Is kalmegh sowing possible with seed drill?

[puneetsingh30]

Hello Friends

Is direct seeding of kalmegh seeds possible by tractor driven seed drill? What do you think? Can we manage sowing application in 30-30 cm distant lines using seed drill machine with variable seed rate followed by thinning operation to maintain desirable planting geometry? Would it increase seed application rate?

I hope this would be very time saving and labour cost reducing, if possible.

Waiting to hear your views and experiences towards this.

Puneet
Gurgaon

 

[vmap]

better way

Hello sir,

Generally kalmeg seed sowing is done in broadcasting methos.You need not to go for using seed drill.It is time waste and fuel waste and does not work-out

thank you
vmap

 

[puneetsingh30]

Thanks VMAP!

Hi VMAP.

Thanks for involving in discussion started by me. I think use of seed drill may be money and time saving in terms labour because after planting with seed drill we do not need thinning and also less labour is required for weeding.

In broadcasting technique, these two aforesaid operations involve higher cost required. If you say there is no need for thinning or weeding it will definitely affect the yield, I believe.

What do you say about transplanting technique from nursery. It can also save cost of thinning and weeding as transplanting is done in lines. However, labour for transplanting is itself is a big concern.

Finally, I think among these 3 techniques, planting through seed drill should be better. However, I not sure about seed application rate required per unit area. By the way, some farm machinary companies have already launched MULTI CROP PLANTER, which I think may be helpful after calibration for kalmegh seed.

I shall appreciate your views on my above said points. As you are already in process of R & D, dont you think this would be matter to think.

Regards
Puneet

 

[pioneeragri]

Very good discussion......

Hello Puneet

wonderful thought...i always welcome this kind of discussions. actually, we have already tried for kalmegh and ashwangandha planting with both wheat seed drill (after calibrating seed drill for seed application rate with the help of following given formula) and multi crop planter and even we are continuously doing experiments on this and trying to standardized the technique. It would take some time.

Seed drill calibration

If, (b) X (r) X (n) = P

and, w X 10,000 = Q

Then, Seed application rate (kg/ha) = Q / P

Where, b = Maximum of with of seed drill
r = Circumference of drill wheel
n = No. of rotations
w = Weight of total seed drawn in above operation

We are also trying to calibrate this formula with tractor speed and time taken in seeding per unit area but it is still under research.

In case of multi crop planter, i would like to mention that it doesnt work very effectively for all seeds and needs higher degree of calibration. Even for large sized seeds like maize, we couldnt succeed for effective sowing as the rotar disk throws seed out of disk and sometimes jams. We have asked the manufacturing company for it's better calibration and on site demonstration.

Out of mentioned 3 methods of kalmegh sowing, broadcasting is widely used technique among small scale farmers and they do not prefer weeding. However, we also believe that planting through nursery is, no doubt, better option.

I will be waiting to hear more views and suggestions....

Ubaid Khan
Pioneer Aromatics & Agri Solutions
Lucknow

 

[akpandey10]

Kalmegh seeds sowing

Kalmegh seeds are very small in size and if they go deep in the soil may not germinate. Moreover, the destribution of seeds may not be even.

 

[pioneeragri]

Depth is manageable......

You are absolutely right Mr Pandey. However, two farm machinary companies from Punjab have assured us that their multi crop planter can place the seeds (mustard, kalmegh etc.) at desired depth. We have to see their demonstration this week. Let's see what happens.