Design, development and field evaluation of a tractor-operated ginger planter

Abstract

Ginger rhizome planting has been a challenge for farmers in India due to the lack of suitable machinery. Farmers continue to rely on traditional planting methods, which are time-consuming, labour-intensive, and associated with significant human drudgery and a high demand for manual labour. Major ginger-growing states often experience labour shortages during the sowing season. To address this challenge, a tractor-operated ginger planter was developed and tested at ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, for planting ginger seed rhizomes. The field tests revealed that cup size, speed, and ginger seed grades significantly influenced the performance of the developed planter. As the cup size increased, the percentage of multiples increased, while the percentage of missed seeds decreased. The highest quality of feed index was observed at the speed of 2 km/h with cup size A₂ for graded seeds. The developed ginger rhizome planter enables precise planting of seed rhizomes, with an effective field capacity of 0.25 ha/h and required 50 man-h/ha. The labour requirement is reduced by 76% (11 times) compared to conventional planting methods. Furthermore, the developed planter cuts operational costs by 40% and significantly reduces the human drudgery involved in ginger planting operations.