Influence of soil cultivation depth on energy consumption and on preparation of seed bed using rotary harrow before maize planting

In 2012 on the Laboratory Field of Biotechnical Faculty the field trial was carried out, trying to establish the influence of the soil cultivation on the fuel consumption, on the physical-mechanical soil properties of the seed bed and at the end on the field emergence of maize. A rotary harrow was used for soil preparation just before maize planting and it was adjusted to the soil cultivation depths of 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm. The trial was designed as random blocks. A tractor with stepless transmission and nominal power of 73 kW and a rotary harrow with working width of 2.5 m were used. The speed of soil cultivation was 5.0 km h-1 on the tractometer and the engine rotational frequency was 1900 rpm. The fuel consumption per hour, the fuel consumption per hectare and the energy consumption per hectare increased by increasing the adjusted soil depth cultivation from 5 cm to 15 cm using the rotary harrow. At the adjusted soil cultivation depth of 10 and 15 cm cm, the vertical soil resistance at depths between 8 and 13 cm was lower than at the adjusted soil depths of 5 cm. No significant differences were found regarding the soil physical properties in the seed bed and the field emergence of maize among three adjusted soil cultivation depths. The soil cultivation depth of 10 cm proved to be the most appropriate in view of the fuel consumption, energy consumption as well as the physical-mechanical soil properties of the seed bed and plant emergence