Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

The operations performed in the field after sowing but before harvesting of crop are termed as intercultural operations. Interculture is described as breaking the upper surface of soil, uprooting the weeds (unwanted plants), aerating the soil, thereby promoting the activities of microorganism and making good mulch, so that moisture inside the field is properly retained from evaporation. These operations are accomplished by means of many tools and implements, such as hoes, rotary offset tillers, offset harrows, cultivators, rotary hoes etc. Performances evaluation of different intercultural implements is essential to assess their adoptability and suitability to farmers for better production and profit. Therefore, numbers of research papers were reviewed to assess their suitability for adoption by farmers. The study concluded that rotary offset tiller was found to be the most suitable intercultural implement because of efficient performance due to less draft requirement (1086 N), less fuel consumption (3.5 l/h), high degree of pulverization (45 mm), high residue incorporation (92.27 %), lower field capacity (0.43 ha/h) and higher field performance index (80 %) as compared to others.