Performance evaluation of the straw Push-through assembly attached to no-till drill under various paddy residue conditions

A straw push-through assembly has been designed and developed which could work satisfactorily in conjunction with the no-till drill in combine harvested paddy fields. Performance evaluation of the machine was conducted for three linear speeds of the straw push-through assembly under three different paddy residue conditions, i.e. chopped paddy residue conditions (S₁), spread loose straw conditions (S₂) and loose straw left undisturbed (S₃). Straw accumulation was significantly less for, 2.2 m/s linear speed of the chain. The straw accumulation was significantly reduced in all paddy residue conditions as compared to no-till drill without straw-push through assembly; still the straw accumulation was high in spread loose straw conditions (S₂) and loose straw left undisturbed in the field (S₃). The difference in grain yield for wheat crop was found to be non-significant for all experimental treatments. The direct drilling of wheat in combine-harvested field can be done easily by the new machine as the main operational problem of straw accumulation was reduced significantly.