Background:
UAN is one of the better sources of nitrogen in compare to prilled urea. However, placement of UAN with respect to seed is the major challenge as germination get effected when seed comes in direct contact. UAN cum Seed applicator has been developed for precise placement of UAN fertilzer and seed by mainting optimum lateral and vertical spacing between the two.:
Technology Details:
UAN is more stable, convenience to mix with other nutrients and does not lose nitrogen to the atmosphere as compared to prilled Urea. UAN requires to place at a depth which will give better seed germination without damaging the seeds as well as easy availability of nutrients to the primary and secondary roots.The developed UAN-cum seed applicator maintain gap between and fertilizer and seed. It applies fertilizer below the seed to avoid volatilization losses of fertilizer. The developed UAN-cum-seed applicator consisted of rotary fertilizer distributor, fertilizer tank, seed box with metering unit and slit type furrow opener. The slit furrow opener was designed to place the metered quantity of fertilizer at optimum depth maintaining a vertical gap of more than 2-3 cm between seed and fertilizer.