Farm Tools, Implements and Conservation Structures
Farm Tools, Implements and Conservation Structures tests what each implement does, how draft and power relate, and which structure is placed where in a gully or on a slope.
Tillage implements
- Primary: desi plough, mouldboard plough, disc plough - they cut and invert soil.
- Secondary: disc harrow, cultivator, rotavator, leveller, bund former, ridge maker.
- Seeding and spraying: seed drill, planter, knapsack sprayer; threshers and pumps run on tractor PTO or engines.
- Draft is the horizontal pull; power = draft × speed.
Conservation structures
- Contour bund, graded bund and bench terrace control runoff on slopes.
- Gully control: check dams, gabion structures, earthen plugs, drop structures and spillways; grassed waterways carry surplus safely.
- Farm ponds and silt-detention tanks trap sediment and store water; retaining walls hold steep cut slopes.
Worked example
A cultivator 30 cm wide works 15 cm deep in soil with specific draft 0.5 kg/cm². Draft = 0.5 × 30 × 15 = 225 kg. At 1.2 m/s forward speed, power = 225 × 1.2/75 ≈ 3.6 hp. Reasoning: specific draft times the soil cross-section gives pull; dividing by 75 converts kg·m/s to horsepower.
Traps
Confusing draft with power; placing a check dam along a gully instead of across it; forgetting the spillway, so the structure overtops; using a rotavator as a primary plough in hard, dry soil.