Minimum Performance Standards of Tillage Implements

This article focuses on formulation of minimum performance standards (MPS) for tillage machinery such as rotavator, disc harrow and cultivator. The required minimum performance standard of different tillage machinery under sandy loam soil condition is discussed further in this paper and recommended in order to ensure availability of quality tillage machinery to the farmers. The minimum performance standards for minimum depth of cut, minimum depth of puddle, minimum area covered per meter working width, minimum field efficiency, maximum fuel consumption per meter working width, minimum puddling index and maximum PTO power requirement per meter working width is 6.50 cm, 14 cm, 0.23 ha h-1, 76%, 3.0 l h-1, 77% and 11 kW respectively. The minimum performance standards for minimum depth of cut, minimum area covered per meter of working width, minimum field efficiency, maximum fuel consumption per meter of working width, maximum draft per meter of working width and maximum drawbar power per meter of working width of disc harrow is 8 cm, 0.43 ha h-1, 70%, 3.0 l h-1, 213 kg-f and 4.0 kW respectively. Similarly, minimum performance of the cultivators were recommended based on the analysis of results of different parameters such as minimum depth of cut, minimum area covered per meter of working width, minimum field efficiency, maximum fuel consumption per meter of working width, maximum draft per meter of working width and maximum drawbar power per meter of working width is 9 cm, 0.41 ha h-1, 75%, 2.0 l h-1, 244 kg-f and 3.4 kW respectively. Along with the performance parameters, other requirements like safety, dimensions, label, material of construction and breakdowns are discussed and recommended.