubbles (remain of previous harvest)
 Moisture control
 Soil erosion control
 TILLAGE
Tillage machinery : Tools or implements used to do a
tillage job
 SEEDBED
 place where seeds germinate & nourish young plants
 must be firm to allow seed to come in contact with soil
particles to absorb moisture
 must be pourous to allow air to move, root
development, water movement
 water will not easily penetrate hard soil to get to roots
 SEEDBED CHARACTERISTICS
 if soil is too loose, rain will wash away young plants
 some soils have excess water

 oxygen is needed by roots

 plant residue on surface insulates, warms up slower,

also provides buffer against wind
 CULTIVATION

 Defined as an operation that requires some kind of tool

that will stir surface of the soil to a shallow depth in such
a manner that young weeds will be destroyed and crop
growth is promoted.

 Usually begins soon after the emergence of young

seedlings as weeds generally emerge about the same
time as the crop
 TILLAGE CLASSIFICATION

Primary Tillage
 Tillage applied to break the
compaction soil into soil clods.

Secondary Tillage
 Tillage applied to reduce the size of soil
aggregates and to level the soil
surface after done with primary tillage
 PRIMARY TILLAGE

 More aggressive, deeper operation and usually leaves

the surface rough

 Function :
 Loosen the soil structure
 Bury the plant waste
 Erosion control
 Preparation for secondary tillage
 Weed control
 Kill pests
 PRIMARY TILLAGE

Example of primary implements :

Moldboard Disc plough Rotary Tiller

Chisel plough Subsoiler or cultivator

 SECONDARY TILLAGE

 Works the soil to shallow depth

 Function :
 Break the soil clods
 Shatters the soil clods
 Level the soil surface
 Harrow the soil and plant waste (stubbles)
 Firm the soil
 Kill weeds and helps conserve moisture
 SECONDARY TILLAGE
 Example of secondary implements :
 Disc, spring tooth and spike tooth harrow
 SECONDARY TILLAGE
 Example of secondary implements :
 Spring and rigid tined cultivators
 SECONDARY TILLAGE
 Example of secondary implements :
 Roller pocket and roller harrows
 SECONDARY TILLAGE
 Example of secondary implements :
 Weed control implement
 CLASSIFICATION OF TILLAGE IMPLEMENTS
 Mounted implements
 Attached to the tractor by 3 point hitch linkages
 Implements can be raised or lowered by the
hydraulic system
 Example : A mounted 3 disc plough
 CLASSIFICATION OF TILLAGE IMPLEMENTS
 Semi-mounted implements
 Attached to the tractor 2 point or 3 point linkage and
these implements are normally provided with
wheels to help in better performance of the
machine
 Example : A seed drill – implement can be raised or
lowered
 CLASSIFICATION OF TILLAGE IMPLEMENTS
 Trailed implements
 Attached to the tractor’s drawbar and this cannot be
raised or lowered
 Implement trailed the tractor as it moves

 Implement are heavy and usually provided with

wheels for easy hitching to the back of tractor and
better stability
 Example : Trailed moldboard plough and trailer
DISC PLOW, ROTOVATOR, HARROW AND
RIDGERS.
 PLOW
 One of the oldest agriculture equipment and is
generally considered to be the most important
tillage tool

 It is used to cut, turn up and break up soil while

turning over weeds
 MOLDBOARD PLOW
 Mostly used for primary tillage in seedbed
preparation
 One way plow
 Design to turn the furrow slices only to the right
 MOLDBOARD PLOW
 Two way plow
 Has two sets of opposed bottoms that can be used
selectively
 MOLDBOARD PLOW
 All furrows can be turned toward the same side of
the field by using right hand bottoms for one
direction of travel and the left hand bottom on the
return

 Used for plowing irrigated lands since it eliminated

back furrows and dead furrows and leaves the field
nearly level
 DISC PLOW
 Disc plow was brought out in an effort to reduce
friction by making a rolling bottom instead of a
bottom that would slide along the furrow
 Consists of a series of individually mounted,
inclined disc blades on a frame supported by
wheels
 DISC PLOW
 Used when moldboard plow does not work satisfactorily
:
 Hard disc soils
 Stony fields
 Soils containing heavy roots
 Loose, push type soils and abrasive soil
 Built with heavy frame and wheels; in a hard dry soil, a disc
plow can be forced into ground by its weight
 ROTOVATOR
 A semi mounted implement that rests on its own
land skids when at work
 PTO drives a horizontal rotor in the same direction
as the drive wheels
 Knives mounted to flanges spaced regularly along
the rotor will cut away soil slices which are then
thrown backward and upward against a rear hood
 The impact will cause the soil slices to disintegrate
into fine aggregates
 ROTOVATOR
 The rotovator does not require the tractor to pull it
forward when it is at work
 The action of the rotovator is very severe and it
should not be used indiscriminately especially in
sand soil – it may lead to the loss of soil structure
ROTOVATOR
 DISC HARROW
 Function :
 Controlling weeds, cutting up and mixing stubble or
heavy crops with soil
 For primary tillage in orchards and vineyards as
well as in open fields
 Lighter units used in seedbed preparation
subsequent to plowing
 DISC HARROW
 Single Acting Disc Harrow
 Has two opposed gangs of disc blades, both
throwing dirt outward from the center of tilled strip
 DISC HARROW
 Tandem Disk Harrow
 Has two additional gangs that throw the dirt back
toward the center as second operation, thus tilling
the soil twice and leaving the field more level
 DISC HARROW
 Offset Disc Harrow
 Has one right hand gang (i.e: a gang that moves
the soil to the right) and one left hang gang,
operating in tandem
 CULTIVATOR
 There are many different combinations of frames
and tines (shovels)
 The common types are the standard rigid
cultivators (with or without spring), light or heavy
spring teeth and heavy coil spring
 Cultivator with tooth equipment is used for weed
controls, seedbed preparation and other secondary
tillage operations
CULTIVATOR
 CULTIVATOR
 Spike Tooth Harrow
 Used for finishing the seedbed by smoothing it and
breaking surface clods, particularly in mellow,
friable soil
 Effective in killing small weeds
 Covering broadcasted seeds
 Breaking crusts that have formed over newly
planted crops
SPIKE TOOTH HARROW
 CULTIVATOR
 Spring Tooth Harrow
 Has long curved teeth made from spring steel 6 -8
mm thick and usually 19 – 25 mm wide
 Used in rough or stony ground
 Useful for loosening and bringing roots of certain
obnoxious grasses and weeds to surface
 For bringing clods to surface for pulverization
SPRING TOOTH HARROW
 CULTIVATOR
 Ridgers
 Comes under field cultivators
 Use to make seedbeds, ridges and furrows for
planting a crop
 Double moldboard ridger or double disc ridger may
be used to form ridges or seedbed
 It should be driven at higher speed so that the soil
can be thrown put enough to form the ridge
 The ridging bodies can be adjusted to achieve
different spacing and bed width
 RIDGERS

Moldboard Ridger Disc Ridger

 RIDGERS
 Ridgers may also be mounted to a rotovator so that
ridging occurs immediately after rotovation
 Combining operations will save time, labour wages
and fuel consumption
TRANSPLANTER
 CONSERVATION TILLAGE
 The conventional tillage system is generally
discredited for increasing erosion risk, accelerating
organic matter decomposition, and deteriorating soil
structure. Therefore, conventional tillage is now
giving place to newer concepts of conservation
tillage in some regions of the world.
 conservation tillage as any tillage and planting
system in which at least 30 per cent of the soil
surface is covered by residue after planting in order
to reduce soil erosion by water. Crop residues left
on the soil surface reduce soil erosion and
conserve soil moisture.