Impact of utilizing press wheels on the mechanical performance of tine and disc seeders under no-till farming conditions

Abstract

No-tillage farming is one of the most important agricultural approaches. It has been used to mitigate soil degradation in the cropping systems of Ninawa. Therefore, this study aims to assess the performance of two main seeders with and without press wheels in two different soil types. A field experiment was conducted during the winter agricultural season (2023 – 2024) at two sites within semi-guaranteed rainfall areas in an agricultural field in Tel-kaif district, Nineveh Governorate. The soil at the first site was characterized by a clay texture, and at the second site by a sandy texture. The field was cultivated using conservation agriculture (Zero-tillage) with two types of specialized seeders for conservation agriculture (tine and disc) for wheat cultivation. The experiment was a factorial design with three factors in a split-split plot design with three replicates. The main plots were allocated to soil type, while the sub-plots were for studying the effect of seeders, and the sub-sub-plots were for press wheels and their mechanical impact on draft force (kN), noise (dB), and vibration (Hz). The best values were achieved in sandy soil with the tine seeder without press wheels, where the lowest draft force value was (6.28) kN. Meanwhile, clay soil with the disc seeder without press wheels recorded the lowest noise and vibration values, respectively, at (89.80 dB) and (2.30 Hz).