EVALUATION AND PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF MOLD BOARD AND DISC PLOW IN SOILS OF CENTRAL IRAQ

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to evaluate and performance comparison for moldboard and disk plows in central of Iraq in 2011. Three factor were used in this study included Two types of plows included moldboard and disk plows which represented main plot, three forward speeds of the tillage was second factor included 1.85, 3.75 and 5.62 km/h which represented sup plot, and three levels of soil moisture was third factor included 21, 18 and 14 % to determined data actual plow depth, Practical productivity, Volume of disturbed soil, Field efficiency, Slippage percentagein silt clay loam soil with depth 22 cm were studied in the experimentSplit – split plot design under randomized complete block design with three replications using Least Significant Design was used. Mold board plough recorded best practical productivity was 0.3118 ha/hr, volume of disturbed soil was 629.77 m3/hr and field efficiency was 59.85 %, while disc plough recorded higher actual plow depth 21.02 cm and slippage percentage was9.71 %.Increasing forward speeds of the tillage from 1.85 to 3.75 then to 5.62 increasing slippage percentage from 6.39 to 8.26 then to 12.22 %, practical productivity from 0.1421 to 0.2845 then to o.4180 ha/hr and volume of disturbed soil from 299.89 to 592.38 then to 838.24 m3/hr, while decreased actual plow depth from 21.13 to 20.86 then to 20.08 cm and field efficiency from 58.98 to 58.21 then to 57.07 %. with decrease soil moisture from 21 to 18 % decrease actual plow depth from 20.92 to 20.70 cm and slippage percentage from 10.58 to 7.29 %, and increase practical productivity from 0.2712 to 0.2923 ha/hr, volume of disturbed soil from 562.01 to 598.98 m3/hrand field efficiency from 55.94 to 60.31 %. While continues decrease from 18 to 14 % decrease actual plow depth from 20.70 to 20.46 cm, practical productivity from 0.2923 to 0.2811,volume of disturbed soil from 598.98 to 569.52 m3/hr andfield efficiency from 60.31 to 58.01 %, and increase slippage percentage from 7.29 to 9.00 %.