If you think farmers have less to worry about after harvest? Nothing could be further from the truth! During this period, the soil needs a series of agrotechnical treatments aimed at improving its structure and preparing the ground for the next plant. The basic treatment is stubble cultivation i.e. mixing the top layer of soil with crop residues, thus preventing water evaporation. However, this is not all and, more importantly, it is this crop that often begins to build the crop. So check exactly what impact it has post-harvest tillage and what machines are suitable for it.
What is post-harvest cultivation and what are its benefits?
Post-harvest tillage is important for subsequent sowings, because after harvesting, the process of evaporation occurs, which dries out and limits access to water for young plants, as a result of which they are unable to develop properly in the next season. In addition, there is an uncontrolled growth of weeds, which extract valuable minerals from the soil. As a result, the humus content in the soil decreases, which has a negative impact on its fertility. Therefore stubble cultivation it should start as soon as possible, namely almost immediately after harvest.
Generally speaking, this procedure involves shallow mixing of the soil with crop residues. In this way, the field is covered with a layer of plant residues, which decompose and enrich the soil with valuable nutrients. Moreover, it prevents the evaporation of water from deep layers of the earth, aerates it, and by stimulating seed germination, we are able to avoid the subsequent emergence of weeds. In turn, already developed undesirable plants are destroyed as a result of cutting the roots and mixing them with the rest of the substrate.
What can you use to cultivate stubble?
Currently to post-harvest cultivation no plow is used, but modern ones stubble aggregates or disc harrows. Both machines act as attachments to the tractor and are set in motion by it. When it comes to stubble cultivator it is a multi-tasking machine that consists of several different systems. As a result, it not only serves the function of mixing the top layers of soil, but also carefully cuts, inverts, loosens the soil, crumbles and kneads clods, levels and sweeps up any furrows that have arisen.
While disc harrow is composed of a system of rows of toothed discs in the shape of plates and an integrated roller for compacting the soil. It does not perform as many tasks at the same time as the aggregate, but its effects after harvest are almost comparable. With the help of the press roller, it precisely determines the working depth of the discs, thus mixing and compacting the soil so that crop residues are quickly decomposed. In addition, it allows you to remove weeds, stimulate the growth of self-seeding plants, and break up soil clods.
In the case of disc harrow models from the line are a good example ATOS, which are available in smaller and large versions. ATOS XXL disc harrow it is hydraulically folded for transport and available with a width of up to 6 m. Thanks to this, it meets the expectations of the most demanding farmers, as it is able to cover a larger field area during one pass than the standard versions with a 3 m axle.
