Strip-till seeder for sugar beets

Abstract

Strip-till save costs by reducing tillage on the area of sugar beet rows only. The seeding system is characterized by a deep loosening of soil with a tine combined with a share and by following tools generating fine-grained soil as seed bed. In cooperation with the Kverneland company group Soest/Germany a strip tiller combined with precision seeder was designed and tested in field experiments. Tilling and seeding was performed in one path on fields with straw and mustard mulch. Even the plant development was slower as compared to conventional sawn sugar beets the yield was on equivalent level. Further field experiments are planned to attest constant yield, cost and energy efficiency of the seeding system.