Crop production and post harvest technologies are key areas in agricultural engineering. In large scale agriculture, most farmers tend to use new technology rather than adopting the same old principles. Usage of new machinery is not an exception from this situation. Both tiller and cultivator are well known agricultural machineries. Although tillage and cultivation are famous as very common agricultural practices, the term tiller and cultivator are somewhat new to the field. The reason is that most of these practices are manual in nature with traditional farmers. These basic agricultural machineries were introduced with the advancement of technology and due to the industrial revolution.
What is a Tiller?
Tillage is a land preparation technique practiced in agriculture. Normally soil that consists of hardpan is much compacted than the normal soil. Due to this compactness, roots of the cultivated crops will show a low penetrability, and finally it results in growing weak plants. Therefore, this hard pan should be removed or disturbed before cultivating plants in the field. Tiller is capable of breaking down large soil particles into small.
Normally tillage is a dual step practice. Primary tillage is done using primary tillers, which contain large size teeth, whereas secondary tillers contain smaller teeth. Secondary tillers are used for further softening of the soil. Crops having soft roots and that need to penetrate deep into the soil require both primary and secondary tillers, to complete land preparation. In traditional methods, tillers are dragged by animals, whereas now they are connected to vehicles, mostly to tractors, to move easily around the field.
What is a Cultivator?
Cultivator is another type of agricultural machinery, which is widely used in large-scale agriculture. It is mainly used in secondary tillage operations. The sharp teeth can piers the soil making finer particles of them. There are two types of plant establishments in a field; namely, broadcasting and transplanting. Broadcasting is a traditional method, in which seeds are sown randomly to the field. Transplanting is the re-establishment of plants, which are uprooted from nurseries. In transplanting, farmers need a well effective and benefited way to re-establish the plants. If the soil is fine, broadcasting materials will not gather in some places. Cultivators are commonly dragged by tractors over the field. Due to the proper arrangement of tooth, cultivators can be used for specific purposes such as weed controlling after planting and soil mixing. It will not damage the crop but destroy surrounding weeds.
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What is the difference between Tiller and Cultivator? • Both, tiller and cultivator are used in agricultural land preparation. • Tiller is a common name for the machinery used for tillage, but cultivator is used only in secondary tillage. • There are different types of tillers and cultivators based on the ways of motion such as linear dragging type and rotary type. • Cultivators can be self propelled or dragged by tractors, whereas most of the other tillers are dragging type. • Primary tillers are used to disturb a hard soil, while cultivators are used to breakdown the soil particles finer. • Both of the practices will enhance the soil aeration.
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