Grain (mechanical) seeders, as some scientists believe, appeared in a primitive version one and a half thousand years BC in Ancient Sumer, however they were not widespread, therefore they sunk into oblivion. This agricultural equipment was re-developed in the East, in China, where in the second century BC, an iron seeder with several seed tubes was invented. In Europe, this unit was widely used in the mid-nineteenth century. Until that time, grains were scattered around the field manually, and then they were dug in with a harrow, which significantly affected the crop.
A modern grain seeder is equipment that provides each grain placed in the soil with optimal conditions for development due to the fact that future plants are usually located at a certain distance, so they do not interfere with each other's growth.
A grain seeder may belong to one or the other of the following categories:
- ordinary equipment, provides landing in an ordinary way, narrow-row (the distance between the rows is small, up to seven to eight centimeters), wide-row, tape or cross methods;
- square-nesting seeders, after operations with which plants were planted in the corners of rectangles or squares;
- nesting equipment (seeds are planted in nests, sometimes several in one);
- dotted seeders (grains are placed in the soil at the same distance from each other);
- less commonly used are scatter aggregates that simply place seeds on the surface of the soil (usually used to plant grassland).
A grain seeder is a complex equipment that can carry out several functions at once. The technological process on a grain fertilizer seeder can be described as follows: the seeds from the grain box fall into the seed tube, where fertilizers are added to them, after which, using rotating discs, both components are placed in the ground and sprinkled on top of the ground. In addition, the device of seeders allows you to level the soil after such operations, which increases the convenience of its further processing.
The grain seeder can be of a special or universal type. Combined samples allow sowing various crops (usually cereals and grasses), while some plantings require special equipment that is highly specialized (corn for grain, sugar beets, flax, etc.). One universal unit, as a rule, replaces several conventional ones.
A grain seeder (mounted) is used less often than a trailed version, which allows you to process large areas and make couplings of several units. For example, from 1 to 6 trailed seeders collected in a single complex, which is driven by one tractor, can participate in the sowing. Hinged samples are more often used for planting seeds in small fields where increased maneuverability and a careful attitude to the soil are needed (hinged options are almost always lighter than trailed ones).