Development and evaluation of various types of manually operated soil crust breakers

Soil crusting is a major constraint in agricultural production, as it hinders seedling emergence and crop development. This problem is especially critical for small-seeded crops, such as vegetables, as well as larger seeds like soybeans and cotton. When a crust layer forms after seeding, a substantial proportion of seeds may fail to emerge, reducing potential yield. While preventive measures exist, mechanical intervention is necessary once the crust has developed. In this study, three manually operated prototype soil crust breakers were developed and evaluated for their effectiveness. Experiments were conducted on artificially formed crusts in two soil types: silty-clay soil at the Akdeniz University Aksu Research and Application Field and clay-loam soil at the Campus Research and Application Field, using cotton seeds, and testing three crust breaker designs: rolling-type blade, rolling-type finger, and sled-type. Measured parameters included penetration resistance, mean emergence time, emergence rate index, and percentage of emergence. Results indicated that all three crust breakers effectively disrupted the soil crust. In silty-clay soil, the rolling-type blade crust breaker achieved the highest emergence rate (82.3%), while no significant differences were observed between the rolling-type finger and sled-type designs. In clay-loam soil, performance differences among the three crust breakers were not statistically significant. Overall, the tested crust breakers improved cotton emergence by at least 23.8% in silty-clay soil and 8% in clay-loam soil, demonstrating their practical effectiveness in mechanical control of soil crusting.