Fine-textured clayey soils dominate Asian rice fields that are kept either fallow or cultivated with non-rice crops after harvest of monsoon rice. Use of seeding machinery compatible with the principles of conservation agriculture on such soils, however, has not been promising. Under these conditions – which predominate the population and poverty dense areas of coastal South Asia – such machinery fails to open a furrow or throws excessive soil out of the tilled furrow during strip-till seeding. This results in a poor seed coverage at planting jeopardizing crop establishment. In response, this soil bin study investigated strip-tillage blade designs and settings to optimize rotary strip-till system for wet clay soil conditions common in South Asian rice fields. Three designs of C type rotary blade (conventional, medium and straight) and two blade settings (four and six blades per row; 50 and 100 mm cutting widths) were tested at three blade operating depths (50, 75, and 100 mm) using a tillage test rig and a soil bin, and a high-speed camera to understand the processes of soil cutting, throwing, backfilling, and creation of furrow seedbed. The soil bin soil consisted of a wet sandy-clay-loam soil with a moisture content of 28.2% (85% of field capacity) and was compacted to the bulk density of 1440 kg m⁻³. Using the test rig, rotary speed of the blades was maintained at 480 rpm and forward speed at 0.4 m s⁻¹. At four blades per row setting, all blades created high amounts of optimum clods (1–20 mm size). The conventional and medium blades threw too much soil out of the strip-tilled furrow while the straight blade created adequate backfill at 75 and 100 mm operating depths. At 6 blades per row setting, all blades produced high amounts of backfill at any depths, but the straight blade also produced the highest amounts of optimum clods and a uniform furrow. Considering machine and energy costs, blade performance, and the necessity of minimizing soil disturbance in strip-tillage, our study indicates that the use of straight blades (four blades per row) operated at a depth of 75 or 100 mm are more ideal. These specifications are likely to enhance strip-tillage stand establishment in fine-textured soils with high moisture contents, though further work is needed under actual field conditions to confirm suitability of the proposed strip-till system for crop establishment in currently fallowed as well as the intensively cropped lands of Asia.

季风水稻收获后，质地细密的粘土质土壤在亚洲稻田中占主导地位，这些稻田要么休耕，要么与非水稻作物一起种植。然而，在这样的土壤上使用与保护性农业原则相适应的播种机并不令人满意。在这些条件下（占主导地位的南亚沿海地区的人口和贫困地区），这种机械无法在免耕播种期间打开犁沟或将过多土壤从耕作犁沟中抛出。这导致播种时种子覆盖率低，危害作物的生长。作为回应，该土壤箱研究调查了脱耕耕作机叶片的设计和设置，以优化旋转耕作系统，以适应南亚稻田常见的湿粘土土壤条件。C型旋转刀片的三种设计（常规，使用耕作试验台和土壤仓，在三种刀片操作深度（50、75和100 mm）下测试了两种刀片设置（中等和笔直）和两种刀片设置（每排四个和六个刀片;切割宽度分别为50和100 mm），以及高速摄影机，了解土壤切割，抛草，回填和犁沟育苗床的创建过程。土壤箱土由湿含量为28.2％（田间持水量的85％）的沙质壤土组成，压实至1440 kg·m的堆积密度。⁻³。使用试验台，叶片的旋转速度保持在480 rpm，前进速度保持在0.4 ms ^-1。在每行设置四个刀片的情况下，所有刀片都会产生大量的最佳土块（1–20 mm大小）。常规刀片和中型刀片从条形倾斜的犁沟中扔出了太多的土壤，而直刀片则在75和100 mm的工作深度上产生了足够的回填。在每行设置6个刀片的情况下，所有刀片在任何深度都产生大量回填，但是直刀片也产生了最大数量的最佳土块和均匀的犁沟。考虑到机器和能源成本，铲刀性能以及在带耕机中尽量减少土壤扰动的必要性，我们的研究表明，使用深度为75或100 mm的直铲刀（每排四个铲刀）更为理想。这些规范可能会增强水分含量高，质地细密的土壤中的条耕机摊位，