Direct sowing is the most important method of saving energy and of preserving soil’s yielding capacity. Because of the low ratio between production costs and delivery prices for agricultural produce, more and more farmers appeal to minimal soil work methods (minimum tillage) and to methods in which there is no soil work (no-till) as means of reducing labor force expenses, machines, and fuel and, at the same time, as a means to cultivate more. Energy expenses in mechanized agriculture cover both the energy consumed for the production and maintenance of the agricultural equipment and the energy necessary to exploit them. Energy consumption during equipment exploitation is twice as high as the one necessary for its manufacturing. Research data show that for an increase of agricultural production of 1% we need an increase of the energy consumption under the form of fuel of 2.5%.  The disadvantages attributed to the classical soil work system, an intensive system that includes compulsory earth board plough tillage, resulted in the appearance and rapid spread of the concept of soil conservation. Developing unconventional tillage systems combined harmoniously with other technology elements should be regarded not as a trend, but as a necessity that could solve a series of problems: preventing degradation and recovering the degraded soil structure, preventing and diminishing erosion, diminishing energy consumption, and optimizing production processes. In this paper we present a synthesis of some trial results concerning the dynamics of the direct sowing unit.  Researches were carried in the experimental and production fields at the Didactic Station from Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (Timiş county). The object of the trial was the unit formed of the no tillage machine Massey Ferguson MF 354 TSB and the tractor U-650 M. We made 12 measurements for 6 speed regimes with 2 trials for each engine nominal rotation (1800 rot/min).

direct sowing; dynamics of the unit; forces and moments

Presentation: oral