Types of Farm Machinery: Benefits, Importance in Agriculture, and List with their Functions

Modern agriculture techniques and technology have been created in India to assist farmers with their tasks. Tractors are regarded as one of the most important contemporary farming tools since they can be used for various tasks, including driving equipment and generating power. Other instruments have been designed for planting, weeding, fertilizing, and insect control.

This transition from conventional manual methods to new technology saves time and personnel expenses. Manual labor was used in ancient agriculture in India, but with the development of sophisticated agricultural technology, the process has become much more efficient and cost-effective.

Types of Farm Machinery

What Is Agricultural Machinery?

Agricultural machinery refers to the tools, machines, and equipment used in farming to increase crop productivity and food output. It helps to complete routine tasks, reducing time and labor costs and improving the efficiency of the farm. In India, some industries produce affordable agricultural machinery to meet the needs of farmers. These machines play a crucial role in boosting food production and alleviating poverty.

Benefits of Agricultural Farm Machinery

Mechanization improves the efficiency and speed of farming operations.
Reduces the requirement for human labor.
Enhances agricultural production using better machinery, seeds, and chemicals.
Boosts labor productivity to a significant level with the help of mechanization.
It improves the overall status of farmers in rural areas, minimizing their time and effort.
Minimises farmers’ dependency on labor significantly, enhancing their quality of life.
Converts any unused land into productive farms, resulting in proper land usage.
It helps farmers grow crops and grains to meet global food demand.
It provides farmers with cleaner and high-quality grain in less time that can be sold quickly.

Farm Machinery Importance, Uses, and Types

Harvesting machinery	Harrow
Tractors	Cultivator
Sprayers	Rake
Forage equipment	Tractor
Sowing and tillage equipment	Combine Harvester
Fertilizer spreaders	Backhoe
Trailers	Chain Saw
Loaders	Brush cutters
Mowers	Saw Mills

Tractor

Critical agricultural machinery used in farming, varying in size and power (20 HP to 120 HP), performing different functions such as tillage, heavy load carrying, and construction. Different tractors are available for different purposes, such as compact, utility, implement, industrial, garden, military, and sports tractors. Top tractor brands include John Deere, Mahindra, New Holland, Powertrac, and more.

Harvesting Machinery

This is used in agriculture and farming practices for post-harvesting purposes. The machines are designed to cut down crops and come in several varieties, such as reaper, header, binder, thresher, and cotton harvester, which can harvest different types of crops at the same time. Other popular harvesting machines include round baler, square baler, multi-crop harvester, bale spear, hay rake, sugarcane loader, and rotary mulcher.

The popular manufacturers of these machines include New Hind Harvester, Dasmesh, John Deere, Shaktiman, Claas, Mahindra, Massey Ferguson, and Agristar. Some popular models are Kartar 4000, Preet 987, Dasmesh 9100 Maize, Shaktiman Paddy Master 3776, and ACE ACW 101.

Tiller

Tillage is essential agricultural equipment to prepare the soil for planting crops. It involves several soil preparation stages, including primary tillage (deep tillage, sub-soiling, and year-round tillage), secondary tillage, and the layout of the seedbed. Different tillage machines, such as mounted disc plows, harrows, rotary tillers, plows, and subsoilers, are used in the tillage process. Popular tillage equipment brands include Swan Agro, Kubota, Sonalika, Bull Agro, and VST Shakti.

Seed Drill

Utilizing a seed drill machine to spread seeds in rows quickly and efficiently, seeding is an essential agricultural procedure. Roto Seed Drill, Happy Seeder, Disc Seed Drill, Pneumatic Planter, Multi-Crop Row Planter, and Post Hole Digger are common seed drill machines. These machines facilitate farming for farmers.

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Mower

A lawnmower is a machine used to cut grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Push-behind, riding, zero-turn, belly-mounted, pull-behind, sickle-bar, drum, disc, brush, batwing, and flail mowers are available. These are used for lawn or pasture maintenance and are selected according to the size of the area to be mowed.

Backhoe

A tool for digging fence post holes or minor excavation projects like ponds or water features. Tractor hydraulic implements are available separately.

Harrow

A tool is pulled behind a tractor or ATV to level the soil surface.

Cultivator

A machinery used to prepare the soil for crop planting, manage weeds, bury crop debris, and mix and integrate soil to provide water and nutrients to growing crops. To level the soil surface, the cultivator features multiple shanks on the bottom of a metal frame and narrow rods at the back.

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Rakes

Rakes are necessary while making hay and come in various styles, including wheel rakes, parallel-bar rakes, rotary rates, and belt rakes. Agriculture and other sectors need sprayers, chainsaws, brush cutters, and sawmills. Sprayers apply herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers to crops.

On the other hand, chainsaws cut any material with revolving teeth on a chain linked to a guide bar. Brush cutters, often called clearing saws, trim weeds, small trees, and foliage that lawnmowers could not reach. Motorized sawmills turn logs into lumber. Portable sawmills are operated manually by pushing the chainsaw.

Soil Cultivation with Agricultural Farm Machinery

In agriculture, soil cultivation is done with agricultural machineries such as cultivators, multipacks, plows, rotary tillers, strip-till, and harrows. Before planting, cultivators stir and pulverize the soil, whereas multipacks smash clods and create a smooth seedbed.

Plows are used to turn over the top layer of soil, whereas rotary tillers work the soil with spinning blades. Strip-till is a type of minimum tillage that combines the advantages of regular tillage with no-till. Harrows are used to cultivate the ground surface and create a finer finish and healthy soil structure for planting.

Farm Machinery for Planting

Seed drills and spread seeders are examples of farm machinery used for planting. Seed drills guarantee homogeneous seed dispersal at a regulated depth, whereas broadcast seeders scatter crops, lime, or fertilizer. Seed drills can also be outfitted with a fertilizer attachment to distribute fertilizer uniformly.

Conclusion

Farm machinery plays an important role in agriculture, making tasks faster, easier, and more efficient. Types of farm machinery include cultivators, plows, seed drills, harrows, slurry tanks, and sprayers, each with specific functions for soil cultivation, planting, fertilizing, and pest control. These machines bring benefits such as reduced labor, increased efficiency, and improved crop yield.

Types of Farm Machinery: Benefits, Importance in Agriculture, and List with their Functions