SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH, cilt.95, sa.1-2, ss.69-75, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
For a furrow opener of a seeder, the ability to place seed at a given sowing depth in the soil is an important factor in evaluating its performance. Furrow openers directly affect sowing depth and lateral seed scatter of seeds. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of furrow openers by characterizing the spatial distribution of seeds within the seedbed. A newly developed criterion, distribution area of seeds, characterized both sowing depth and lateral seed scatter (standard deviation from row centre) of seeds. A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of furrow opener type (shoe, hoe, single disc and double disc) on sowing uniformity according to conventional and developed evaluation criteria.