# Evaluation of a seed drill for barley and vetch sowing as a function of varying seeding ratios

## TL;DR

This study tested a seed drill for planting barley and vetch mixtures and found it effective in improving crop yield and uniformity.

## Contribution

The study evaluates a seed drill's performance for varying barley and vetch seeding ratios in both lab and field conditions.

## Key findings

- The seed drill showed good uniformity in seed distribution for both barley and vetch.
- Pure barley achieved the highest yield of 42,620 kg ha−1.
- The seed drill performed effectively across different seeding ratios, enhancing overall crop yield.

## Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a seed drill for seeding barley and vetch mixtures having different ratios and to determine their impact on plant emergence, yield and feed quality of component crops.

The laboratory and field experiments were conducted to determine the performance of the seeder using pure barley, common vetch, and their mixtures in ratios, namely 100:0, 0:100, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75. The seed flow and distribution uniformity across the rows were determined within laboratory conditions, while other response variables were assessed in the field conditions.

The coefficient of variation values of flow evenness for barley and vetch were found to be 1.0–5.5% and 0.3–2.1%, respectively. Seed distribution uniformity of each row unit were also determined ranging from 4.2% to 10.7% and from 0.4% to 1.4% for barley and vetch, respectively. The goodness criteria values ranged between 66.4%–86.0% for the laboratory tests while the corresponding values had a range of 78%–86% for field samples. Based on the findings in this work, the overall ranges of variation factor values were 0.43–1.28 and 0.36–0.77 for laboratory and field evaluations, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum yield was 42,620 kg ha−1, whereas the minimum dry material ratio was 16.93% recorded for pure barley crop.

It appears that the results in this work demonstrated that the seed drill could have a great potential to be used effectively for the seeding of barley as well as vetch mixtures as a function of various ratios to enhance the overall yield of the crop.