Tillage and Primary Tillage Implements

TILLAGE
Dr. Ajay Singh Lodhi
Assistant Professor
College of Agriculture, Balaghat
Jawahar Lal Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur (M.P.)

TILLAGE
Tillage It is a mechanical manipulation of soil to provide favourable condition for crop
production.
Soil tillage consists of breaking the compact surface of earth to a certain depth and to
loosen the soil mass, so as to enable the roots of the crops to penetrate and spread into the
soil.
Tillage may be called the practice of modifying the state of soil to provide favourable
conditions for plant growth.
Tillage operation is most labour consuming and difficult operation, compared to all
subsequent operation in the field.

TILLAGE
Objectives of tillage
 To obtain deep seed bed, suitable for different type of crops.
 To add more humus and fertility to soil by covering the vegetation.
 To destroy and prevent weeds.
 To aerate the soil for proper growth of crops.
 To increase water absorbing capacity of the soil.
 To destroy the insects, pests and their breeding places and
 To reduce the soil erosion.

PLOUGHING
Plough:
Why plowing is done?
To obtain a deep seed bed for good structure
To add more humus and fertility to the soil by covering, vegetation and minerals.
To destroy weeds.
To leave the soil in a condition to breath or allow the air to circulate freely.
To facilitate the introduction of seed in the soil with better contact.
To destroy insects and their eggs along with their breeding places.
To leave the surface in the condition to prevent erosion by wind
To get greater root protection.

PLOUGHING
Plough:
When to plow?
Early plowing during rainy season reduces weeds. When buried in soil work it becomes
manure and is of great importance.
In our country there are high winds which bring with them considerable amount of dust
with particles of grass, leaves, crop residue like Straw (bhusa) and all sort of vegetation
which settle on ploughed, rough, cloddy surface of field which otherwise get blown off.
In a long period of dry and hot weather a good amount of nitrogen is built up in the air and
this is caught by first rainfall and brought to the soil. In case the field is ploughed this rain
water with nitrogen gets absorbed in loose soil hence works as fertilizer.

PLOUGHING
Ploughing of land separates the top layer of soil into furrow slices. The furrows are turned
sideways and inverted to a varying degree, depending upon the type of plough being used.
 It is a primary tillage operation, which is performed to shatter soil uniformly with partial or
complete soil inversion.
Furrow Terminologies
Furrow: It is a trench formed by an implement in the soil
during the field operation
Furrow slice: The mass of soil cut, lifted and thrown to
one side is called furrow slice.
Furrow wall: It is an undisturbed soil surface by the side
of a furrow.
Crown: The top portion of the turned furrow slice is called
crown.

Back furrow: A raised ridge left at the centre of the strip of
land when ploughing is started from centre to side is called
back furrow. When the ploughing is started in the middle of
a field, furrow is collected across the field and while
returning trip another furrow slice is lapped over the first
furrow. This is the raised ridge which is named as back
furrow .
Dead furrow: An open trench left in between two adjacent
strips of land after finishing ploughing is called dead furrow.
Head land: While ploughing a land with a tractor a strip of
unploughed land is left at each end of the field for the tractor
to turn, which is called head land. At the end of each trip, the
plough is lifted until the tractor and the plough have turned
and are in position to start the return trip. The head land is
about 6 meters wide for two or three bottom tractor plough
and one meter more for each additional bottom.

METHODS OF PLOUGHING
In order to provide furrows at all times on the right
hand side of the plough, two method of working are
used called Gathering and Casting.
Gathering - Whenever a plough works round a
strip of ploughed land, it is said to be gathering.
Casting- Whenever a plough works round a strip of
unploughed land, it is said to be casting.
Ploughing of a field by casting or gathering alone is
normally uneconomical. The following are a few
important methods used in tractor ploughing.
Gathering
Casting

It is recommended that long field should be ploughed by gathering in one season and casting
in another season. It avoids building up of a ridge in the centre and an open furrow at each
side or vice versa. However, ploughing of a field either by casting or by gathering alone is
normally uneconomical. For economical ploughing the following methods are used.
a) Continuous ploughing method
In normal conditions, the continuous
ploughing method is considered very
convenient and economical.
This is a method usually used in which the
tractor and plough never run idle for more than
three quarter land width along the headland and
never turn in a space narrower than a quarter
land width.
In this method, first the headland is marked
and the first ridge is set up at three quarter of a
land width from the side.

The other ridges are set at full width over the field.
The operator starts ploughing between the first ridge and the side
land.
The operator continues to turn left and cast in the three quarter
land until ploughing is completed in a quarter land width on each
side.
 At this stage, the plough is lifted to half depth for the last trip
down the side land of the field. This leaves a shallow furrow where
the finish comes.
After this, the driver turns right and gathers round the land
already ploughed on the first ridge. Gathering is continued till the
un-ploughed strip in first three-quarter land has been ploughed and
completed. This gathering reduces the first full land by a quarter.
The remaining three quarter land can be treated in exactly the same
manner as the original three quarter land. This process is repeated
for all other lands in the field.

Round and round ploughing
In this method, the plough moves round and round a field. This system is adopted under
conditions where ridges and furrows interfere with cultivation work. The field can be
started various ways as follows:
Starting at the center: Small plot is marked in the middle of field and plowed first.
After that plow works round this small plot and entire plot is completed. This is not very
economical method.
Starting at outer ends: Tractor starts ploughing at one side of field and then moves on
all sides of plot and comes gradually from sides to the center of field. Wide diagonals are
left unplowed to avoid turning with the plough. There are no back furrows in this method.
Conventional ploughing is usually done by this method.
270o turns from boundaries or centers.

CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF TILLAGE
Tillage is divided into two classes: 1. Primary tillage, and 2. Secondary tillage
Primary tillage:
It constitutes the initial major soil working operation. It is normally designed to reduce soil
strength, cover plant materials, and rearrange aggregates.
The operations performed to open up any cultivable land with a view to prepare a
seed bed for growing crops in known as Primary tillage.
Implements may be tractor drawn or animal drawn implements.
Animal drawn implements mostly include indigenous plough and mould-board plough.
 Tractor drawn implements include mould-board plough, disc plough, subsoil plough, chisel
plough and other similar implements.

CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF TILLAGE
Secondary tillage:
Tillage operations following primary tillage which are performed to crease proper soil
tilth for seeding and planting are Secondary tillage.
These are lighter and finer operations, performed on the soil after primary tillage
operations.
Secondary tillage consists of conditioning the soil to meet the different tillage objectives of
the farm.
The implements used for secondary tillage operations are called Secondary tillage
implements. They include different types of harrow, cultivators, levellers, cited crushers and
similar implements. These operations are generally done on the surface soil of the farm.
 Secondary tillage operations do not cause much soil inversion and shifting of soil from one
place to other. These operations consume less power per unit area compared to primary
tillage operations. Secondary tillage implements may be tractor drawn or bullock drawn
implements. Bullock drawn implements include harrows, cultivators, hoes etc.

PRIMARY TILLAGE IMPLEMENTS
Indigenous Plough
Indigenous plough is one of the most common
implements used by Indian farmers.
There are about 40 or more different types of
indigenous ploughs in this country which are
basically the same, but with variations in their
shape, size and weight. These variations are due
to soil types and tillage requirements of various
crops.
In addition to ploughing, the plough is used for
sowing crops like wheat, barley, gram etc., for
interculture and for harvesting the underground
part of crops.
Animal drawn Indigenous plough

Indigenous Plough
It penetrates into the soil and breaks it open.
It forms V shaped furrows with 15-20 cm top width and 12-15 cm depth.
It can be used for ploughing in dry land, garden land and wetlands.
The size of the plough is represented by the width of the body and the field capacity is
around 0.4 ha per day of 8 hours.
The functional components include share, body, shoe, handle and beam.
Except share all other parts are made up of wood.
In villages local artisans make the plough and supply to the farmers.
These ploughs are also called as country ploughs

Indigenous Plough
Share - It is the working part of the plough attached to the
shoe with which it penetrates into the soil and breaks it
open.
Shoe - It supports and stabilizes the plough at the required
depth.
Body - It is the main part of the plough to which the shoe,
beam and handle are attached. In country ploughs both body
and shoe are made in a single piece of wood.
Beam - It is a long wooden piece, which connects the main
body of the plough to the yoke.
Handle - A wooden piece vertically attached to the body to
enable the operator to control the plough while it is working

Ploughing by Indigenous Plough
When the plough is pulled forward, the shoe and share enter the soil and separate the
furrow slice from the main body of the soil. A portion of the soil rides over the shoe, but
the larger portion is pushed aside to both sides.
After the plough has moved ahead leaving the furrow behind, some of the cut soil falls
back into the furrow. It has been observed that an indigenous plough cuts a trapezoidal
furrow cross section and leaves some unploughed land between the two adjacent furrows.
To plough almost every bit of soil in the field, an indigenous plough has to be used three
times. This is the main reason for the high energy and time requirements in using an
indigenous plough as compared to other types.
For complete and through ploughing of a field, the indigenous plough must be operated
three times: first ploughing, then cross ploughing and finally ploughing along the corners.

Mouldboard Plough
A mould board plough is very common
implement used for primary tillage operations.
The plough performs several functions at a time.
Functions of M.B. Plough:
Cutting the furrow slice,
Lifting soil,
Turnings furrow slice and
Pulverizing soil. Mould Board plough

M. B. Plough : Components of mould board plough
A mould board plough consists of the different parts like Share, Mould
board, Land side, Frog and Tail piece.
Share: It is that part of the plough bottom which penetrates into the soil
and makes a horizontal cut below the surface.
Mould board - It is the curved part which lifts and turns the furrow
slice.
Land side - Landside is the part of the plough bottom, which slides
along the furrow wall, providing stability against tilting sideways, due to
soil pressure acting on the mould board. It also helps in stabilizing the
plough while in operation.
Frog - Frog is the part of the plough bottom to which the share, mould
board and land side are attached rigidly.
Tail piece - It is an adjustable extension, which can be fastened to the
rear of a mould board to help in turning a furrow slice.

M. B. Plough Components: Share
It is the part of the plough bottom, that penetrates into the soil and cut the soil
in horizontal direction below the soil surface is called share. It is a sharp, well
polished and pointed component.
Different portions of the share are called by different names such as (i) share
point, (ii) cutting edge, (iii) wing of the share (iv) gunnel (v) cleavage edge.
The forward end of the cutting edge which actually penetrates into the soil is
called share point.
The front edge of the share which makes horizontal cut in the soil is called
cutting edge if the share.
The outer end of the cutting edge of the share is called wing of the share. It
supports the plough bottom.
The vertical face of the share which slides along the furrow well is called
gunnel. It takes the side thrust of the soil and supports the plough bottom
against the furrow wall.

M. B. Plough : Types of share
Share is of different such as (a) slip share (b) slip nose
share (c) shin share (d) bar share and (e) bar point share.
Slip share: it is one piece with curved cutting edge
having no additional part. It is a common type of share,
mostly used by the farmers. It is simple in design, but it
has got the disadvantage that the entire share has to be
replaced if it is worn out due to constant use.
Slip nose share: it is a share in which the point of the
share is provided by a small detachable piece. It has the
advantage that the share point can be replaced as and
when required . If the point is worn out, it can be changed
without replacing the entire share, effecting considerable
economy.

M. B. Plough : Types of share
Shin share: It is a share, having a shin as an additional part. It is
similar to the slip share with the difference that an extension is
provided to fit by the side of the mould board. This prevents the
mould board from wearing along its cutting edge.
Bar share: It is provided with an extension on its gunnel side
which acts as the landside of the plough bottom. It does not offer
any advantage over the other types.
Bar point share: It is a share, in which the point of the share is
provided by an adjustable and replaceable bar. This bar serves the
purpose of point of the share and landside of the plough. As the
point wears out, it is pushed forward.

M. B. Plough : Mould Board
Mould board is the part of the plough, which receives the furrow slice from the share, it
lifted, turns and breaks the furrow slice.
 Different soil conditions require mould boards of varying shapes and sizes to carryout a
good job of ploughing. The texture of the soil, amount of moisture and extent of vegetative
cover on the surface determine the soil pulverization.
The pulverization and inversion depend upon the curvature of the mould board.
The mould board is of following types:
General purpose
Stubble
Sod and breaker
Slat and
High speed.

M. B. Plough : Types of Mould Board
General purpose mould board: It is the best for all round
general farm use to give through pulverization. It is a mould board
having medium curvature lying between stubble and sod. The
sloping of the surface is gradual. It turns the well-defined furrow
slice and pulverizes the soil thoroughly. It has a fairly long mould
board with a gradual twist, the surface being slightly convex.
Stubble mould board: It is adopted for ploughing an old ground
where good pulverization is desired. Its curvature is not gradual,
but it is abrupt along the top edge. This causes the furrow slice to
be thrown off quickly, pulverization is much better than the other
type of mould board. It is best suited in stubble soil i.e. under
cultivation for years together. This type of mould board is not
suitable for lands with full of grasses.

M. B. Plough : Types of Mould Board
Sod and breaker type mould board: It is a long mould board
with gentle curvature which lifts and inverts the furrow slice. It is
used in tough soils of grasses. It turns over thickly covered soil.
This is very useful where complete inversion of soil is required by
the farmer. This type has been designed for use in sod soils.
Slat type mould board: It is a mould board whose surface is
made of slats placed along the length of the mould board, so that
there are gaps between the slats. This type of mould board is often
used, where the soil is sticky, because the solid mould board does
not score well in sticky soils.
High speed type mould board: Most of the high speed bottoms
are used on tractor ploughs for general farm use.

M. B. Plough : Plough accessories
There are few accessories are necessary for plough such as: (a) coulter, (ii) jointer and (iii) gauge
wheel
Coulter is a small disc provided in front of the share. It cuts the soil vertically from the land
ahead of the share point and leaves a clear furrow wall. It also cuts trashes covered under the
soil.
Jointer is a small piece of metal and looks like a miniature plough bottom. Its main function is
to cut and turn a small ribbon like furrow slice directly in front of the main plough bottom.
Gauge wheel or depth control wheel is provided to maintain uniform depth. It is mostly used
when working in extreme variable ploughing condition.

Disc Plough:
Disc plough cuts, turns and in some cases breaks furrow slices by means of separately
mounted large steel concave discs. A disc plough is designed with a view to reduce friction
by making a rolling plough bottom instead of sliding plough bottom as in the case of mould
board plough. A disc plough works well in the conditions where mould board plough does
not work satisfactorily.

Disc Plough: Advantages
The soil which is too hard and dry for ploughing with m.b. plough can be ploughed to
required depth by disk plough.
It works well in sticky soils than m.b. plough.
It is more useful for deep ploughing.
It can be used safely in stony and stumpy soil without much danger of breakage.
It works well in loose soils also without much clogging.
Disc Plough: Disadvantages
It is not suitable for covering surface trash and weeds as effectively as a mouldboard plough.
It leaves soil more in rough and cloddy conditions.
It is much heavier than m.b. plough for equal capacities

Disc Plough: Terms Connected with Disk Plough
Disc: It is a circular, concave revolving steel plate used for cutting
and inverting the soil. It is made of heat treated steel of 5 to 10 mm
thickness. The edge of the disc is well sharpened to cut the soil.
Disc angle: It is the angle at which the plane of the cutting edge of
the disc is inclined to the direction of travel. Usually, the disc
angle of good plough varies between 42 and 45o.
Tilt angle: It is the angle at which the plane of the cutting edge of
the disc is inclined to vertical plane. Usually, the tilt angle of good
plough varies between 15 and 25o.
Scraper: It is a device to remove soil that tends to stick to the
working surface of a disc.
Concavity: It is the depth measured at the center of the disc by
placing its concave side on a flat surface.

DISC PLOUGH:
Disc ploughs are favoured in areas where the climate is dry and where the soil is rough and
stony.
They also work well in heavy clay, hard pan and loose sandy soils. Such soil conditions do
not permit the operation of mould board ploughs to good advantage.
It is also preferred for land infested with heavy growth of vegetation and for land requiring
deep ploughing for reclamation purposes. It leaves the trash on top of the ground to conserve
soil moisture.
Penetration of the disc plough depends mainly on the weight of the plough as a whole.
Tractor drawn disk ploughs weigh between 180 and 540 kg per disk. But the animal drawn
plough weighs about 30 kg per disk.

DISC PLOUGH: Types of Disc Plough
Standard Disc Plough - Animal Drawn
It is attached to a universal frame which is mounted on two wheels.
The frame is pulled by a pair of bullocks and it is provided with a seat for the operator.
There is only one disk blade on these ploughs and it can be tilted back ward from 15 to 25o
(tilt angle) in the vertical plane.
It also makes an angle of about 45o (disk angle) with the direction of motion.
The diameter of the disk is 45 cm.
A rear furrow wheel provided with the plough takes care of the side thrust of the plough.

Standard Disc Plough - Tractor Drawn
It consists of one to seven disk blades which have the
same tilt and disk angles as the animal drawn plough.
The diameter of the disk blades varies between 60
and 90 cm.
The perfectly round concave steel disks sharpened on
the edges are bolted to the cast iron supports which
are individually suspended from the main frame.
Taper roller bearings or thrust type ball bearings are
used on the ploughs.
These ploughs are provided with a front furrow
wheel, a rear furrow wheel and a land wheel.

Standard Disc Plough - Tractor Drawn
There are also provided with depth adjusting levers, drag links and scrapers on the plough.
 When the plough is pulled forward, the individual disk rotates on its own axis.
The furrow slice rides along the curvature and is pulverized to some extent.
In order to cut a deeper furrow slice, the tilt angle of the disk is reduced. The other method of
increasing the penetration is by adding weights to the plough frame.
 If the soil condition is favourable, the tilt angle should be increased to achieve better turning
of the furrow slice.
If the soil condition is not favourable, the disk angle should be increased to improve the
penetration, but the width of cut should be reduced

DISC PLOUGH: Types of Disc Plough:
Vertical Disc Plough
It is known as harrow plough or one way
disc plough. Its action is intermediate
between regular disc plough and disc
harrow.
It is similar to standard disk plough, major
difference is that, all the disk blades are
mounted on a common axle and they rotate
as one unit.
The diameter and curvature of the
individual disk of the plough is slightly
smaller.

DISC PLOUGH: Types of Disc Plough: Vertical Disc Plough
All the disks are fixed to throw the furrow slice is only one direction. It may have 2 to 32
disks, spaced about 20 to 25 cm apart on a gang.
These are used for shallow ploughing and are preferred in wheat growing areas, where
moisture conservation for winter crops is the main objective.
Diameter of the disk varies between 50 and 65 cm and the disk angle ranges from 40 to 45o.
 Disc angle of 40 to 45° gives the minimum draft for a given width of cut.

ROTARY PLOUGH or ROTARY TILLERS:
The rotary cultivator is widely considered to be the
most important tool as it provides fine degree of
pulverization enabling the necessary rapid and
intimate mixing of soil besides reduction in traction
demanded by the tractor driving wheels due to the
ability of the soil working blades to provide some
forward thrust to the cultivating outfit.
The functional components include tynes, rotor,
transmission system, universal joint, leveling board,
shield, depth control arrangement, clutch and three
point linkage connection Rotary tiller is directly
mounted to the tractor with the help of three point
linkage.

ROTARY PLOUGH or ROTARY TILLERS:
The power is transmitted from the tractor PTO (Power Take Off) shaft to a bevel gear box
mounted on the top of the unit, through telescopic shaft and universal joint.
From the bevel gear box the drive is further transmitted to a power shaft, chain and sprocket
transmission system to the rotor.
The tynes are fixed to the rotor and the rotor with tynes revolves in the same direction as the
tractor wheels. The number of tynes varies from 28 - 54.
A leveling board is attached to the rear side of the unit for leveling the tilled soil.
A depth control lever with depth wheel provided on either side of the unit ensures proper
depth control.

Tillage and Primary Tillage Implements

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