Design, development and performance evaluation of rota drill

The rota drill was been designed to promote line sowing, ensure timely planting of wheat and to save fuel cost and energy because it takes only one pass of a tractor to complete the operation in the field. Agronomic data recorded during field testing with respect to germination count/m², number of tillers/m² and root development (cm) revealed that the rota drill performed better, produced 3.4 % higher germination, 28.3 % more tillers and 4.12 % higher root growth than the wheat grown through conventional methods. Weed infestation was also targeted significantly through this innovation and 36.72 % less weeds were recorded in rota drill wheat plots. The cost of planting wheat was calculated around US$ 8.17/ha. Thus, this cost of planting was 500 % less than conventional planting. The data pertaining to man-hour/ha also supported significant savings of 512 % less than the conventional planting.