Optimization of Happy Seeder Performance Parameters for Wheat Sowing under Anchored Stubble

Abstract

Rice straw, the leftover residue after harvesting paddy, has become a growing problem for farmers and the environment. Due to the short turnaround time between rice harvesting and wheat sowing, farmers burn the straw in their fields to save time and labor. The happy seeder, allows sowing of wheat directly into rice residues without burning them and offers a sustainable solution to tackle the widespread problem of residue burning. However, its large-scale adoption remains limited beyond northern India., primarily due to the prevalence of small landholdings with low farm power availability. To address these limitations, this study investigated the field performance of a modified happy seeder (HS2) equipped with double-disc furrow openers and compared it with the conventional happy seeder (HS1) having inverted T-type openers at Mondouri teaching farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal during the rabi season of 2023-24. Both implements were assessed for direct wheat sowing in combine-harvested, anchored paddy fields across three sowing depths (30, 50 and 70 mm) and three forward speeds (2, 3 and 4 km/h). The findings demonstrated that the draft requirement and fuel consumption were significantly lower for HS2 compared to HS1. Furthermore, HS2 enhanced plant population and grain yield, with both implements performing optimally at a sowing depth of 50 mm. Response Surface Methodology (RSM)-based optimization identified the most favorable operating conditions for HS2 as 4 km/h forward speed and 42 mm sowing depth. Under these operational setting, HS2 recorded fuel consumption of 12.58 l/ha, draft force of 3063 N, plant population of 122 plants/m2, and grain yield of 2895 kg/ha. These findings confirm that the modified happy seeder (HS2) not only lowers operational costs and power requirement but also enhances agronomic performance, thereby presenting a more environmentally sound alternative for wheat establishment under anchored paddy stubble conditions for lands with low farm power availability of the eastern region of the country.