Evaluation of the effects of no-tillage openers on maize: a field study

Abstract

The openers are the planter components that interact with soil and several researchers studied openers characteristics and behaviour in different conditions, but few explored the effects on crop emergence, growth and yield. The aim of this study is to evaluate and quantify any effects of openers on crop de-velopment and yield. The performance of three planters equipped with five different openers were compared on maize in a field test: double disc (DD), punch planter (PP), horizontal furrow with winged opener (HW), vertical furrow with winged opener (VW), vertical furrow with shank opener (SO). Seed spacing, depth, penetration resistance and plant emergences, root dry mass and yield were measured respectively on seeding slots and during crop development to evaluate openers effects. The results showed low variability in seed depth and spacing when DD and PP openers were used despite higher level of compaction on DD slot. High variability was found on maize plants when VW and HW openers were used. SO obtained relevantly lower yield in absolute value -35% (1.7 Mg ha-1) compared to other openers. However, the high variability observed in the different replicates and plant adaptability to stress conditions could explain the absence of significant differences in crop yield.

Keywords

• No-tillage
• planting
• punch planter
• double disc
• winged opener