Farm Power And Machinery (1+1)

Potato planter

• Planting equipment for commercial crop like Potatoes were considered essential due to excessive labour requirements in traditional methods of planting these tubers and, therefore, few machines have been developed and commercialised.
• Potato tubers are planted either on flat bed or on ridgers or in small furrows depending upon the soil types and moisture content of soils. While planting potato tubers on flats or in furrows, the ridging operation is carried out at later dates.
  
• In improved method of potato planting, fertilizers are placed at the time of planting at a depth greater than that of the tubers. An improved potato planter cum fertilizer applicator is meant for drilling the fertilizer, dropping of tubers on flat surface and subsequently covering those with soils making a small ridge in one operation.
  
• However, the machine has not become a commercial unit for a wide spread acceptance.
• Tractor operated potato planter-cum-cultivator is a commercial machine. It is used for planting tubers with 60 cm spacing of rows. However, the plant to plant spacing can be adjusted between 20 and 45 cm distance.
  
• The graded tubers of 2.5 to 4 cm size weighing 50-60 gm each are suitable for machine planting. By removing the hopper, the furrow opener and power transmitting mechanism, the machines suits well for earthing operations. Ridgers are so adjusted that earthing operation suits the row spacing.