Conservation Agriculture

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Comment by Mike Donovan on May 29, 2009 at 10:35am

Making your own ox drawn no-till planter shouldn't pose too many problems Yugi. It's the simplest and most direct way to go about it. You will an axle and chain drive to the seed distributor which you can probably source from a commercial machine. A tine and/or disc to open the ground, for the number of rows you want to plant.
If you would like more detail, please get back to me, as I can contact a design engineer who might be able to help with drawings.
Building machinery on the spot saves the huge expense of transport, marketing and other costs which are all bundled into the price of the new machine. Plus, it provides economic activity in the area, builds skills and creates wealth.
good luck, and come back to me if this sounds interesting.

Comment by Jeff Esdaile on May 29, 2009 at 8:38am

Yuji,
I have not come across any no till planter for animal traction in Southeast Asia.
The research and development I have conducted has all been with Two wheel tractor (power tiller)
There are several manufacturers in South America (mainly Brazil). They are:
http://www.fitarelli.com.br/
http://www.tritonmaquinas.com.br/index2.php?id=005_4
There may be others who do not have websites.
There is a database that has been made up by FAO. Have a look at:
http://www.fao.org/ag/catd/index.jsp
However I do not know whether it is up to date.
There are quite a few animal traction planters in India, but they are not specifically for no tillage.
The FAO database lists one manufacturer in Zimbabwe. however I do not whether it is operational due to the political situation there.
other members may know of animal traction no till planters in Asia.
Jeff Esdaile

Comment by Yuji Niino on May 29, 2009 at 7:38am

We are looking for no-till planter with animal traction. Any manufacturer in Southeast Asia?
Yuji

Comment by Jeff Esdaile on May 18, 2009 at 5:29am

Victor,
You are correct. There is no turnover ploughing in conservation farming. Your farmers are doing a good job planting corn (maize) directly into the wheat residues without any tillage.
However the next step is to plant the next spring crop ( whether wheat or any other species) into the corn stalks without any tillage. The turn over plough is not required, and any weeds in amongst the corn stalks are also controlled by herbicides.
However the farmer requires a seed drill with excellent residue handling ability to plant wheat in narrow rows, without the corn stalks plugging the seed drill.
It is being done in other parts of the world, and I encourage your Chinese farmer colleagues to try this procedure as well.

Comment by Victor Chen on May 18, 2009 at 5:07am

Dear Jeff,

I have understand some of your meanings. Frankly speaking,in China.we also do like that(don't plow and keep the soil unupturned ).And the season is that when we finished harvesting the wheat and then plant the corn(you will find a drill seeder used to plant corn). During that period,we do not plow the soil. Also we control weeds by herbicides.
However,we plow the soil in Spring,while we are in preparation in planting wheat.
Also I attach a turn over plough for your reference.

Thanks,
Victor

Comment by Victor Chen on May 13, 2009 at 4:21am

Check the combine harvester,which is widely used.

Comment by Jeff Esdaile on April 29, 2009 at 9:02am

Victor,
This is a big subject. However I will attempt to summarise it.
Traditionally, farmers all over the world have plowed the land in preparation for planting a crop. When land is plowed, the soil is inverted (turned over) so all of the old crop residue and other plant material is buried. The farmer then has a bare soil, which is loose on the top.
This bare soil is now very susceptible to erosion by water or by wind, and the soil then moves from the field into the river system (in the case of water erosion), or blows away in the wind and makes dust storms (in the case of wind erosion).
This causes enormous problems for everyone. I guess you may have seen dust storms from plowing in Northern China.
As well as the rainfall running off the bare soil with traditional plowing, the water that soaks in may soon evaporate into the air, and is lost for growing crops.
With conservation farming, the farmer does not plow the soil to prepare to sow a crop. The soil is as much as possible left undisturbed. The weeds are controlled by other means (mainly herbicides) and as much as possible the old crop residues are retained on the soil surface.
The farmer then has a soil which is covered in residue, and the topsoil is not loose any more.
The farmer now must plant into this soil which is very different to the traditionally plowed soil. Specialised seed drills are required. Also as no plowing any more then a plow may not be needed at all, except in exceptional circumstances.
Overall this farming system is much more environmentally friendly than the traditional system. However it is more difficult to farm this way.
I could go on for a long time on this subject. However sufficient to say that the plow is not the major farming implement any more in conservation farming systems.
If you visited Beijing Agricultural University I am sure they could inform you of the valuable research work being done with conservation agriculture in many parts of China.

Comment by Victor Chen on April 29, 2009 at 8:16am

Dear Jeff,

Frankly,I cannot understand fully about the conservation agriculture.What is the different between tranditional agriculture and conservation agriculture.Since our company is a manufacturer of power tiller and walking tractor,I need to know a little more details about it.
Thanks,
Victor

Comment by Jeff Esdaile on April 23, 2009 at 9:43pm

Naser,
Thanks for the interest. Right now (April 2009) there are 90 million hectares of conservation agriculture around the world. As the title of this section of the the forum says "no soil turning/plowing, maintenance of permanent vegetative soil cover, and rotation of crops."
In my opinion concentrate mainly on sweep tillage where the soil is not inverted, spraying technology, and design of seed drills that will handle residues and firm soils.

Comment by naser on April 23, 2009 at 5:42pm

i am working in tillage machinery research institute

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