Abstract

The wheat cleaner was designed, manufactured, and tested in the workshop of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Dongola, and Northern State of Sudan. The purpose was to enhance productivity for small-scale farmers who traditionally plant their saved wheat seeds every season, facing risks of weed infestation and low viability. A one-season field experiment was then conducted following the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) experimental design in the demonstration farm of Dongola Research Station. Clean seeds and unclean seeds of a local wheat variety (Imam) were used, and two different planting methods were adopted: Traditional seed drilling with the recommended seed rate (50 kg.feddan-1) and precision seeding using half the recommended seed rate (25 kg.feddan-1). The effect of seed type and planting method on field parameters was investigated, and the data were analyzed using the computer application SAS system version 9.3. The results revealed significant (P ≥ 0.05) and highly significant (P ≥ 0.01) differences between treatments. Precision seeding with clean seeds versus seed drilling with unclean seed increased the number of kernels per spike (KS), tillers per plant (TPP), one thousand kernels mass (TKM), biomass of wheat (BWT), and total yield (TOY). Meanwhile, weeds per area (WSM), biomass of weeds (BWD), and weight of weed seeds were noticeably decreased.

Key words: Wheat cleaner, precision seeding, seed drilling method, small-scale farmers.

Abbreviation

SSM, Count of seedlings per square meter; WSM, count of weeds per square meter; KS, count of kernels per spike; TPP, Count of tillers per plant; TKM, one thousand kernel mass (g); BWT, biomass of wheat (kg.fed^-1); BWD, biomass of weeds (kg.fed^-1); WWT, weight of pure wheat (kg.fed^-1); WWD, weight of pure weed seeds (kg.fed^-1); TOY, total yield (kg.fed^-1; WTw %, weed to wheat ratio; Fed, (Which is abbreviation for the word Feddan, is a local agricultural area unit commonly used in agricultural sector (one Feddan = 4200 m²).