Soil cultivation as a basis for the all next farmer’s actions is quite varied in its types, possibilities and methods. Often it depends not so much on the natural and soil properties of the field, the whole array, or “bank”, as it’s used to saying today. But it depends on the education particularity, experience and the desire to change, understand changes, and learn from those who are entrusted with such a responsible task.

Especially because tillage is one of the most cost-based, both on time and resources of methods of successful work on our own and virtually global benefactress.

The benefactress is certainly used to the ploughs, which variety is growing in the country’s fields. Thus manufacturers sometimes differ from each other only in color and the letters on the frame. It’s probably globalization… But now I’m going to leave this cultivation method, proven for centuries, to its supporters and try to talk about its “co-brother”, born on the fields, separated from us by oceans.

Strip-till was created as a strip tillage with the effect of preserving beneficial and necessary properties of the soil, as it’s written in 1990. In the country where people have always had restless, creative and rational approach to their work, to the tillage as well. Why should you keep a complete vertical mixing of the soil, when you can do it only in the zone of sowing crops?

Besides pretty significant layer of plant remains retained from last year’s harvest in the row-spacing. That will serve as a thermo screen to retain moisture and protect from humus washout by rain and wind erosion. This principle, polished for decades, has quite a considerable number of supporters and users, represented in the network.

The next property and benefit of strip-till I had to test myself in 2008 with the help of creative and restless engineers and mechanics from a small village in Sumy region. Best regards to Maliy Vystorop! Having read interesting things in the Internet, I got the idea to apply fertilizers by strip in the place of maize roots growing. In order to do this, the grain tank and cultivator for applying anhydrous ammonia were combined. One good specialisthelped to adjust the cultivator to apply dry fertilizers, who managed to offer the necessary adaptations set in few minutes.

The result was quite interesting and economically justified. It turns out that the reduction rate of the fertilizers using, applied in such a way, does not decrease the productivity. It is quite on the contrary. So another pretty useful property of strip-till has appeared. I think that 30-40% of savings on fertilizers are a substantial argument in the time of price volatility on the grain.

West farmers are not less creative in saving and proper using of time, strip-till machines and equipment. Moreover, in this case they try to combine the maximum possible number of operations. That brings the results or rather the dollars through the costs reduction.

Large number of companies contributes to the creation of such agricultural train except farmers’ keenness of wit and restlessness. These companies offer a set of working bodies, tanks and reservoirs for fertilizers and also devices for the management of their application, including differentiated rates. Of course such view and approach differs from the conventional method of tillage and requires knowledge with experience of changes. In addition, the work of our overseas colleagues has left a significant imprint on the hearts and minds of our engineers and managers. Their work is in the right photo. There is a serious group of companies with a well-trained specialists who have mastered this technology.

Strip-till system, developed over the ocean, was represented only by machines of American production. Hard and massive machines, designed for high loads, including installation on their sections of seeders and fertilizer tanks, are working in our fields successfully. There are also companies that produce working sections and bodies for installation on the existing frame. This approach is quite rational, because it allows to use existing machinery and not The company has offered farmers a very interesting principle of using one universal frame for seeding and strip-till. Using the quick-release locks of sections fixing on the frame, you can sow by one frame in spring and use strip-till in autumn. This frame is capable to carry up to 24 (!) sections for different purposes.

European manufacturers are taking steps persistently in the development of this prospective technology. This circumstance could be presented in exhibitions in Hanover and Brno. The European Union financing helps to develop important, interesting and promising researches conducted together with leading universities.

Especially because the low grain prices are pushing European farmers to more efficient methods of farming. For example, one of the first European striptill machines came from overseas oriented on the local consumer. Another group has also presented its unit, thus having confirmed its willingness and ability not to stand aside from agricultural progress. Several other slightly less well-known here companies and firms, although they could be found on the Agro 2016, also presented their work. Moreover, even with the applying of liquid manure, after the separation of the solid fraction by itself …

Almost all the machines have sections with a parallelogram suspension of working bodies, which leads to a good copy, but for the machines with the small catch it is not advisable, as the relief at such a rate is not so radical. Today the harrows with cultivators are quite wide and want to level off and do it. Obviously, due to this fact Czech producer with long-time experience of work in Ukraine presented its machine without independent section suspension of each row, which has a positive impact on the quality, reliability and cost of the unit.

The compactness of this mounted machine and simple and easy turns and fertilizers filling can allow to achieve good productivity.

In general, the method, described above, of the basic tillage with the preparation for sowing, and sometimes with the sowing, is cost-effective and beneficial to the environment. It also helps to reserve moisture and save the time during the spring work, in December (January) in picked corn fields. However, it requires knowledge and experience are not always able to correct the mistakes and failures of the previous operations. In addition, those who have studied the above-described method of tillage over the ocean, have to remember that before using the strip-till system the field should be loosen to the maximum depth of 60 cm and more. Why and how? I think I will tell you the next time …

 Oleg Prikhodko, an AgriLab expert in precision agriculture, head of the Bureau of technological advice.

Source: agroportal.ua