MODERNIZATION OF THE COMB-FORMING MACHINE FOR POTATO CULTIVATION

The conditions for watering potatoes when cultivating them on ridges have been tested and justified. The KG-2.8 ridge former cultivator was modernized to form a ridge of the specified parameters. In addition to the ridge-forming cultivator, a groove former was installed on each row to form a groove on the upper part of the ridge of a trapezoidal shape, capable of effectively retaining water during irrigation or rain and wetting the entire volume of the ridge. The groove maker has a trapezoidal roller, which is made with the ability to remove and install it on the ridge former body along the axis of the row of planted potatoes. It has been established that with the traditional shape of the ridge, when watering potatoes at an air temperature of more than 300C, intense drying of the soil occurs due to the fact that a significant part of the water simply flows into the aisle and does not have time to completely wet it. And after it begins to flow down the rows, watering is stopped. This drying leads to the fact that soil moisture after irrigation at a rate of 250 m3/ha in the area where the root system and potato tubers are located decreases in 4-5 days to a maximum humidity of 20%, at which the growth of tubers stops. It has been established that the use of a groove former together with a ridge former makes it possible to create conditions for the accumulation of water in a groove on the ridge and its subsequent filtration inside, to prevent the flow of water between rows and to create conditions for the exclusion of water runoff. Intensive wetting of the entire volume of soil in the ridge allows you to increase its drying time to 8 days, which will significantly reduce costs.