Features of A Potato Planter

India is the second-largest producer of potatoes globally, with Uttar Pradesh alone producing over 15 million metric tons of it every year. Yet, many farmers still rely on manual agriculture to produce potatoes, which is challenging and time-consuming. Instead, Indian farmers are better suited to use potato planters to make their potato farming easier, efficient, and cost-effective. Let’s learn more about potato farming below.

ABOUT POTATO PLANTERS

Potato planters are versatile implements that you can attach to your tractor to plant potatoes. It can ditch, fertilise, compact the soil, and help with plastic film mulching. You can use a potato planter for sowing potato seeds of all sizes in various row configurations—all with high accuracy, especially if you use a Mahindra potato planter.

MAHINDRA PLANTINGMASTER POTATO+

Not all potato planters are made the same, but if you are looking for the best one, look no further than the Mahindra PlantingMaster Potato+. It is an advanced precision potato planter with class-leading features and technology to suit the needs of every Indian potato farmer. It is designed and developed in collaboration with the European-based Dewulf to make your potato farming operations more efficient, produce higher potato yields, and reduce operational costs.

FEATURES OF THE POTATO PLANTER

• The Mahindra potato planter’s moving floor ensures that the potato seeds are consistently supplied to the planting belt without blockages
• The adjustable ridges create the proper compaction of the soil for optimum air and sunlight for the potato seeds
• It comes with a variety of holding cups—shaped like human hands—that avoid double-planting or missed seeds while planting, and you can get those from 20 mm to 60 mm, depending on your seed size. The hold cups are driven by a mechanical belt vibration that enhances singulation
• You can opt for fertiliser tanks of 130 litres (65 litres + 65 litres) that can administer fertiliser at the right height without damaging the seeds
• The planter offers multiple planting solutions, including zig-zag or straight planting, with or without fertiliser, and whole or cut potatoes
• The height-adjustable shaft, depth head, and furrow opener, along with Mahindra tractor’s hydraulics, ensure that the seedlings are planted at a consistent height throughout the farm
• The adjustable row width allows you to configure the planter to suit your farm

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Tractor connection type: Lifted (CAT II)
• Hopper type: Fixed
• Hopper capacity: Up to 500 kg of potato seeds
• Fertiliser capacity: 65 litre + 65 litre
• Drive type: Mechanical
• Kerb weight: 1000 kg
• Planting capacity: 4000 m²/h (at speeds of 3 to 5 kmph)

BENEFITS OF A POTATO PLANTER

Technical specifications aside, the Mahindra potato planter is ideal for Indian farmers because of its benefits, which are quite unmatched by the competition. Here is how the Mahindra potato planter can enhance your farming operations:

• It increases potato yield by 25%
• It ensures accurate and high-speed planting, covering 4000 m²/h
• Enhanced singulation means there are no missed spots in the ditches and no double planting that may affect the growth
• It saves time and effort as it is quicker and you don’t have to rely on manual labour for farming
• It ensures proper depth and distance between the potato seeds, so each plant gets enough nutrition and grows into a healthy yield
• It is easy to manage and control, and it can be configured to your farm as per your preferences

HOW DOES THE MAHINDRA POTATO PLANTER WORK

The Mahindra PlantingMaster Potato+ is an ingenious farming implement that makes your farming easier, and its working is relatively easy to understand. The process begins in the potato hopper that can hold up to 500 kg of seeds. From the hopper, the potatoes move to the moving floor that ensures that the potato seeds are fed to the belt consistently and smoothly. From there, the seeds are picked up by hand-shaped holding cups driven by vibrating mechanical belts, ensuring optimum singulation of the seeds within the cups. From there, the seeds are dropped into the ditches formed by the planter’s blades. The precision planter ensures the seeds are dropped at the right height and location. Then, the compactor compacts the soil while the ditches are closed with another set of blades. This ensures that the soil is not over or under-compressed, ensuring an optimum environment for the soil.

BEST MAHINDRA TRACTORS FOR THE POTATO PLANTER

The Mahindra potato planter is rated at 45 HP and weighs nearly 1000 kg. Its weight, along with the soil condition, means that the potato planter needs a rugged and powerful tractor to drive it. Fortunately, Mahindra offers you highly powerful, fuel-efficient, and reliable tractors, which ensure no slippage or need to weigh up the front axle. Here are the best Mahindra tractors for the potato planter:

MAHINDRA ARJUN 665 DI

Your first choice for the potato planter is the Mahindra Novo 665 DI, producing 47.8 kW (64.1 HP) and 250 Nm of torque through a powerful ELS DI engine. The engine offers a maximum PTO power (3 speeds) of 42.5 kW, ideal for managing the potato planter. The gearbox consists of a dual-clutch and 15F+15R gears. Its precision hydraulics can lift up to 2200 kg.

MAHINDRA NOVO 755 DI

Another powerful tractor you can choose is the Novo 755 DI, which produces 55.2 kW (74 HP) of power and 305 Nm of torque through a 4-cylinder water-cooled ELS DI engine. The engine offers a maximum PTO

• Potato Planter
• Tractor Implements